Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry publishes one figure for cat and dog import permits: most are issued in 20 to 40 business days, but the law allows up to 123 business days. Applications are assessed in the order received and cannot be expedited. For a Malaysian family, the BICON import permit processing time is rarely the constraint that decides the flight date — the 180-day residency in an approved country is.
Introduction: the question that arrives too early
Owners ask about the permit first because it feels like the document everything else depends on. It is not. The application comes late in the sequence, after months of veterinary work, and our pet relocation team in the Klang Valley spends most of its Australia planning on the steps before it.
Almost every Australia enquiry we receive contains a version of the same question. How long does the import permit take?
It is a fair question with an unhelpful answer. By the time you are eligible to lodge a BICON application, the slowest parts of the process are already behind you or already running.
This article sets out the published figures on BICON import permit processing time, what sits behind the 123-business-day ceiling, what genuinely delays an assessment, and where the permit falls in a Malaysian timeline. The video below covers the wider sequence first.
What the department actually publishes
On its import permit page, updated 19 August 2025, the department states that most permits are issued in 20 to 40 business days, and that it can take up to 123 business days. Those are the only official numbers, and they anchor every honest Malaysia to Australia pet transport plan.
You will see shorter figures quoted elsewhere. “Ten to twenty business days” circulates widely in the pet transport industry, and it may reflect a quieter year. It is not what the department publishes now.
Where sources disagree, use the government figure and treat anything faster as a bonus. Three published statements do the work here:
- Most permits are issued in 20 to 40 business days. This is the department’s own wording on the cat and dog permit page.
- The legal maximum is 123 business days. The Biosecurity Act 2015 requires a decision inside that window, which the department describes as roughly six months.
- Applications are assessed in order of receipt. No application is prioritised over another, and the department says so explicitly.
There is a fourth statement worth reading twice. Submitting an application does not guarantee a permit will be granted. Assessment is independent, and in rare cases the department refuses.
Not sure your pet can even apply from Malaysia?
The permit application is lodged from the approved country your pet is living in, not from Kuala Lumpur. See which country your pet must live in before Australia →
Business days into calendar time, side by side
Business days hide how long a wait really feels. Forty business days is about eight calendar weeks, and 123 business days is close to six months. Setting them beside the department’s own advice to allow at least six months for the whole import shows why the permit rarely drives the Malaysia to Australia timeline.
DAFF’s Published Permit Windows Converted To Calendar Weeks, August 2026
| Published window | Business days | Approximate calendar weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Most permits, lower end | 20 |
4 weeks |
| Most permits, upper end | 40 |
8 weeks |
| Statutory maximum for a decision | 123 |
about 25 weeks |
| Whole import, department’s minimum advice | Not expressed in business days |
at least 26 weeks |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from the DAFF import permits page (updated 19 August 2025) and industry advice notice 105-2023. Calendar weeks are arithmetic conversions at five business days per week and will run longer where public holidays fall. Import conditions can change without notice.
The last row reframes the question. The department tells every importer to allow at least six months for the full process, and the permit’s worst case still fits inside that.
Why 123 business days exists at all
The 123-business-day figure is a legal obligation on the decision maker, not a service target. The Biosecurity Act 2015 requires a decision inside that period, but the department may pause the clock while it seeks more information. That is why a paperwork gap costs more than it looks, much like a mistimed rabies titre test date.
The department explains the pause in its own words. The decision-making period can stop while it verifies information, liaises with an overseas government veterinary agency, or runs a fit and proper person test at its discretion.
That matters more for a Malaysian family than for most applicants, because your documents were endorsed by a competent authority in a third country. If anything needs confirming, the department is talking to that authority, not to you. Two consequences follow:
- A paused clock is not a queue position you can see. There is no public tracker showing where your file sits.
- The pause is open-ended in practice. The 123 business days runs on the department’s clock, so time spent waiting for you or an overseas authority does not count against it.
