How long does it take, on average, from the date of registration, for the deceased to receive a burial service date?

Hi Courtney - the process to schedule a burial at Arlington National Cemetery can be complex and we handle each family's request individually with the utmost care and professionalism. Each request is unique and the length of time it takes for scheduling is typically several weeks to several months and depends on many factors, including the family's ability to provide all documents to verify eligibility, any special requests, requests for full military honors (which can take take longer to schedule than standard military honors because of additional military resources such as escorts and the caisson), requests for one of the chapels located on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, etc. When an eligible next of kin calls to schedule a service, the cemetery representative they work with will be able to provide specific details.

My father passed away on Nov 16th, 2018. We were immediately told that it would be a 6-8 week wait. Difficult to accept, since my Dad lived in Maryland, and I live in Texas. But, just a few days before Christmas, we were given a date of Jan 9th, 2019. You must take into consideration that ACTIVE DUTY is at the top of the list, after that, it goes in order of rank, I believe.

We hope it doesn’t take this long. We submitted information about my dad in May 2018 for an April 2019 date. My bother and I live in England so we need to arrange flights and the closer it gets the more expensive the flights but nobody is in touch with my brother. He keeps calling every week but still nothing. It’s been so upsetting. All we want is just confirmation of the date so we can book our flights

Totally wrong. My father, USAF Col. Ret. Passed at age 91 last November 2017. Arlington National Cemetery has only scheduled his service for this November 2018 but say they have until the day before service to confirm. All the family live out of state. All paperwork was accepted by the end of December 2017. So, why the wait?

Call the cemetery service desk and they will be able to help you with all the details