The short answer
Every dog or cat entering Taiwan needs an import quarantine permit from APHIA, Taiwan's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (the authority formerly known as BAPHIQ). It is applied for online, before the flight, by the owner or an authorised agent. The application itself is free, the minimum lead time is 20 days before arrival, and for most pets the permit is the document that decides whether arrival night ends at home or in a quarantine facility, because filing it 120 days ahead is one of the two routes to the 7-day quarantine waiver.
Who needs one, and who files it
Every dog and cat, from every origin, including Taiwan's designated rabies-free countries (Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Iceland, Norway excluding Svalbard, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Hawaii and Guam). The difference between origins is not whether a permit is needed but what has to be attached to it.
The applicant is the importer, meaning the owner, or an agent with the owner's written authorisation. That is the part we handle on every Taiwan import: the filing, the uploads, and the follow-up with the arrival airport's APHIA office.
What the application needs
| Upload | What APHIA checks | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Owner's ID or passport | The name matches the person who will clear the pet, or the authorised agent. | A spouse files, a partner collects: mismatched names stall the release. |
| Rabies vaccination certificate | Inactivated vaccine, given after the microchip, at 90 days of age or older, 30 days to one year before entry. | A chip implanted after the vaccine, or a certificate without the chip number. |
| Rabies titer laboratory report (rabies-infected origins) | At least 0.5 IU/mL from a WOAH reference or APHIA-designated laboratory, blood drawn 90 days to one year before import. | A result that is valid for another country's rules but outside Taiwan's window. See how the FAVN titer works. |
| Quarantine reservation (rabies-infected origins) | A slot at an APHIA designated facility for the 7 days after arrival, even when a waiver is expected. | Assuming the waiver and not booking; the waiver is APHIA's decision, not the applicant's. |
Applications go through the APHIA pet e-permit portal. The approved permit is reconciled at arrival against the live microchip scan, the origin government veterinary certificate (APHIA Form 001 from rabies-free origins, Form 002 from everywhere else) and the titer report.
Timing: when 20 days becomes 120
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At least 20 days before arrival The legal minimum
- Every permit. From a rabies-free origin this is the whole timeline, provided the vaccination and residency rules are met.
- From a rabies-infected origin, filing at 20 days means the 7-day post-entry quarantine applies, unless the laboratory route below is used.
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At least 120 days before arrival Waiver route A
- With a titer sampled 180 days to one year before arrival, a permit filed 120 or more days ahead qualifies for the quarantine waiver.
- This is the route that is entirely in your hands, which is why we plan the permit date on day one.
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20 days plus a direct laboratory report Waiver route B
- The same 180-day titer, a permit filed at the normal 20 days, and the titer report sent to APHIA directly by the laboratory or by the exporting country's quarantine authority (or retrievable on the laboratory's own website). A copy the owner forwards does not count.
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Changing the flight 10 days before the new date
- A change of arrival port or date is possible once, applied for at least 10 days before the new arrival date.
Fees and what changed in 2026
- Application fee: none.
- On arrival: a NT$100 processing fee, paid in cash at the airport APHIA office. Transport from the port to the quarantine facility, and the facility's own boarding charges, are billed separately when quarantine applies. See Taiwan pet import fees for the wider picture.
- Form change: APHIA revised the permit form on 5 January 2026. Permits in the old format are accepted through the end of 2026; from 1 January 2027 only the new format is accepted. Anyone holding an older permit for a 2027 arrival should re-apply.
- Rabies-free list: the Czech Republic now appears on APHIA's designated list, which changes the attachments for pets arriving from there.
Sources: APHIA "Quarantine Requirements for the Importation of Dogs and Cats" (in force 29 February 2024), the APHIA import process document dated 12 October 2026 and the APHIA FAQ updated 10 March 2026, all linked from the APHIA pet import hub. Checked 16 October 2026; rules change, so confirm against the live page before relying on them.
Where the permit fits in the whole move
The permit is one of five documents in the packet APHIA reconciles at Taoyuan, and the only one with two different deadlines depending on what you want. The others are covered in what documents you need to move a pet to Taiwan; the full inbound sequence is on the Taiwan import guide, with species-specific notes for dogs and cats. If you would rather not run the calendar yourself, tell us your route and dates and we file it on the right day.
Want this handled for you?
Everything in this article is work 886JetPet does daily on the Taiwan corridor — the paperwork, the calendar, the airline, the arrival. One quote, one team, door to door.