🇲🇼Taking a dog or cat to Malawi: entry rules and flights

✓ Rules checked: June 1, 2026Official sources only

Preparing from scratch takes about 4 weeks, wherever you fly from.

Malawi sets its own requirements for bringing in dogs and cats. From any departure country your pet needs import permit, microchip, rabies vaccination, additional vaccination and veterinary health certificate. The rules are the same for dogs and cats.

There is no quarantine if the rule's conditions are met — otherwise the pet is held. Order matters more than the list: the microchip goes in before the rabies vaccination, or the vaccination does not count. 1 carriers in our directory fly direct to Malawi, and their pet conditions differ.

Check your own route

Free, no signup: timings, documents and airlines for your pet

🐕 🐈 Same rules for dogs and cats

Airlines with direct flights

1 airlines in our directory fly direct to and from Malawi. Their conditions differ — the cabin weight limit, whether they carry pets in the hold, the fee and breed restrictions — so it is worth choosing the carrier before buying the ticket.

Airline	Cabin	Hold	Cabin fee	Direct flights
Ethiopian Airlines no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · no snub-nosed breeds in the cabin	✓ up to 8 kg	✓ up to 45 kg	—	from 8 cities in 8 countries

Showing the 1 carriers serving the most cities out of 1 with direct flights. Schedules: AeroDataBox, AirLabs, Travelpayouts; pet conditions come from our airline directory.

Restrictions

The limits people find out about last: how many animals one person may bring, the minimum age and which breeds are turned away at the border.

Quarantine Yes, if the conditions are not met +

What the quarantine depends on:

not meeting import regulations

Banned breeds No bans +

These are the country's rules. Airlines refuse some breeds on their own — their limits are in the carrier table above.

Pets per person Not stated

Minimum age no limit; vaccination from 12 weeks

Points of entry Not stated

What you need to enter Malawi

The full list of documents and procedures for entering Malawi. Every item carries its official source and last-checked date, and is marked as always required or required only from some departure countries.

Identification

Microchip+

Your pet should be identified with a 15-digit pet microchip which is compliant with International Standards Organization standard 11784 or Annex A of ISO standard 11785.

«Your pet should be identified with a 15-digit pet microchip which is compliant with International Standards Organization standard 11784 or Annex A of ISO standard 11785.»

Source ↗Rules checked: June 1, 2026

Vaccination

Rabies vaccination+

All cats and dogs must be vaccinated for rabies between 30 days and 12 months prior to entering Malawi.

«All cats and dogs must be vaccinated for rabies between 30 days and 12 months prior to entering Malawi.»

Source ↗Rules checked: June 1, 2026

Additional vaccination+

Dogs should be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parvovirus.

«Dogs should be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parvovirus.»

Source ↗Rules checked: June 1, 2026

Documents

Import permit+

Malawi requires an import permit from the Director of Animal Health unless your dog or cat is entering from certain SADC member nations: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland or Zimbabwe.

«Malawi requires an import permit from the Director of Animal Health unless your dog or cat is entering from certain SADC member nations: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland or Zimbabwe.»

Source ↗Rules checked: June 1, 2026

Veterinary health certificate+

A licensed veterinarian in the origination country must complete the health certificate within 10 days of entry; a government veterinarian must issue or endorse it.

«A licensed veterinarian in the origination country must complete the health certificate within 10 days of entry; a government veterinarian must issue or endorse it.»

Source ↗Rules checked: June 1, 2026

The order of preparation

The order matters more than the list: a step done too early has to be repeated. The intervals come from the same rule fields the engine uses for the earliest departure date.

Microchip

before the rabies vaccination
Rabies vaccination

pet at least 12 weeks oldvalid after 30 days
Additional vaccination
Import permit
Veterinary health certificate

no earlier than 10 days before entry

Steps marked “depends on origin” are not needed by everyone — see the table above or check your own route.

Compared by departure country

The requirements are the same whichever country you fly from — this country draws no distinction between departure countries. Below is the same engine answer on six examples, counted from zero: no microchip and no vaccination yet, preparation starting today.

From	Microchip	Rabies jab	Other vaccines	Import permit	Health certificate	Earliest departurepreparing from scratch
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →
🇫🇷 France	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →
🇹🇷 Turkey	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →
🇨🇳 China	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →
🇺🇸 United States	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	October 24, 2026	Plan →

If the microchip and vaccination are already done, the wait is shorter: the clock runs from the vaccination date, not from today. Breed, weight and connections change the answer too — check your own route with the form above.

Arrival airports

The country's rules place no restriction on the arrival airport. Below are airports with direct flights; marked where we have documented the arrival procedure.

Not documented yet2

LLWLumbadzi BLZBlantyre

FAQ

What documents do I need to enter Malawi?+

From any country: microchip, rabies vaccination, additional vaccination, import permit, veterinary health certificate.

Is a rabies titre test required for Malawi?+

No, a titre test is not required for entry.

Which breeds are banned from entry?+

The country's rules list no breed bans. Individual airlines have their own restrictions — see the carrier table.

Which airlines take pets in the cabin?+

For example: Ethiopian Airlines. The full list with conditions is in the table above.

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