You reserve the space yourself, online, in the AVS Quarantine Management System at qms.avs.gov.sg. Open it once the rabies antibody result is in hand, attach the microchip number, rabies records and blood test report, then pay a non-refundable deposit of ten days' fees plus the S$75 transfer. Rules as at 19 February 2026.
Introduction: the booking that decides your flight date
Every dog and cat travelling from Malaysia to Singapore serves at least 30 days at the Animal Quarantine Centre, and the space must be reserved before the pet flies. That reservation happens in one place only — the Quarantine Management System, or QMS.
Most owners plan around a flight. The flight is the flexible part. The kennel is not.
Singapore runs one government quarantine facility, so the date you get in QMS is the date your whole move settles around. This guide covers who may book, what must be ready first, the five steps AVS publishes, what a deposit and a change cost, and where booking sits in the timeline. For the rule behind the quarantine itself, start with our guide to Singapore’s 30-day quarantine for Malaysian pets. The video below covers the import rules this system was built on.
What QMS is, and who is allowed to book
QMS is the AVS online reservation system for quarantine space at the Animal Quarantine Centre. AVS names the owner or the owner’s agent as responsible for the booking, so you can book Singapore pet quarantine in QMS yourself. No agent is needed to hold the space.
This surprises people. Singapore has tightened who may handle the pet on arrival, but the reservation stayed open to owners.
- It runs 24/7. AVS shows the space available against your intended arrival date, takes your documents, and emails you on application and billing.
- The responsibility is named. AVS writes that the owner or his agent must ensure a space has been booked. Nothing there requires a company to do it.
- Clearance is the opposite. Since 1 April 2026 all import clearance for personal pets at Changi must go through an AVS-recognised pet agent. Booking, you may do. Collecting, you may not.
- One system, one facility. There is no second centre to try if your dates are gone, as our piece on the station that replaced Sembawang explains.
When you can book, and what has to happen first
AVS lists reserving quarantine space as step five, done when the rabies serology result is ready. The blood sample must be drawn at least 28 days after a valid rabies vaccination, and at least 90 days before export. That wait, not the booking form, sets your earliest arrival.
Owners ask how many months ahead to book. The laboratory decides — until the antibody report exists, QMS has nothing to attach.
AVS publishes no minimum lead time, only that demand is high and applicants should book early. So treat the day the report lands as the day to open QMS. The blood work is covered in our guide to the rabies titre test for Singapore.
The 90-day wait runs whether or not you have booked. The kennel queue runs whether or not you have waited. Only one of the two rewards acting early.
One more constraint sits inside the system. A confirmed reservation is held only three days past the allocated schedule date, so a flight that slips by a week loses the space.
Not sure when your pet’s 90 days are up?
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How to book Singapore pet quarantine in QMS, step by step
AVS publishes five steps: create an account and log in, prepare the three supporting documents, complete the fields and attach them, pay the non-refundable deposit on confirmation, and note that the space is held only up to three days past the allocated schedule date.
The form is short. What makes it fail is arriving with incomplete records, because AVS is explicit that all supporting documents are required for the reservation.
- Create a QMS account and log in. New users sign up at the AVS Quarantine Management System. A Quick Start user guide sits on the same AVS page.
- Prepare the three documents. Microchip number, rabies vaccination records, rabies antibody blood test report. Scan them before you start, not mid-form.
- Complete the fields and attach the files. Enter the intended arrival date and pick the room type. Declare any medication here — staff administer it only with a prescription from your vet.
- Pay the deposit on confirmation. Ten days of quarantine fees plus the transport charge from the border checkpoint, and not refundable.
- Diarise the three-day rule. The space is held only up to three days after the allocated schedule date, so a flight change needs an amendment.
Two things catch people. General vaccination records are also required when reserving, so bring the core card as well as the rabies one. And a reservation is not a permit — you still need the dog or cat licence, then the AVS import licence before your pet travels.
What QMS asks for before it will hold a space
Four record sets and two decisions — the microchip number, rabies vaccination history, rabies antibody report and core vaccination card, plus your arrival date and room type. Each carries a condition, and a record that fails its condition stops the reservation.
Owners rarely fail on paperwork existing. They fail on the timing buried inside it: a sample drawn too soon, or a microchip number on one card but not another.
