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Country entry guide · South Asia

Traveling to Nepal with your dog

Difficulty: Moderate — health certificate, rabies card and advance quarantine notice ⏱ Several weeks to a few months

Nepal welcomes pet dogs, but it runs its own national scheme through the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) Animal Quarantine Division — not the EU pet-passport framework. Imports are governed by the Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 (1999) and its Rules, 2056 (2000): every animal must enter through a quarantine check post and may only be cleared once a quarantine officer has examined it. The official pet documentation published by the Government of Nepal is a veterinary health certificate issued within ten days of arrival (valid thirty days) plus a rabies vaccination card, and you must notify the Animal Quarantine Office at Kathmandu airport 72 hours before you land. Nepal is rabies-endemic, so a valid rabies vaccination is essential. Several finer details are not published in the official sources, so confirm them with the Animal Quarantine Office and your vet. What you must prepare also depends on your dog's country of origin and travel history — read this guide before booking.

📋 At a glance

Dogs allowed	Yes — with documents and notice
Advance notice to Animal Quarantine Office	Required (72 hours before arrival)
Microchip	Not specified in official guidance (ISO recommended)
Rabies vaccination	Required (valid vaccination card)
Rabies antibody test	Not required by Nepal
Veterinary health certificate	Required (issued within 10 days of arrival)
Import permit	Not required for an accompanied personal pet (per official guidance)
Quarantine	None if healthy and documented; otherwise discretionary

⚠️ Important

MyDogCanFly provides general information — not veterinary or legal advice.
Only a veterinarian and Nepal's Department of Livestock Services (DLS) Animal Quarantine Office can confirm the exact procedure for your individual dog.
Notify the Animal Quarantine Office at Kathmandu (Tribhuvan International Airport) 72 hours before arrival by email (ktmquarantine@gmail.com), attaching the health certificate and rabies vaccination card.
Several details (microchip standard, exact rabies interval, minimum age, parasite treatment) are not published in the official Nepali sources — confirm them before you travel.
Requirements depend on: the country of origin, previous travel history, identification, vaccinations, the itinerary and the travel date.

Always consult your veterinarian before booking your trip.

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🧭 How your dog's entry requirements are decided

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Country of destination — Nepal★★★★★
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Country of departure★★★★★
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Countries your dog recently stayed in★★★★☆

✅ Entry requirements

Requirement	Required?	Exceptions	Official reference
Advance notice (Animal Quarantine Office)	Required	This early notice lets a quarantine officer be on hand to process the dog. Contact numbers are published by the Embassy of Nepal, London.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (c)
Veterinary health certificate	Required	Under the Act, a quarantine officer may prohibit entry if the prescribed disease-free and soundness certificate is not submitted, so carry the original and copies.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (a); Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 (s.11)
Rabies vaccination	Required	The official Nepali guidance reviewed does not publish a specific rabies interval (days before travel or maximum validity) — carry a complete, dated card showing current validity.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (b)
Rabies antibody test	Not required	The official Nepali pet-import guidance does not call for a rabies antibody test. Only a valid rabies vaccination card is required.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (b)
ISO microchip	Not specified	Because it is unpublished, confirm the current identification requirement with the Animal Quarantine Office before you travel.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (microchip not listed)
Parasite treatment	Not specified	The official Nepali guidance reviewed does not publish an internal/external parasite-treatment requirement for dogs. Keep any treatment records with the health certificate in case a quarantine officer asks.	Embassy of Nepal, London — Taking Pets to Nepal (not listed)
Import permit	Not required for an accompanied personal pet	Larger or non-personal movements (for example several animals or a commercial import) may require a permit — confirm with the Animal Quarantine Office. The reviewed sources do not publish a fixed pet-number threshold.	Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 (s.8–9); DLS Animal Quarantine Division
Entry through a quarantine check post	Required by law	A quarantine officer may prohibit entry, order return to the country of origin or order destruction if the dog is diseased or the required certificate is missing.	Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 (s.9, s.11, s.12)
Arrival examination (quarantine officer)	Required	If the dog is found healthy and its documents comply, it is released; otherwise it may be kept in the quarantine spot.	Animal Health and Livestock Services Rules, 2056 (r.6–8)
Quarantine	None if healthy and documented; otherwise discretionary	Quarantine costs (feeding, watering, security) are borne by the importer; no compensation is payable for an animal that dies in quarantine.	Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 (s.6); Rules, 2056 (r.6)
Minimum age / puppies	Unknown	In practice a valid rabies vaccination is required, which is only given from a certain age — confirm the minimum age and vaccination timing with the Animal Quarantine Office and your vet.	No official Nepali source (unpublished)
Customs duty / valuation	Set by the Department of Customs	The official sources reviewed do not publish a specific pet duty rate — confirm current charges with the Department of Customs.	Tribhuvan International Airport Immigration Office (refers pets to the Department of Customs)

