Instruct a Serve Now
This page is where you instruct a process server once you hold a sealed document and know who must receive it. Complete the Serve Now form, attach the document, and we confirm the job and book the first attempt.
Law firms, companies and self-represented parties all lodge through one form, and the same team handles every serve. Still weighing things up? Read how iServe serves legal documents across Sydney and NSW before you instruct.
How do you instruct a process server online in three steps?
To instruct a process server here, upload the sealed document, tell us who must be served and where, then choose a deadline and urgency and submit. We check the paperwork and confirm in writing before anyone attends.
- 1
Upload the sealed copy
Attach the document as the court or tribunal stamped it. A sealed copy downloaded from the NSW Online Registry is fine; an unsealed draft is not.
- 2
Name the person and places
Give the recipient's full name, each address you know, and a photo or short description if you have one.
- 3
Set the deadline and send
Pick standard or urgent, add the date service must be done by, and submit. Our reply sets out the attempt plan.
Where do I send the documents?
Everything goes through the Serve Now form: the upload, the recipient's details, your urgency choice and any safety notes, in one submission. Uploaded files are handled confidentially and opened only by the people working on your serve.
What do we need from you, and why?
Each field answers a question the server or the court will ask later: who the person is, where they can be found, what the document is and how soon it must arrive. Every gap usually costs an extra visit.
- Recipient description
- The affidavit must say how the person was identified, so a photo or description strengthens that evidence.
- Addresses and usual times
- Knowing when someone is home or on shift shapes the attempt schedule from the first day.
- Safety and access notes
- Intervention orders, a history of conflict, locked gates or animals all change how we approach.
The upload lets us check the seal, the issuing court and any deadline printed on the document before a server leaves. Deadlines differ between documents. Legal Aid NSW explains that a stamped statement of claim must be served within six months of filing, so the filing date matters as much as the hearing date.
Family papers carry their own limits. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia says a divorce applicant cannot serve their spouse personally, and the person who does must be over 18.
Uploads are used only to complete the serve and prepare the affidavit. The person being served is never told your address or how to reach you.
What happens after you press submit?
We confirm receipt in writing within [n] hours, check the paperwork, schedule the first attempt and report after every visit. Once the person is served, the affidavit of service follows within [n] business days.
- Within [n] hours
Confirmation
A short email naming the document, the recipient, the addresses we will try and the deadline we are working to.
- Before attending
Paperwork check
Seal, court, deadline and missing pages. A doubtful address is raised now, not after a wasted trip.
- First attempt
A server at the door
Within [n] hours in Sydney metro; regional timing is [confirm per zone]. You get a written update after each visit.
- Served
Affidavit delivered
Sworn, in the issuing court's form, with photographs and attempt notes attached. If service fails, you still receive the full attempt record.
Is your serve urgent?
Choose Urgent on the form and the job joins the same-day queue: documents received before [cut-off time] are attempted that day in Sydney metro, while regional urgent work is [confirm per zone]. Put the court deadline in the first line of your notes.
Before you instruct a serve
Three things people ask while the form is open. Anything else goes through the contact page and a person replies.
How quickly is my instruction confirmed?
Are my documents secure?
Can I add notes about safety or access?
This page explains how to lodge an instruction with us and describes NSW court procedure only in general terms; it is not legal advice about your case. A solicitor, Legal Aid NSW or LawAccess NSW can advise on your own matter. Last reviewed October 2026.