How long an EORI number takes ranges from a few minutes to a few weeks, and the range is that wide for one reason: the wait is almost never about the number itself. Issuing it is a database entry. What takes time is customs satisfying itself that your business is who you say it is.
So the useful question is not “how fast is country X.” It is “how much checking will this authority have to do on me, and what can I hand over to make that checking short.” This guide answers both, in the order they matter.
The short answer, and why the range is so wide
Three profiles cover almost every applicant.
- You are established in the EU, applying in your own country. Fastest case by a distance. Several member states already hold your company in a national register and simply derive the EORI number from an identifier you have. Portugal is the clearest example: the tax and customs authority states that as a rule the number is assigned and registered automatically the first time an economic operator interacts with customs, built as
PTplus the existing tax number. Where it is not automatic, it is usually a short online form and a same-week answer. - You are established outside the EU. Slower, everywhere, without exception. Customs has no national register to check you against, so it asks for incorporation evidence and identity documents and reads them. The Portuguese authority describes the non-EU route as an email request for credentials, then a web form, then supporting identity documents – and expects it to run over several days. That shape repeats across member states.
- You are applying in a country whose access system you are not yet inside. This is the one nobody budgets for, and it is frequently the longest of the three. See the section on Germany and Ireland below.
Almost no customs authority publishes a service-level commitment for EORI registration. That is not evasion – registration is a formality, not a decision with a statutory clock, so there is nothing to publish. It does mean that any specific day count you read anywhere, including here, is observed practice rather than a promise, and it can move with seasonal volume.
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What happens between “submitted” and “issued”
Four stages sit between your application and a usable number. Knowing which one you are in tells you whether to wait or to chase.
1. Intake
Your application reaches the authority. In most member states this is an online portal; in some it is still a signed PDF sent to a named address. The Dutch customs administration, for instance, instructs companies headquartered outside the EU to fill in the form, print it, sign it and post it. A form that travels by post has a floor under its timeline that no amount of urgency removes.
2. Identity and establishment check
The substantive step. Customs confirms that the legal entity exists, that the address is real, that the person signing is entitled to sign, and – for non-EU applicants – that the establishment details match the incorporation documents you supplied. Everything that goes wrong, goes wrong here.
3. Assignment
The number is created. This part is instant. There is no queue for numbers.
4. Propagation
Your number is live in the issuing country’s system immediately, but the European Commission’s central validation service and downstream systems refresh from national systems rather than in real time. A number that returns “not valid” an hour after issue is usually a lag, not a problem. If you need to confirm one, our EORI number check page explains what a negative result actually means before you escalate it.
How long it takes by member state
The honest position: the differences between member states are real, but they are smaller than the difference between a complete application and an incomplete one.
Why EU-established applicants are usually faster
Because the checking has largely already happened. A company registered in a member state is in a national companies register and a national tax register, both of which customs can read. There is little left to verify, so several authorities either assign the number automatically or approve on sight.
Why non-EU applicants take longer everywhere
Because none of that exists. A US or UK company applying in an EU member state is, from the authority’s point of view, an unverified foreign entity asking to be entered into a customs database. It will be asked for a certificate of incorporation, sometimes a certified translation, sometimes an apostille, and a power of attorney if somebody else is filing. Each of those is a document you have to obtain from a third party, on that third party’s timetable – which is why the realistic clock for a non-EU applicant starts before the application, not at it.
The access-system trap
Two Wave 1 countries deserve a specific warning, because in both the customs step is quick and the step before it is not.
Germany. German customs states that from 1 October 2026 use of the Customs Portal becomes mandatory for applying for or cancelling an EORI number, with the paper 0870 forms retained only for contingency. The portal requires an ELSTER certificate registered to current company data. Obtaining that certificate is its own process, run by the tax administration rather than customs, and it involves a postal step. If you do not already have one, that is where your timeline lives – not in the EORI application itself.
Ireland. Irish Revenue requires registration for Revenue Online Service before you can apply for EORI at all. If your business is already on ROS, the customs registration is quick. If it is not, the ROS enrolment sits in front of everything.
If you are choosing a member state on speed alone, choose on your speed, not the country’s. A jurisdiction that issues numbers in hours is slow for you if you cannot get into its portal for three weeks. Which country is right for you depends mostly on where your goods first clear customs – see which EU country to register your EORI in.
GB and XI numbers: what HMRC actually states
This is the one timeline with a published, quotable figure, so it is worth stating precisely.
For a GB EORI number, GOV.UK states: “You’ll get your GB EORI number immediately unless HMRC needs to make any checks on your application. If they do, it can take up to 5 working days.” An XI EORI number, used for movements involving Northern Ireland, is a separate application and GOV.UK gives it a longer processing window.
Two consequences people trip on. First, “immediately” is real – the common cause of a slow GB application is not HMRC but the applicant hunting for a Unique Taxpayer Reference. Second, none of this helps you at an EU border. A GB number is not recognised by EU customs systems, so a UK business importing into the EU is running two separate timelines, and only one of them is fast. The GB EORI vs EU EORI comparison sets out where each is valid.