What a BICON application costs, per animal
Fees are charged per animal, must be paid in full at submission, and are not refundable once the application is lodged. One dog costs AUD 603 in lodgement and assessment fees; a second animal in the same consignment adds AUD 288. These sit on top of the wider cost of moving a dog to Australia.
Published BICON Permit Fees By Consignment Size, AUD Per Application
| Animals in the consignment | Lodgement (AUD) | Assessment (AUD) | Total (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 130 | 473 | 603 |
| 2 | 260 | 631 | 891 |
| 3 | 390 | 789 | 1,179 |
| 4 | 520 | 947 | 1,467 |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from the DAFF import permits page, fee table read August 2026. First animal AUD 130 lodgement plus AUD 473 assessment; each additional animal in the same consignment AUD 130 plus AUD 158. Totals are arithmetic from those line items. The department describes these as minimum charges and reviews fees annually.
Two details in the small print catch people out. These are minimum charges, so extra fees may apply if an application is incomplete, contains errors, or needs a variation. And the fee buys the assessment, not the permit — on a cost recovery basis, the money is not refunded if the permit is refused or never used.
What you must already hold before you can apply
You cannot lodge a useful application until the rabies work is finished. From a Group 3 country the department requires the laboratory’s own titre test report plus the endorsed declaration that matches it. The optional identity check, which decides whether quarantine runs 10 days instead of 30, must be done even earlier.
The department is blunt about this. It cannot issue a permit if information or supporting documents are missing, unclear or unsatisfactory.
For a pet staged in a Group 3 country, the file needs:
- The rabies titre test report, issued by the testing laboratory itself rather than a forwarding laboratory.
- The matching RNATT declaration, signed and stamped by an official government veterinarian employed by the competent authority.
- Earlier titre reports and declarations where the animal has been tested more than once.
- The endorsed identity declaration, if you want the shorter quarantine stay. Without it the minimum is 30 days.
From a Group 2 country the shape changes. The competent authority sends the identity verification to the department directly, and you simply indicate in the application that it has been done.
The department also asks you not to send extra material. Photographs, routine vaccination records and pet passports are named as documents that do not help, and clutter slows an assessment down.
Where the permit sits in a Malaysian timeline
The permit is roughly step six of ten. It comes after the staging move, the microchip, the identity check, the rabies vaccination and the titre test, and before the quarantine reservation. You cannot book a Mickleham quarantine slot until the permit is issued.
Where The BICON Application Falls In The Published Sequence, Group 3 Pathway
| Stage | Earliest published timing | Must already be done |
|---|---|---|
| Pet arrives in the approved country | Month 0 | That country’s own import rules met |
| Identity verified by the competent authority | Before the titre blood draw | Readable ISO microchip implanted |
| Rabies vaccination | 3 to 4 weeks before the titre test | Animal at least 84 days old at vaccination |
| Titre sample reaches the laboratory | Day 0 of the 180-day count | Valid rabies vaccination in force |
| Declaration endorsed by an official vet | After the laboratory issues its report | Report and declaration figures match exactly |
| BICON application lodged | As soon as the declaration is in hand | Fees paid in full at submission |
| Permit issued | 20 to 40 business days later, up to 123 | Nothing further unless the department asks |
| Quarantine reservation booked | After the permit is issued | Permit in hand |
| Export | No earlier than day 180 | Final tests and treatments inside their windows |
| Arrival in Melbourne | Permit must still be valid on this date | Direct arrival, manifested cargo, IATA crate |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from the DAFF Group 3 step-by-step guide for dogs (updated 3 September 2025) and the import permits page. Timings are the earliest permitted, not a schedule. The guide is published as a guide only — your issued permit carries the definitive conditions.
Read down the last column and the pattern is clear. Every stage is gated by the one above it, so a delay early on pushes everything after it. The permit assessment, meanwhile, runs alongside a residency period you are serving anyway.
