Bringing a dog or cat into the UAE is genuinely manageable if you start early. The paperwork is well defined, the costs are predictable once you know what to expect, and most of the process can be handled online directly through the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. This guide covers exactly what MOCCAE requires, what it actually costs in AED, which breeds are banned outright, and the mistakes that delay people at the cargo terminal.
The import permit and what it requires
Every cat or dog entering the UAE needs an import permit issued by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, applied for online before the pet travels. The permit is valid for 90 days from issuance, though several independent pet relocation sources still quote an older 30-day validity, so confirm the current window directly on MOCCAE‘s portal before booking flights around it. You are allowed a maximum of two pets per person per year, either two cats, two dogs, or one of each.
Pets must travel as manifested cargo into the UAE, with one meaningful exception: Etihad Airways permits small cats and dogs in the cabin on flights landing in Abu Dhabi specifically, a detail most generic guides miss entirely since Emirates and most other carriers require cargo transport regardless of pet size.
Documents and timing
Your pet needs a permanent microchip, current rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel, and a health certificate issued by an accredited vet no more than 10 days before arrival. The pet must be at least 15 weeks old.
If your pet is travelling from a country classified as higher risk for rabies, an antibody titer test is required in addition to the standard vaccination record, with the blood sample needing to be drawn at a specific point relative to the vaccination date. Bahrain and Qatar specifically require this titer test for entry into the UAE despite both being classified as low rabies risk, an inconsistency worth knowing about if you are moving from either country and assumed the standard low-risk documentation would be enough.
Banned and restricted breeds
The UAE prohibits the import of several dog breeds outright, including pit bull types (American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully) and a range of mastiff breeds (Cane Corso, Tibetan Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Dogue de Bordeaux, Boerboel, Bullmastiff, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, and the Bully Kutta). If you own one of these breeds, importing it into the UAE is not an option regardless of vaccination status or documentation, and this is worth checking before accepting a job offer or signing a lease if rehoming is not something you are willing to consider.
Bengal and Serval cats require an additional fifth-generation pedigree certificate to import, since both breeds sit closer to wild ancestry and are treated with additional scrutiny as a result.
What it actually costs
The import permit itself costs AED 200 per pet. Microchipping, if not already done, runs roughly AED 100 to AED 250. Rabies vaccination costs AED 100 to AED 200. The health certificate from an accredited vet runs AED 100 to AED 300. Customs inspection on arrival adds a further AED 500 for cats and AED 1,000 for dogs. Altogether, a straightforward import with no agent involved typically lands somewhere between AED 1,000 and AED 2,000 in direct fees, before factoring in the airline’s cargo charge, which varies by pet weight and crate size and is usually the single largest cost in the entire process. Worth budgeting for separately from the rest of your moving and settling-in costs, since it rarely gets factored into a relocation budget until the bill actually arrives.
Which airlines actually carry pets
Emirates SkyCargo and Etihad Cargo are the two carriers most consistently recommended for pet relocation into the UAE, both with dedicated animal handling procedures and acceptance of dogs and cats as manifest cargo in IATA-approved crates. Emirates permits pets as checked cargo on flights under 17 hours, with cargo pricing based on volumetric weight rather than actual pet weight, meaning a small dog in a large crate is charged for the space the crate occupies, not how much the dog weighs.
Sedating a pet for travel is explicitly forbidden by both Emirates and Etihad, since sedation lowers blood pressure at altitude and can be fatal in the aircraft hold. Crate training in advance, ideally starting two to three months before travel, is the recommended alternative to manage anxiety safely.
Doing it yourself versus using a relocation agent
Handling the entire process yourself is genuinely possible, the paperwork is publicly documented and the import permit can be applied for online directly through MOCCAE. The trade-off is time and risk tolerance for error, since a missed document or a permit that expires before your flight can mean missing your move date entirely. A relocation agent adds a management fee on top of the direct costs already outlined, but coordinates vet appointments, documentation timing, and airline booking as a single service, which is genuinely worth the cost for anyone moving from a country with more complex export requirements on their end, and less necessary for a straightforward route.
The mistakes that delay people
Letting the import permit expire before the flight is booked is the single most common, entirely avoidable delay, since the window is shorter than people assume relative to how far in advance flights are typically booked. Assuming your home country’s standard vaccination record is automatically sufficient without checking whether the UAE classifies your country of origin as requiring an additional titer test. And underestimating the breed ban, which applies strictly regardless of how the dog behaves or how long you have owned it.
Once your pet has settled in, eventually you may need to take them out of the UAE again, whether for a holiday, a permanent move, or a change in circumstances. The export side runs through the same ministry but has its own separate timeline and a noticeably tighter certificate validity window, covered fully in the guide to leaving the UAE with a pet.
Find out more about overall cost of living in the UAE.