Every QMS Field and the Condition Hidden Inside It
| What QMS asks for | The condition attached | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Microchip number | ISO 11784 or 11785 Annex A, printed on all vaccination and treatment records | Records predating the chip |
| Rabies vaccination records | Valid primary dose and boosters, inactivated or recombinant vaccine accepted by AVS | A lapsed booster voids the chain |
| Rabies antibody report | Sampled 28+ days after vaccination, 90+ days and within 12 months before export, at a WOAH reference laboratory | Sampled too early to be usable |
| Core vaccination card | Distemper, adenovirus type 1, parvovirus type 2 for dogs; calicivirus, herpesvirus-1, panleukopaenia for cats | Only the rabies card is brought |
| Intended arrival date | Space is offered against this date and held up to 3 days past the allocated schedule date | Flight booked before space confirmed |
| Room type and medication | Fan or air-conditioned; medication must be declared in the application | Later room changes trigger a fee |
Source: AVS Quarantine Management System page updated 19 February 2026, Importing dogs and cats updated 5 August 2026, and Animal Quarantine Centre updated 3 July 2026. AVS.
Read the third row twice. A sample drawn 20 days after the vaccination has to be redone, and redoing it pushes the 90-day clock back to zero.
What the deposit costs, and why it keeps rising
The deposit is ten days of quarantine fees plus the S$75 transfer charge. At rates in force since 1 December 2025 that is S$335 for a fan room or S$425 with air conditioning. From 1 December 2026 the same deposits become S$435 and S$515. None of it is refundable.
The deposit is a multiple of the daily rate, so it climbs whenever that rate does — and AVS is midway through a two-year staircase. The chart shows what you pay at confirmation, not the full stay.
The QMS Deposit, by Rate Period and Room Type
| Rate period and room | Relative deposit | Deposit (S$) |
|---|---|---|
| Before Dec 2025, fan | 243 | |
| Before Dec 2025, aircon | 338 | |
| From Dec 2025, fan | 335 | |
| From Dec 2025, aircon | 425 | |
| From Dec 2026, fan | 435 | |
| From Dec 2026, aircon | 515 |
Source: calculated from the AVS Animal Quarantine Centre fee schedule updated 3 July 2026, using ten days at each period’s daily rate plus the S$75 transfer charge. Bars are relative to the highest figure. AVS.
The fan-room deposit of S$335 is about a third of the S$923 that 30 days now costs with the transfer and arrival vaccination. Owners who applied before 1 December 2025 were shielded from that revision; nothing equivalent has been published for December 2026. The rest of the bill sits in our breakdown of the cost to move a pet between Singapore and Malaysia.
Want the Singapore and Malaysian costs on one page?
We quote the quarantine fees, the transfer, the licences and the flight together, so nothing arrives as a surprise. See our pet relocation pricing →
Changing or cancelling a confirmed booking
You amend inside QMS using your quarantine reservation code, and every amendment needs AVS approval. More than 30 days before arrival, the first change to the date or room type is free and later ones cost S$65 each. Thirty days or less before arrival, every change costs S$65.
The cliff sits exactly 30 days before arrival, the point at which most Malaysian owners are still juggling flights. The grid shows what the same change costs on either side of it.
The Same Change, Before and After the 30-Day Line
| What you change | More than 30 days before arrival | 30 days or less before arrival |
|---|---|---|
| First change of arrival date or room type | Free | S$65 |
| Second and later changes | S$65 each | S$65 each |
| Cancelling the reservation | Deposit not refunded | Deposit not refunded |
| Approval needed | Yes, by AVS | Yes, by AVS |
Source: AVS Quarantine Management System amendment fee schedule and cancellation terms, updated 19 February 2026. The fee applies to amendments affecting the arrival date or room type. AVS.
The word to notice is approval. A paid amendment is a request, not a guarantee. If the new date has no space, the fee has bought you nothing.
Where the QMS booking sits in the Malaysian timeline
The reservation is step five of eleven. Three veterinary stages come first, and the licences, the border inspection appointment and the health certificate all come after. Booking early does not move the vet work, and skipping ahead breaks the order.
Laid against the calendar, the sequence explains why this move takes months. Each row shows the earliest that stage can happen.