🗓 In what order, and when

Some steps only count once the previous one is done — check each deadline against the official reference above.

Advance notice (Animal Quarantine Office)The owner must inform the Animal Quarantine Office in Nepal of the arrival time at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA, Kathmandu) 72 hours before arrival, sending the health certificate and rabies vaccination card to ktmquarantine@gmail.com.
Veterinary health certificateA health certificate for the pet must be issued within ten (10) days of your arrival in Nepal; it is valid for thirty (30) days. Another health certificate can be produced in Nepal.
Rabies vaccinationA rabies vaccination card must accompany the pet. Nepal is rabies-endemic, so a current, valid rabies vaccination is essential and is checked against the health certificate on arrival.
ISO microchipThe official Nepali pet-import guidance reviewed does not list a microchip requirement or standard. An ISO 11784/11785-compatible microchip is international best practice and is recommended so the dog can be reliably identified against its documents.
Import permitThe official pet-import guidance does not require an import permit for a pet travelling with its owner. Separately, the Act operates an import-permit / quarantine-check-post regime for animal imports (application to the veterinary/quarantine authority, generally before import).
Entry through a quarantine check postAnimals may be imported only through the route of a quarantine check post. For pets arriving by air this is the Animal Quarantine Office at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.
Arrival examination (quarantine officer)On arrival, a quarantine officer physically inspects and clinically examines the dog and its documents at the Animal Quarantine Office; laboratory examination may be carried out if there is doubt of disease.
QuarantineThere is no routine quarantine for a healthy, correctly documented dog. Under the Rules, if the dog is not found healthy or arrives without an authenticated vaccination certificate, it is kept in the quarantine spot; fixed durations are set for certain listed livestock diseases, but rabies is not among them.
Minimum age / puppiesThe official Nepali sources reviewed do not publish a minimum age for importing a dog.
Customs duty / valuationImmigration and animal quarantine are separate from Customs. Any customs duty or valuation on a pet is a matter for the Department of Customs on arrival.

🌍 Rules according to your dog's origin

From the EU

Dog coming from the EU — national procedure applies

Nepal does not recognise the EU pet passport, so an EU-origin dog follows the same national procedure as any other. You need a valid rabies vaccination card and a veterinary health certificate issued within ten days of arrival (valid thirty days), and you must notify the Animal Quarantine Office 72 hours before arrival. No rabies antibody test is required. The dog is examined by a quarantine officer on arrival and released if healthy and correctly documented.

⏱ Dog from the EU: ~2–4 weeks — the EU pet passport is not used, but a valid rabies vaccination and a veterinary health certificate issued within 10 days of arrival are enough, plus a 72-hour advance notice to the Animal Quarantine Office.

Dog from another country — same national scheme

From any other country the requirements are the same: a rabies vaccination card, a health certificate issued within ten days of arrival, 72-hour advance notice to the Animal Quarantine Office and examination by a quarantine officer at Tribhuvan International Airport. Because Nepal is rabies-endemic, keep the rabies vaccination clearly current and consistent with the health certificate.

⏱ Dog from another country: ~2–4 weeks — the same national procedure applies: rabies vaccination card, health certificate issued within 10 days of arrival (valid 30 days) and 72-hour advance notice to the Animal Quarantine Office.

Non-compliant arrival, several animals or a dog that is not healthy

A dog that arrives without the prescribed disease-free and soundness certificate, without a valid rabies vaccination, or that is not found healthy on inspection, can be held in the quarantine spot, ordered returned to the country of origin, or (in the worst case) destroyed, all at the importer's cost. Larger or non-personal movements may require an import permit under the Act. Confirm the exact conditions with the Animal Quarantine Office well before travel.

