Pet relocation from India is the single piece of a household move where the destination country sets the calendar, not us. Our coordinators in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi handle pet exports from India to every major corridor — the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union — and the rhythm of getting it right is well established. Here is what we tell every family planning to take a cat or dog out of India in 2026.
The Rabies Neutralising Antibody Titre Test is the longest pole
RNATT is the rabies antibody blood test that rabies-controlled destinations require before they will allow an Indian-origin pet to land without an excessive quarantine. The test must be performed at a destination-approved laboratory, and the sample must be drawn at least 30 days after a current rabies vaccination. The result then has to be valid at the time of travel, and many countries impose a minimum waiting period after the test before the pet can enter — three months in the case of the United Kingdom, six months in the case of Australia and New Zealand.
The practical implication: if your move is in October and your pet is going to Australia, the RNATT sample should ideally have been drawn no later than April. Our 2026 cases consistently land in trouble when families learn this six weeks before their flight.
NABL-accredited labs that we use
India has several NABL-accredited laboratories that perform RNATT to destination-country standards. Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University at Hebbal in Bengaluru is the most established, and turnaround there has been steady at three to four weeks through 2026. Choriomed in Mumbai and a handful of newer NABL-accredited centres in Pune and Hyderabad serve the western and southern catchments. Samples for Australia and the United Kingdom must go to specifically approved labs — the NABL accreditation alone is necessary but not sufficient for those destinations.
Microchip first, vaccination second, titre third
The strict order is important. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination that the RNATT relies on. If the chip is implanted after the vaccination, most destinations reset the clock and require a fresh vaccination after chipping. ISO 11784/11785 compliant 15-digit chips are the global standard; older nine-digit or US-style chips will be rejected at arrival in many countries.
The destination quarantine slot is what you book first
Australia’s Mickleham Post Entry Quarantine Facility and New Zealand’s quarantine system both require slot bookings months in advance. In 2026, the Mickleham wait list for dogs from India is typically three to five months. New Zealand is similar. The United Kingdom abolished the six-month quarantine years ago but maintains the entry conditions strictly, and Heathrow’s Animal Reception Centre needs the booking confirmed well before the flight.
For Singapore, Canada, the United States, the European Union and the UAE, no arrival quarantine applies provided the paperwork is clean, but there are arrival inspection appointments that must be booked through the destination authority — the AVS in Singapore, the CFIA in Canada, the relevant Member State’s border veterinary post in the European Union.
The Animal Quarantine and Certification Service on the India side
AQCS is the Indian government agency that issues the export health certificate (Form B) from India. AQCS offices operate at Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata airports. In 2026, the major AQCS offices have streamlined the export pathway considerably — bookings made through the online portal usually return an inspection slot within ten days, and same-day issuance of Form B is normal once the file is complete.
The file AQCS wants: the destination’s import permit (where required), the microchip certificate, the rabies vaccination certificate, the RNATT result with the lab’s accreditation reference, any destination-required parasite treatment certifications, and the airline’s confirmed booking for the pet. Form B is the document that the airline checks at the cargo terminal before accepting the pet for the flight.
Cargo or excess baggage
For destinations that allow cabin or hold travel with the owner, small pets often fly as excess baggage with the family. For corridors that require manifest cargo — including most flights to Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada — the pet flies separately as cargo with a documented chain of custody. Our coordinators handle the cargo agent appointment at BOM, DEL, BLR or MAA, the pre-flight crate acclimatisation, the temperature-controlled holding at the cargo terminal, and the handover at the destination airport.
Costs in 2026
A typical India-to-United Kingdom move for a medium dog ranges from ₹3,20,000 to ₹4,40,000 inclusive of RNATT, all India-side veterinary documentation, the IATA-compliant crate, AQCS fees, the airline cargo charge and destination clearance through London Heathrow. India to Australia for the same dog with the Mickleham quarantine slot included rises to ₹5,80,000 to ₹7,20,000 depending on the season and the carrier. India to the UAE for a medium dog runs ₹1,40,000 to ₹2,10,000 given the shorter flight and the lighter destination requirements.
What we recommend you do today
If a move is on the horizon in the next twelve months and a pet is part of the family, the first call should be a pet-specific scoping conversation rather than the household-goods discussion. The pet’s calendar dictates the family’s calendar on the corridors that matter, and that conversation works best when there is still room to plan around it.
Seemleius India handles pet relocations as a tightly coupled workstream alongside household goods, with the same coordinator running both for the same family. Reach out when the move is still six to twelve months away — not when the flight is in five weeks.
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