What actually delays an assessment
The department names the causes plainly: incomplete applications, unclear scans, documents not in English, and details that need verifying with an overseas authority. A wrong breed entry is its own trap. Australia bans several breeds outright, and the department wants evidence before it changes what a permit says about a restricted or banned dog breed.
Its published tips are practical rather than bureaucratic. Scans must be legible, documents must be in English or bilingual, and multi-page documents should arrive as one file rather than a folder of images. Where two pets travel together, name each file to the animal it belongs to.
Some things cannot be fixed after the fact at all:
- Critical laboratory details. No amendments are accepted to the place and date of sample collection, the submitting veterinarian, the microchip number or the result.
- Declaration corrections. Only an official veterinarian may amend an RNATT or identity declaration, and the amendment itself must be endorsed.
- An unreadable microchip. If the chip cannot be scanned or does not match the documents, the animal cannot be imported.
One more thing does not work, and owners ask about it constantly. Applications cannot be expedited, because prioritising one file would disadvantage everyone else in the queue.
Want the paperwork checked before it goes in?
Most rejected files fail on a mismatched microchip number or an unendorsed page, both of which are visible before submission. See what else the arrival rules demand of your booking →
How long the permit lasts, and what restarts a clock
A permit runs for 12 months or until the rabies titre test expires, whichever comes first, and it cannot be extended. Some events cost you a new application; others reset the whole 180-day residency requirement and add half a year to the move.
Which Events Reset The Permit, The 180 Days, Or Neither
| Event | Effect on the permit | Effect on the 180 days |
|---|---|---|
| Recoverable — no clock restarts | ||
| Titre retested before the first expires, new sample within 12 months of the original | Apply in BICON to vary the permit; validity extends | Not restarted |
| Contact details on the permit change | Original applicant varies it; a new application if that person has left | Not affected |
| Breed on the permit is wrong | Changed only on veterinary history or microchip registration evidence | Not affected |
| Costly — a fresh application and fees | ||
| Permit expires before the pet flies | No extension; new application with full documents and fees | Not restarted while a valid titre still covers it |
| Severe — the 180 days starts again | ||
| Titre more than 12 months old at export | Cannot be used; new application after a new test | Restarted from the new sample’s laboratory receipt date |
| Rabies vaccination lapses between the titre and export | Animal ineligible; revaccination and a new titre required | Restarted |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from the DAFF import permits page, the Group 3 step-by-step guide for dogs, and industry advice notice 105-2023, read August 2026. Grouping is My Pet Mover’s, drawn from the published consequences. Confirm your own position with the department before acting.
The pattern to hold on to is that the titre test governs everything. Permit validity is tied to it, and letting it lapse is the one mistake that costs six months rather than a few hundred dollars.
Malaysia’s position: you apply from somewhere else
Malaysia does not appear on Australia’s Group 1, 2 or 3 country lists, and direct importation of cats and dogs from Malaysia is suspended. The permit application is therefore lodged on the strength of documents from an approved staging country, which is why our clients start with Singapore’s quarantine rules for pets from Malaysia long before BICON.
This is the part that changes the whole question. A permit application lodged for a pet sitting in Kuala Lumpur has no path to approval, because the pre-export procedures must be done by a government approved veterinarian in an approved country.
The department’s guides put it directly. If your country of export is not on the Group 1, 2 or 3 lists, you move the animal to a Group 2 or Group 3 country and prepare it there using that country’s guide.
For Malaysian families the shortlist is short. Singapore is the nearest Group 2 country. Brunei, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the United Kingdom sit in Group 3, and each brings its own import rules to clear on the way in. That staging decision, not the permit, sets your earliest possible arrival date in Melbourne.
A working rule for when to lodge
Lodge as soon as the endorsed declaration exists, then treat 40 business days as your planning figure and the titre expiry as your hard deadline. This keeps the assessment inside the residency period rather than after it, and leaves room before the country group rules for your staging country change.