⏱ Non-compliant arrival, 3+ animals, or a dog that is not healthy on inspection: plan extra time — the Act allows an import permit / quarantine-check-post regime and discretionary quarantine, and a dog without the required certificate can be held, returned or destroyed.

🛬 Arrival

What happens when your dog reaches Nepal depends on whether every condition was completed before departure.

Before departure, notify the Animal Quarantine Office 72 hours in advance by email (ktmquarantine@gmail.com) with the health certificate and rabies vaccination card, so an officer is available for your arrival.
Dogs enter through Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu, where the Animal Quarantine Office is the designated quarantine check post — clearance is not available outside a quarantine check post.
Present the original veterinary health certificate and the rabies vaccination card; a quarantine officer physically inspects and clinically examines the dog and its documents.
If the dog is healthy and the documents comply, it is released to you. Another health certificate can be produced in Nepal if needed.
If the dog is diseased, or the required certificate is missing or invalid, the officer may prohibit entry, hold the dog in the quarantine spot, order its return to the country of origin, or order its destruction — all at the importer's expense.
Immigration and animal quarantine are separate from Customs; any customs duty on the pet is handled by the Department of Customs on arrival.

🛫 Leaving the country (return trip)

Nepal is non-listed, so a valid rabies antibody titer is mandatory to return to the EU — plus an export health certificate endorsed by the Department of Livestock Services / Animal Quarantine.

⚠️ Start before you leave Anticipate the rabies antibody titer: blood test in an EU-approved lab, at least 30 days after vaccination — a valid result is essential to re-enter the EU and cannot be arranged at the last minute.
On site, before the flight A licensed vet in Kathmandu completes the health certificate, which the DLS Animal Quarantine Office endorses; the international certificate is generally issued within 30 days of travel.

⚠️ If your dog already had a valid EU rabies titer before leaving, it stays valid for life as long as the rabies vaccination is kept up — check this before you travel.

🔗 Authority: DLS

🚫 Restricted dogs

The official Nepali sources reviewed — the Animal Health and Livestock Services Act, 2055 and its Rules, 2056, and the Government of Nepal's published pet-import guidance — do not set out a breed-specific import ban. The import rules apply to dogs generally, not to named breeds.

Category 1

No national breed-specific import ban is published in the reviewed sources. Breeds restricted in some other countries (pit-bull types, Tosa, Rottweiler and similar) are not, in those documents, named as prohibited from being imported into Nepal.

Category 2

Restrictions come instead from airline policies: many carriers refuse or restrict snub-nosed (brachycephalic) breeds in the hold and may set their own breed rules. These are carrier rules, not Nepali import bans. Any future breed measure would come from the Department of Livestock Services, so re-check before travel.

Because breed policy is unpublished on the import side, confirm your dog's breed is accepted by your airline before booking, and check the Department of Livestock Services for any future change.

✈️ Airlines flying to Nepal with a dog

Carriers we document that serve this country and accept dogs. The verdict is the airline's general policy — it does not prejudge your breed, your crate or your exact route.

Turkish Airlines 1 airport Cabin ≤8 kg Qatar Airways 1 airport Hold China Southern Airlines 1 airport Hold Air India 1 airport Cabin Singapore Airlines 1 airport Hold Cathay Pacific 1 airport Cargo only

+6 more documented airlines accept dogs to this country. 2 carriers serving this country are not listed here: refusal or undocumented pet policy. See all airlines →

🛂 Airports in Nepal

Check where your dog can relieve itself at each airport — and whether it's before or after security.

Kathmandu KTM

Nepal with a dog: common questions

Nepal: What does my dog need to enter?

Nepal requires: Advance notice (Animal Quarantine Office), Veterinary health certificate, Rabies vaccination, Entry through a quarantine check post, Arrival examination (quarantine officer).

Nepal: Is a rabies antibody test required?

Nepal — Rabies antibody test: Not required.

Nepal: Are any dog breeds banned?

Nepal: How long does it take to prepare a dog?

Dog from the EU: ~2–4 weeks — the EU pet passport is not used, but a valid rabies vaccination and a veterinary health certificate issued within 10 days of arrival are enough, plus a 72-hour advance notice to the Animal Quarantine Office.…

Nepal: What is needed to leave with a dog?