Short answer. Service by registered mail is complete upon actual receipt by the addressee, or five calendar days from when the addressee received the postmaster's first notice, whichever date comes first. So the addressee cannot indefinitely delay completion of service simply by not claiming the mail.
What the law says
Service by registered mail is complete upon actual receipt by the addressee, or after five calendar days from the date he or she received the first notice of the postmaster, whichever date is earlier.
Rule 13, Section 15 — Completeness of service. Read the full provision →
Two possible trigger points
The rule gives two distinct ways registered mail service can be treated as complete: actual receipt by the addressee, or the passage of five calendar days from the date the addressee received the postmaster's first notice about the mail waiting to be claimed. Whichever of those two dates comes first is the one that legally counts as the moment service is complete.
Why the five-day fallback exists
Without a fallback date like this, an addressee could simply refuse or neglect to claim registered mail at the post office and effectively prevent service from ever being completed against them, stalling the case indefinitely. By fixing completion at five calendar days after the postmaster's first notice — regardless of whether the addressee ever actually picks up the envelope from the post office — the rule closes off that kind of deliberate or careless stalling tactic.
How this interacts with proof of service
Because completion can turn on the postmaster's first notice rather than on actual pickup by the addressee, the paperwork behind a registered mailing — the registry receipt, and later the registry return card or the postmaster's certification — becomes essential to pin down these exact dates. A party relying on the five-day rule to establish completed service needs to be able to show precisely when that first notice was given to the addressee.
Other modes compared briefly
This same section also fixes completion points for other modes of service — for example, personal service is complete upon actual delivery, and ordinary mail is complete upon the expiration of ten calendar days after mailing unless the court provides otherwise — but for registered mail specifically, it is actual receipt or the five-day notice period, whichever is earlier, that governs when service is legally deemed done. This provision addresses only when service by registered mail is complete; it does not by itself extend or shorten any separate period for filing a pleading or a responsive motion that runs from that completion date, and it does not excuse a party from also being able to prove that the mailing itself was properly made in the first place.
Related provisions
- Rule 13, Section 15 — Completeness of service
- Rule 13, Section 14 — Conventional service or filing of orders, pleadings and other documents
- Rule 13, Section 16 — Proof of filing