Moving to the UAE With Pets: Registration, Rabies & Vet Care

Your pet's UAE import permit gets them through one part of the move. Once they are living with you, arrange local registration and a veterinary practice that can explain the requirements in your emirate. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have different registration systems; neither should be treated as a single nationwide database.

YOUR ARRIVAL CHECKLIST

Four steps to settling in

Use this as your action list. The timing below is a planning guide; legal deadlines depend on the authority and your pet’s circumstances.

1. 1Choose the correct emirate process

   After arrival

   In Dubai, ask a licensed vet to help with municipality registration. In Abu Dhabi, check TAMM. For other emirates, confirm the local municipality’s process.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Registration linked to the correct home address and chip.

2. 2Review the overseas vaccine record

   Before deciding what is due

   Take the passport and product/date details to the vet. Ask how rabies and other vaccines affect local registration, including acceptance of overseas certificates.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Written next dates for registration and each required vaccine.

3. 3Confirm registration is complete

   After the clinic or portal application

   Check the pet’s chip, owner details and contact number; keep the certificate and any required tag.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Issued record/certificate, tag where applicable and expiry.

4. 4Keep care and contact details current

   Ongoing

   Transfer the full medical history, confirm medication availability and emergency care, and update records after moving between homes or emirates.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Vet contact, emergency number and separate reminders.

Keep the chip record, local registration and veterinary plan together. Completing one does not automatically complete the others.

1. In Dubai, arrange municipality registration through a local clinic

Ask a veterinary clinic to scan the existing microchip, check your pet's vaccination evidence and help register the dog or cat with Dubai Municipality. Have the pet passport or vaccination record, microchip number, import documents, owner identification and current contact details ready; confirm the clinic's document requirements before the appointment.

DKC Veterinary Clinic's Dubai guidance describes microchipping, rabies vaccination, municipality registration and the identification tag as linked requirements. Its published guidance describes annual registration and vaccination renewal. Ask the clinic to record the next registration and rabies dates explicitly and explain the required routine dog or cat vaccines.

Do not assume an overseas three-year rabies certificate automatically means three years before Dubai renewal. Have the clinic reconcile the existing certificate with the municipality's current requirements rather than arranging an extra injection yourself. For official service enquiries, use Dubai Municipality Veterinary Services.

2. In Abu Dhabi, check the TAMM Animal Ownership record

Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport directs cat and dog owners to the TAMM registration system for owners and their microchipped pets. The municipality's September 2026 reminder asks owners to register and keep information up to date through the Animal Ownership service.

Ask a licensed clinic to check what needs to be recorded or verified for your pet, then confirm that you can see the correct ownership details in TAMM. Keep the chip, passport and vaccination information together. Do not assume that a Dubai tag completes Abu Dhabi's process, or apply Dubai's renewal timetable to Abu Dhabi without checking.

3. Elsewhere in the UAE, ask the authority for your emirate

For Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah or Umm Al Quwain, contact the relevant municipality and a local clinic. Ask which cats and dogs need registration, how the microchip is recorded, what vaccination evidence is accepted, whether a tag is issued and how renewal works.

Request the answers for the species and address where the pet will live. A landlord, community or boarding facility may also have conditions, but those do not replace municipal requirements.

4. Make the first vet visit a records review

Send the new practice the full history, not just the latest vaccination page. Include ongoing medicines, allergies, test results and the dates and products already given. Ask it to separate three things in your care plan: what the local registration system requires, what the vet recommends for your pet, and what boarding or future travel will require.

Agree the next vaccination and parasite-prevention dates with the vet and save its emergency contact details. For a pet on long-term medication, ask about local availability and prescription arrangements before supplies run low.

Settle the home as well as the paperwork

Confirm pet permission in the tenancy and community rules, arrange secure doors and windows, and plan practical access to a vet. Ask the vet for guidance on adapting exercise to the local climate. Store the documents where both household members can find them, particularly if one person usually handles appointments.

Dubai vaccination and registration details above draw on local veterinary guidance; the clinic and municipality should confirm the current requirements for your individual pet. We have deliberately not presented Dubai's procedure as a UAE-wide rule.

Useful resources: go straight to the right service

These links take you to the organisation responsible for the service. Commercial registries are options, not exclusive recommendations; check acceptance of your chip and current fees before paying.