Thank you @Axolotl_ and @meiadeleite
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Does anyone know how to get IRCs in the UK given that Royal Mail stopped selling them back in 2011?
UK hasn’t been sell and accept IRCs for very long time… So it might be really expensive if you would like to get some.
My advice is directly get the stamp from CTT official webstore.
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I did this last year and it worked a charme (nice stamp with clear cancellation). Note of advice though for everybody sending IRC’s & postcards to them: At a later stage, probably even after the cards were already received by their recipients, you’ll also receive an invoice from CTT. It is for informational purposes only, they are NOT asking for another payment. So don’t be confused 
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Hi, I’m very sorry to bother you BUT I CAN’T FIND ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET WITH WHETHER CANADA HAS AN IRC OR NOT… I’ve been fighting a rare neurological disease that causes extreme pain and has left me bedridden living in hospitals or assisted living facilities for 7 years. I’m completely isolated (too much pain to even use my motorized wheelchair), alone, and due to the constant pain there’s very few activities I can do except reading and mail! I collect special postmarks and anniversary cards, and this is both… this would be VERY SPECIAL TO ME,
Please, please, message me for my address if anyone can send me a card with the special cancellation? I’d be so grateful.
Thank you so much if you decide to do this for me. Either way, please enjoy your meet, have fun, and have a wonderful day 
Today I received this invoice (?) from Filatelia Portugal. As I don’t know any Portuguese I’d like to know if it’s a real invoice so that I have to pay something, or if it’s a receipt for letting me know that they used my IRCs for sending my cards?
Maybe @meiadeleite could help, please? (I will not be the only one to receive that kind of invoice, I guess…)
This is normal, and you don’t have to pay anything else!
I think the Post is required to give you some proof of payment, so they’re invoicing the stamps they used on the cards, which you already paid for with the IRCs.
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Did your cards arrive already? I sent an envelope with 4 IRC and 4 postcards (including one for myself as I’m curiouse to see the stamp) to Portugal on 29.09.2021. But so far nothing has arrived … is that normal? I’m not worried about the card to CN that was in that envelope, that takes longer from anywhere, but that I haven’t received back my own card nearly 4 weeks later … 
What are your experiences?
I don’t remember when I sent mine to Portugal, but I received an invoice on 8th of October. My cards arrived in Germany last week, the card to @scrutiny got to Hong Kong this week.
Did you receive the invoice yet?
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No invoice so far But then I wasn’t aware that they might need my address. I’m not sure I put it on the note that accompanied my envelope…
I just put my address onto the envelope, in case it would be returned to me. They even sent me my envelope back with the invoice - isn’t that great?
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I just remember that I didn’t receive any invoice last year however I receive from time to time some stamp issue advertisments
My cards arrived a few days, maybe even two weeks after the invoice. Be patient!
I sent mine same date as you, and I haven’t received anything yet either. But I did this last year, too, and it worked. So I’m fully confident, that I just have to be more patient and that I’ll receive mine eventually 
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so sad, I’ve been so patient, but this year, none of the the 3 cards, which I sent off to Portugal for the special cancellation, have arrived at their destination (yet) 
Last year, it was all a lot quicker. I’m still holding a little hope, but it’s slowly vanishing! Perhaps the service was too popular this year and they have a backlog?!? Or perhaps they were understaffed because of corona? 
Anybody else still waiting for theirs to arrive, too? I haven’t even received the invoice yet…
Though I guess the possibility for the cards to arrive seem to be smaller and smaller, I’m still waiting as well. 
I sent four postcards (not with IRC but with Portugal stamps on). One to Germany and three to Taiwan, but none of them arrive so far. I’ve seen a Taiwanese postcrosser who requested the postmark with IRC successfully received his return card with nice cancellation on it in late October / early November. So I think I may do something wrong about the way to request the cancellation or just an unexpected accident happened during the delivery. Anyway, no matter the cards arrived at me or not at the end, it’s still a nice experience for me to request special postmark from abroad. : - ) By the way, here is how I prepared the requesting envelope :
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So far none of my cards has arrived 
- neither those of the RR I thought would be a good idea to send this way, neither the ones to my cousin and myself. I will now consider them lost and will check in with the RR’s host and prepare to send replacements. It’s really disappointing. I‘m just glad I tried this with 4 cards only, so it’s only 9.70€ and the cards wasted. I just find it sad that of all envelopes and cards I did send in the days leading up to and on WPD exactly this one, so carefully prepared and addressed, obviously never made it to Portugal (because I can‘t imagine that the cards got stuck there at their office, that doesn‘t make sense in my mind). 
Anyway, lesson learnt from my side. 
This sounds really disappointing, so I’m going to contact them by email and ask what’s up. 
I’ll post an update here on the topic when I hear back from them.
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Many thanks in advance for your effort & help!