International Process Serving Agency

When serving a business or individual in a foreign country — you must first see what treaty applies to that country — Hague Convention Treaty or Inter-American Convention. If the country is not part of any treaty then you will need to go through the U.S. State Department. This process is what we refer to as a “formal method”.
An informal method will be to use a local process server in that country or to fed/ex or mail the legal documents abroad. We do not recommend the “informal” service of process unless your Judge specifically has approved it in advance. Also, “informal” service should never be used in the event you will want to collect on the monetary judgment entered in your favor.
Additional questions on this subject should be referred to an attorney.

Even if the defendant speaks English you still need to translate the documents in order for the Central Authority to review the documentation in their own language. If the documents are not translated then the Central Authority will return the entire package and you begin the process again once the documents have been translated. This will delay the entire process.

The Central Authority is that office designated by the Government to process your international request for service.

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