From First Injection to First Day in Quarantine
| Stage | What happens | Earliest it can happen |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Microchip and valid rabies vaccination | Any time; pet must be 12 weeks at export |
| Day 28+ | Blood sampling for rabies serology | At least 28 days after the vaccination |
| Result day | Reserve quarantine space in QMS | When the serology result is ready; deposit S$335 or S$425 |
| Day 118+ | Earliest date of export | 90 days after sampling, within 12 months of it |
| Licences | Dog or cat licence, then import licence via GoBusiness | 2 working days, or 1 by express at S$100 rather than S$50; valid 90 days |
| 2–7 days out | Inspection appointment, parasite treatment, health certificate | Inspection booked 5+ days ahead or S$133 per hour; certificate 2 to 7 days before export |
| Arrival day | Clearance, transfer to the centre, 30 days begin | Changi transfers run 10.00–10.30 on weekdays; S$75 plus S$68 vaccination |
Source: AVS Importing dogs and cats updated 5 August 2026, Quarantine Management System updated 19 February 2026, Animal Quarantine Centre updated 3 July 2026, Changi Animal & Plant Quarantine Station updated 6 April 2026. Day counts are minimums. AVS.
Four months is the floor for an unvaccinated pet, so Klang Valley families should start the vet work before signing a Singapore lease. Crossing by road changes only the last row — see our guide to the Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing.
Five booking mistakes that cost Malaysian owners money
Booking the flight before the space, missing the core vaccination card, assuming a booking is a permit, letting the reservation lapse past the three-day window, and reading fee figures from an outdated guide. Each one is avoidable, and most of them cost real money.
These come up again and again. None is exotic. Each follows from doing the right things in the wrong order.
- Flight first, kennel second. Space is offered against your intended arrival date. Book the ticket first and you pay S$65 to move the reservation, or move the ticket.
- Only the rabies card. Both rabies and general vaccination records are required when reserving. One card means a hold-up at the upload stage.
- Treating the booking as a permit. A reservation is not a licence. The dog or cat licence comes first, then the import licence. See our note on the Singapore dog licence and import permit order.
- Letting the window pass. The space is held three days past the allocated schedule date. A delayed flight without an amendment costs you the deposit and the space.
- Old fee figures. The daily rate moved in December 2025 and moves again in December 2026, so any undated figure is worth re-checking. The same trap catches KLAQS quarantine at KLIA.
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Conclusion
To book Singapore pet quarantine in QMS, wait for the rabies antibody report, log in at qms.avs.gov.sg, attach the microchip number and both vaccination records, pick the arrival date and room type, and pay the deposit. Then build the flight around the date you are given.
The system is straightforward. What trips owners is the order around it: the 90-day wait ahead of the booking, and the licences behind it.
Next, read the Schedule III rules for Malaysian pets, see where your pet actually stays at the centre that replaced Sembawang, and view the whole route on our Malaysia to Singapore pet transport page.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I book Singapore pet quarantine in QMS myself, or do I need an agent?
You can do it yourself. AVS states that the owner or his agent must ensure a space has been booked through QMS, and the system takes public accounts. Import clearance at Changi is different — since 1 April 2026 an AVS-recognised pet agent must handle it.
2. How far in advance should I reserve quarantine space?
AVS publishes no fixed minimum, only that demand is high and applicants should book early. The earliest you can book is the day the rabies antibody report is ready, so treat that as the trigger and secure the date before buying the flight.
3. How much is the QMS deposit, and can I get it back?
It equals ten days of quarantine fees plus the S$75 transfer charge — about S$335 for a fan room or S$425 with air conditioning at rates in force since 1 December 2025. It is not refunded if you cancel a confirmed reservation.
4. What documents does QMS require?
The pet’s microchip number, rabies vaccination records and rabies antibody blood test report. AVS also requires general vaccination records when reserving, so bring the core card too. All supporting documents must be submitted for the reservation to go through.
5. What happens if my flight changes after I have booked?
Log in with your quarantine reservation code and amend the booking, subject to AVS approval. More than 30 days before arrival the first change to the date or room type is free; otherwise each amendment costs S$65. The space is held only three days past the allocated schedule date.
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