The present invention relates to a service processing method and apparatus in a communication network. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention, the second mobility management network element can determine, according to the received indication information, whether to send a message to the HSS or HLR or whether to activate the ISR, so that in a communication system, it is ensured that a user equipment can carry out a corresponding service, and signaling transmission in the communication network can be further reduced, thereby improving network performance.