Four checks before you press submit:
- Does the microchip number match on every document? Compare the laboratory report, the declaration and the application entry digit by digit.
- Is every page endorsed? Each page needs the official veterinarian’s signature, date and stamp, unless the pages carry a single unique certificate number.
- Is the testing laboratory named, not the forwarding one? The department wants the report from the laboratory that ran the test.
- Have you paid in full? No permit issues until payment clears, and payments do not process on the day of submission.
After that, the honest advice is to stop refreshing. There is no status to watch and no way to move up.
Conclusion: the permit is a passenger, not the driver
Budget 40 business days for the assessment, know that 123 is the legal ceiling, and accept that neither figure decides your flight date. The staging country and the 180-day residency do. Plan the Malaysia to Australia move around those, and the permit slots in quietly.
The owners with the smoothest Australian moves are not the ones who applied fastest. They are the ones who had a clean, complete file the first time and applied the day it was ready. BICON import permit processing time is then something that happens in the background.
Everything here was read from the department’s own pages in August 2026, and those pages carry their own warning: import conditions can change without notice, and fees are reviewed annually. Check the current position for your export country before you commit money or a date.
Planning an Australian move and unsure where the permit fits?
Tell us your pet’s breed, your target month and whether a staging country is already decided. We will map the residency period, the permit window and the Melbourne arrival as one timeline, with the government charges shown separately from ours.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does a BICON import permit take for a cat or dog?
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry states that most cat and dog import permits are issued in 20 to 40 business days, and that it can take up to 123 business days. The 123-business-day figure is the maximum period the Biosecurity Act 2015 allows for a decision, which the department describes as about six months. Read on the department’s site in August 2026.
2. Can I pay to have my pet’s import permit processed faster?
No. The department assesses applications in the order they are received and states that it cannot expedite an application because doing so would unfairly disadvantage other clients. There is no priority fee and no fast-track pathway. The only way to shorten the wait is to lodge a complete, correct application, because incomplete files are processed from the date the last piece of information arrives.
3. What does a BICON pet import permit cost?
Per the department’s published fee table read in August 2026, the first cat or dog in a consignment costs AUD 130 in lodgement fees plus AUD 473 in assessment fees, a total of AUD 603. Each additional animal in the same consignment costs AUD 130 plus AUD 158, a total of AUD 288. These are minimum charges, are payable in full at submission, are non-refundable, and are reviewed annually.
4. How long is an Australian pet import permit valid?
A permit is valid for 12 months or until the rabies neutralising antibody titre test expires, whichever happens first. The titre test expires 12 months from the date the blood sample was collected. From a Group 2 country the permit runs 12 months; from a Group 3 country it runs to the titre expiry. The permit must still be valid on the date your pet arrives in Australia, not the date it departs.
5. Can I extend an import permit that is about to expire?
No. The department does not extend expiry dates. If your pet does not arrive before the permit expires, you must submit a new application with all supporting documents and pay the fees again. There is one related path: if the titre test is close to expiring, retest before it lapses and apply in BICON to vary the permit, which extends validity without restarting the 180-day waiting period.
6. Can I apply for the permit while my pet is still in Malaysia?
Not usefully. Malaysia is not on Australia’s Group 1, 2 or 3 country lists and direct importation of cats and dogs from Malaysia is suspended. All pre-export procedures must be carried out by a government approved veterinarian in an approved country. The rabies titre report and endorsed declaration your application depends on can therefore only be produced after your pet has moved to an approved staging country.
7. What is the most common reason a permit application is delayed?
Incomplete or unclear supporting documents. The department lists illegible scans, documents not in English, multi-page files submitted as separate images, unnamed files where several pets are travelling, and missing rabies paperwork. It may also pause the decision period while it verifies information with an overseas competent authority. Critical laboratory details such as the microchip number, collection date and result cannot be amended after the fact.