HMRC issues GB EORI numbers free of charge, usually within a few working days, and you apply directly with HMRC. We do not register GB EORI numbers. If you already have one and can’t find it, we can locate it for {opt_price_main} – and if you trade with the EU, you’ll need a separate EU EORI, which we do register.
What actually slows an application down
In order of how often it happens, not how serious it sounds.
- A name that does not match the register. “Ltd” against “Limited”, a trading name instead of the legal name, a translated name. Customs compares strings, and a mismatch is a rejection rather than a query.
- An address that does not match either. Registered office versus trading address is the usual culprit. Use the one in your incorporation document.
- A missing or wrong-scope power of attorney. If an agent is filing, the authorisation has to cover customs registration specifically. A general commercial power of attorney is often refused.
- Documents in the wrong language. Several member states will not read an English incorporation certificate without a translation, and a few want that translation certified.
- Applying for a number you already have. More common than it sounds – forwarders create them, and some member states generate one automatically at first contact. A duplicate has to be unwound before anything moves. Check first.
- Not being inside the portal yet. See Germany and Ireland above.
- The reply going to nobody. Authorities query by email, often in the local language, occasionally to an address that is on the form but not monitored. An application can sit “pending” for a fortnight because a question arrived on a Friday and nobody was watching that inbox.
Five of those seven are decided before you submit anything. The full document list, country by country, is in documents you need for EORI registration.
Planning backwards from your first shipment
Work from the date the goods move, not the date you apply.
- Goods already in transit. You are late, but not stuck. Prioritise the application, confirm the querying email address, and tell your forwarder that clearance depends on it. Storage charges start on arrival, not on your deadline.
- First shipment inside a month. Comfortable, provided you begin gathering documents now. The application is the short part.
- No shipment scheduled yet. The best time to do this. An EORI number costs nothing to hold, never expires, and needs no renewal, so there is no reason to wait for a commercial trigger.
What you can usefully do while you wait
Confirm the exact legal name and address you will use. Get the incorporation certificate, and its translation if the member state needs one. Decide who will be named as contact and make sure that mailbox is watched daily. If you are outside the EU, start the conversation with an indirect customs representative now – you will need one to import, an EORI number does not replace it, and finding one takes longer than the registration does.
What no one can speed up
Be sceptical of anyone promising to compress these:
- A postal step in a member state that still uses one.
- A third-party document: an apostille, a certified translation, a certificate from a foreign register.
- A substantive check the authority has decided to run.
- An authority’s own backlog.
What a good agent removes is the avoidable part: the rejected form, the wrong attachment, the unanswered query, the second attempt. That is usually most of the calendar time, which is why “faster” in practice means “right the first time” rather than “pushed to the front.”
You can apply for an EORI number yourself, directly with the customs authority, free of charge. We charge {opt_price_main} because we prepare the application, file it, chase it, and answer the questions that come back. Both routes are legitimate – pick the one that costs you less of what you have least of.
Common questions
How long does an EORI number take?
For a business established in the EU, often hours – several member states assign the number automatically or approve a short online form the same week. For a business established outside the EU, expect several working days, because customs verifies your incorporation documents before registering you. Incomplete applications are what turn days into weeks.
Can I get an EORI number the same day?
Sometimes, and it depends on the member state and on you. Where the authority assigns numbers automatically or reviews online applications on receipt, same-day is realistic. Where a signed form travels by post, or where you are not yet enrolled in the national portal, it is not – and no agent can change that.
Why is my EORI number not showing as valid yet?
The European Commission’s validation service refreshes from national customs systems rather than in real time, so a number can be live in the issuing country before it appears centrally. If it still fails after a working day, check the number for transcription errors first, then contact the issuing authority.
How long does a GB EORI number take?
GOV.UK states you get a GB EORI number immediately unless HMRC needs to make checks, in which case it can take up to 5 working days. An XI number for Northern Ireland movements is a separate application with a longer window. A GB number is not valid for customs formalities in the EU.
Can I ship before my EORI number arrives?
You can move the goods, but they will not clear. Without a valid EORI number the declaration cannot be lodged, so the consignment sits in temporary storage accruing charges until the number exists. Since an EORI number costs nothing to hold and never expires, apply before the goods leave.
Does paying for priority make the customs authority faster?
No. Nothing you or anyone else pays changes an authority’s processing. What priority handling changes is our side of it: same-day preparation and filing, and faster follow-up on queries. The honest gain is in removing delay you caused, not delay customs caused.
Official sources
We link to primary sources so you can verify anything here yourself.
- GOV.UK – Apply for an EORI number (GB and XI processing times)
- European Commission – Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI)
- German Customs (Zoll) – Requesting an EORI number and amending an operator’s particulars
- Dutch Customs (Douane) – EORI application for companies headquartered outside the EU
- Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority – EORI: Registo e Identificação dos Operadores Económicos
- Irish Revenue – EORI system (registration via ROS)
- French Customs – Numéro EORI (SOPRANO EORI, registration free of charge)
- European Commission – EORI number validation