Tuas Checkpoint Pet Crossing: Permits and Timing

Owners tend to picture the hard part as the border itself: the officer, the crate, the dog panting in the back. In practice the officer is checking whether four or five separate approvals all happen to be alive on the same morning.

This guide is about that morning. It covers which permits must physically exist, who issues each one, how far ahead the inspection has to be booked, and which windows are counted forward and which are counted backward. If you are still deciding between road and air, start with our Malaysia–Singapore pet transport service instead. The video below shows what the full corridor looks like from an owner’s side.

The phrase covers one specific event: an AVS officer physically examining your pet and its paperwork before Singapore lets it in. Per the AVS Tuas Checkpoint page, all animals brought into Singapore by land must undergo inspection there, and every animal must travel in a hard crate.

Three practical details define a Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing:

• The address is not the toll plaza. The AVS office sits at Tuas Operations Command, 501 Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, Block A4, Singapore 639937.
• The approach lane is different. Importers must enter through the ICA Tuas arrival cargo lane to reach the office.
• The hours are short. Monday to Saturday, 07:00 to 12:00. Closed Sundays and public holidays.

That last point sets the whole schedule. A five-hour window, six days a week, means the certificate, the licence and the appointment must converge on one morning. If you assumed the Causeway would work, read our note on driving a dog to Singapore via the Causeway first.

The grid below lists each approval, who issues it, and how long it stays valid. The validity column is the one to read twice, because a permit that expires the day before the crossing is the same as no permit at all.

Note the ordering trap. The AVS import steps for dogs and cats require a pet licence before the import licence, and a quarantine space reserved before either. On the Malaysian side, MAQIS handles the export permit while the Department of Veterinary Services covers the certificate endorsement. Our guide to the AVS import licence breaks that application down field by field.

The booking is the single cheapest thing to get right and the most expensive to forget. AVS publishes the request form on its e-services portal, and the five-day rule is a minimum, not a target. Booking earlier costs nothing.

Two things about that S$133 charge matter before your Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing:

• It is billed per hour or part thereof. A short unbooked visit still triggers a full hour.
• It is a fee, not a fine. Unscheduled attendance is charged for, not appealed against.

Most timing guides count forwards from the day you decide to move. That is the wrong direction. Every AVS window is anchored to the date of export, so the countdown below runs backwards from the morning you present at Tuas.

Read the “anchored to” column carefully. Some windows run to the date of export and some to the date of arrival. For a Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing those are the same morning — one of the few simplifications road travel gives you.

The checks are unglamorous and mostly about consistency. The table maps each item to what it is verified against, and the failure we see most often.

The mixed-breed photo deserves a line of its own. AVS asks for a colour photo showing the dog’s face and body in the licence application so it can confirm the animal is not a prohibited breed — a step owners of obviously friendly crossbreeds skip and then have to redo.

Steps on the Malaysian side and at the border

1. Reserve the quarantine space. Through the AVS Quarantine Management System, once the rabies serology result is in hand. Vaccination records are uploaded here too.
2. Obtain the Singapore dog or cat licence. Issued through the Pet Animal Licensing System, and required before the import licence can be applied for.
3. Apply for the import licence. Through the GoBusiness Licensing Portal. Normal service is S$50 and takes two working days; express is S$100 and takes one.
4. Arrange the Customs GST permit. Singapore Customs directs owners to engage a forwarding agent, and the permit must be in place before the pet arrives.
5. Book the border inspection. Through AVS e-services, at least five days out, quoting the import licence, the arrival details and a contact number.
6. Complete parasite treatment and the certificate. Two to seven days before export, the treating vet completes Sections I to III and Malaysia’s government veterinarian endorses Section IV.
7. Clear the Malaysian export side. The MAQIS export permit and the DVS veterinary documentation travel with the animal.
8. Arrive at the AVS office. Via the ICA Tuas arrival cargo lane, inside operating hours, with the pet in a hard crate and every original document to hand.

Step 8 is where the morning either works or does not. Arriving at 11:45 for a 12:00 close leaves no room for a scanner that will not read a chip. We build every schedule on our pet import into Malaysia and export desks around an early slot for exactly that reason.

These are the fees triggered on or around the crossing itself, not the full relocation. Bar lengths are relative to the largest item.

The uncomfortable comparison sits at the top of the chart: a missed booking costs more than the licence, and more than the ride to the quarantine centre. Accommodation then runs day after day, with the fan rate rising to S$36 and the air-conditioned rate to S$44 from 1 December 2026. Our pet relocation pricing page puts the Malaysian side alongside these figures.

The handover surprises people. You do not follow the van. AVS arranges the transfer to the Animal Quarantine Centre at 2 Jalan Lekar, and the next time you see your dog is during visiting hours.

The crate rule is the small print most owners miss:

• Oversized crates must be collected at the border. Anything above 82cm long, 64cm high and 58cm wide is your responsibility to take away that morning.
• Uncollected crates go to a contractor. AVS passes on the private transporter’s contact details, and retrieval attracts additional fees.
• Every crate must meet IATA rules. The Live Animals Regulations apply even though no aircraft is involved.

Plan the boot space — a large-breed crate does not always fit back into a car packed for a move. Travelling the other way? Our KLIA pet quarantine guide covers the Malaysian equivalent.

Public holidays are the quiet one. The office closes on Sundays and public holidays, and Malaysia and Singapore do not share a calendar. A certificate endorsed on a Friday for a Sunday crossing has burned two of its seven days waiting for the office to reopen.

The rest is sequencing. Applying for the import licence early feels responsible, but one issued four months out expires at 90 days and must be applied for again. The same instinct produces a health certificate signed outside its window.

Most border problems are calendar problems wearing a paperwork costume.

This is the part My Pet Mover handles as a matter of routine — one calendar holding both countries’ offices, both sets of holidays, and every expiry date in the chain.

The border itself is short and procedural. Everything that determines how it goes happened weeks earlier, in a portal or a vet’s consulting room, on a date somebody either respected or did not.

Next, read the AVS licence guide for bringing a pet into Singapore, and our corridor overview of pet transport between Malaysia and Singapore.

1. How early must I book the Tuas inspection appointment?

At least five days before your pet arrives, through the AVS e-services portal. The booking must quote the AVS import licence, the arrival details and a contact number. Arriving without an appointment attracts an inspection fee of S$133 per hour or part thereof.

2. What are the Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing hours?

The AVS office at Tuas Operations Command operates Monday to Saturday, 07:00 to 12:00. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays, so a five-hour morning window is all you have on any given crossing day.

3. Can I take my pet home straight after clearing Tuas?

Not if quarantine applies. An AVS-appointed transport service moves the animal from Tuas to the Animal Quarantine Centre, at S$75 per animal per trip. Pets arriving from Malaysia fall under Schedule III, which carries a minimum 30-day stay.

4. Do I need a Customs permit as well as an AVS import licence?

Yes. Importing a pet requires a Customs In-Payment (GST) permit in addition to the AVS import licence. Singapore Customs directs owners to engage a forwarding agent to obtain it, and it must be in place before the animal arrives.

5. What happens to the crate after the inspection?

Crates exceeding 82cm long by 64cm high by 58cm wide must be collected personally at Tuas. Anything left behind is transferred to a private transport contractor appointed by AVS, and retrieving it later costs extra.