What are the legal requirements for bringing my domestic cats into Doha, Qatar?
By Ms Tilbury •
I have 2 cats that I want to bring with me when I move to Doha. What are the legal requirements & documents needed? Do they have to go into quarentine?
Thank you
Unless it has changed I don't think you can bring live animals by accompanied baggage from the UK, you have to take them cargo. Typically because it is the UK, it is more expensive.
Please have a look at www.qatarpetrelocators.com as they will be able to assist you if you require it.
There is no quarantine but you will need an import permit which has to be applied for in person. You may also need an export permit and/or health certificate depending on where they are leaving from.
Are your cats travelling excess baggage or cargo as there is a difference in customs, paperwork and procedures?
As long as both your cats have valid rabies vaccines that are more then one month old there shouldn't be any problems with bringing them over.
Presuming the cats are adults and up to date with their vaccinations, all you need to do is get them Rabies vaccinated and keep a copy of the card to scan and email for the import licence, the vaccination must be done well in advance of travel. I recommend however that you obtain a UK Pet Passport for them while you are there, it means you will be able to travel easily to so many places such as all of the Gulf and all of Europe and, hopefully soon back to the UK. The only extra thing you would need to do that is get a Rabies serology blood test done and ask your vet to make up a passport. If you do not get the blood test done in the UK and then want to travel to practically anywhere outside of the UK you would need to get it done here and the blood will have to go to the VLA lab in the UK anyway, much more expensive as you have to pay for the courier to fly it back!
You need to get an export licence from DEFRA, any local vet will be able to do this as long as they are registered and if you have a pet passport they simply stamp and date the passport to say the animal is in good health and permitted to travel.
This end, contact either Doha Vets or Qatar Pet Relocators to obtain the import licence for you. They will need a copy of your passport and a copy of the vaccination card. Both of these companies offer a meet and greet service which I highly recommend. I used Doha Vets and was extremely glad to have an Arabic speaker who knew how to deal with the customs men, would have been a bit daunting without them.
I hope that helps.
Yep check with Doha vets who run the Pets loactor website..
check this website:
dohapetrelocators.com