From California to Singapore With Your Dog or Cat

The shape of a California-to-Singapore move

Most West Coast moves to Singapore are job-driven, and the start date is fixed before anyone thinks about the dog. That is the main risk: Singapore's rules are not complicated, but the blood-test wait cannot be shortened.

Singapore's Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) publishes the rules on its dog and cat import page. The US is in Schedule II, the same tier for every state.

Four months out (or earlier): the long-lead items

• Microchip: ISO 11784 or 11785, with the number on every record.
• Rabies vaccination: inactivated or recombinant, and valid.
• Titer blood draw: at least 28 days after a valid rabies shot, and between 90 days and 12 months before export. The result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml from a WOAH reference lab or an approved lab. We confirm with you which US lab to use before the draw.
• Core vaccines: dogs need distemper, adenovirus type 1 and parvovirus type 2; cats need calicivirus, herpesvirus-1 and panleukopenia. Records must show the chip number, date, brand, batch and vet signature.
• Breed check: Singapore prohibits Pit Bull types (including American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Bulldog), Akita, Boerboel, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Neapolitan Mastiff, Tosa, Presa Canario and their crosses, plus first- to fourth-generation Bengal and Savannah cats. Akitas and American Bulldogs are common in California, so check this first.

Pets must be at least 12 weeks old at export.

About a month out: licenses

Singapore needs two licenses, in this order:

1. A dog or cat license on the Pet Animal Licensing System (PALS).
2. An import license: S$50 for normal service (two working days) or S$100 for express (one working day). It is valid for 90 days from issue and cannot be extended, so don't apply too early.

USDA's Singapore page suggests submitting the licenses about 30 days before arrival.

The last week: tight windows

• Parasite treatment: internal and external, 2 to 7 days before export, by your veterinarian.
• Health certificate: your USDA-accredited vet completes Sections I–III of Singapore's "Dogs and Cats from USA" certificate, and USDA APHIS endorses Section IV. Singapore accepts APHIS's digital endorsement through VEHCS; you print the endorsed certificate, and it travels with the pet. No mailing back and forth.
• Captain's declaration: a form signed and endorsed by the airline(s) carrying your pet.
• Arrival inspection: booked online at least 5 days before arrival, for Changi Animal and Plant Quarantine Station. Turning up without a booking costs S$133 per hour or part of an hour.

Present the import license at check-in.

Arriving without home quarantine

A personal import from Schedule II skips post-arrival quarantine only when both conditions are met:

• the pet arrives less than 5 days after you enter Singapore; and
• it has lived continuously at the same address as you for more than 6 months before import.

Otherwise, the pet serves at least 10 days of home quarantine, with a smart collar tag paid up front at S$29 per animal per day.

Flying out of the West Coast

There is no single best airport. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle all work on paper; what matters is which carrier will take your pet in which mode, and whether the routing needs a connection, which lengthens the journey and can change how the pet is handled. Two West Coast specifics to plan for:

• Summer heat. Many airlines restrict pets in the hold or cargo when ground temperatures are high, which can affect afternoon departures in inland California.
• Crate size. Larger crates sometimes have to travel as cargo rather than checked baggage, and Singapore asks owners or agents to collect containers above 82 × 64 × 58 cm in person at the quarantine station.

Airline policies change, so we confirm the carrier, aircraft and mode for your pet. The full corridor is on our USA to Singapore route page.