Short answer. Five calendar days for the court to direct issuance, thirty for service. Unless the complaint is dismissible on its face, the court must, within five calendar days from receipt of the initiatory pleading and proof of payment of legal fees, direct the clerk to issue summons; the server must complete service within thirty calendar days from issuance and receipt.
What the law says
the court shall, within five calendar days from receipt of the initiatory pleading and proof of payment of the requisite legal fees, direct the clerk of court to issue the corresponding summons to the defendants
Rule 14, Section 1 — Clerk to issue summons. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Within thirty calendar days from issuance of summons by the clerk of court and receipt thereof, the sheriff or process server, or person authorized by the court, shall complete its service.
Rule 14, Section 20 — Return. Read the full provision →
Five days to set the case in motion
The clock starts at the court, not the sheriff's office. Unless the complaint is on its face dismissible, the court shall, within five calendar days from receipt of the initiatory pleading and proof of payment of the requisite legal fees, direct the clerk of court to issue summons to the defendants. Two things must both be in: the pleading and the proof that the legal fees were paid — a filed complaint without the fee proof does not start the five days. The step is quick by design; issuing summons is what converts a filed complaint into a case the defendant must answer.
Thirty days to complete service
Service has its own deadline: Within thirty calendar days from issuance of summons by the clerk of court and receipt thereof, the sheriff or process server, or person authorized by the court, shall complete its service. Notice the phrase person authorized by the court — service is not exclusively a sheriff's task under this section. Notice, too, the word complete: the thirty days is for finished service, not for a first attempt, which is why the section later demands an account of every failed try.
The return: five days to report
After serving, the server reports. Within five calendar days from service of summons, the server shall file with the court and serve a copy of the return to the plaintiff's counsel — personally, by registered mail, or by electronic means authorized by the Rules. The return is the official record that the defendant was brought within the court's reach, and for a plaintiff tracking a slow case it is the document to ask about first: no return on file, and the real question is whether service has happened at all.
Substituted service must be documented
If personal service fails and substituted service is used, the return must justify it in detail: The impossibility of prompt personal service within a period of thirty calendar days from issue and receipt of summons; the date and time of the three attempts on at least two different dates, with the inquiries made to locate the defendant; and the name of the adult, office custodian, or homeowners' association or condominium officer who actually received the papers. For a defendant claiming never to have been served, this checklist is the battleground — a return that cannot show these details is a return with a problem.