§1608 Service; Time to Answer; Default

Summary

Explains how to deliver court papers (a summons and complaint) to a foreign country, a part of a foreign country, or its government agency. If the plaintiff and the foreign government have a special agreement, use that. If not, follow any international treaty on serving papers. If those do not apply, the court clerk must mail the papers and a notice, with a translation into the foreign country’s official language, by a mail service that needs a signed receipt to the foreign state’s ministry of foreign affairs. If that cannot be done within 30 days, the clerk must send two copies by signed mail to the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, D.C., attention the Director of Special Consular Services. The Secretary of State will forward one copy through diplomatic channels and give the court a certified note showing when it was sent. A foreign state agency can also be served under a special agreement, by handing papers to an officer or authorized agent in the U.S., by treaty rules, or by methods likely to give actual notice (for example, as the foreign authority directs, by signed mail to the agency, or by a court order). Service is treated as made on the date shown on the diplomatic note when sent through diplomatic channels, or on the date shown by the signed receipt or other proof for other methods. After service, the foreign state or its agency must answer within 60 days. A court cannot enter a default judgment against them unless the claimant proves the case to the court’s satisfaction, and any default judgment must be sent to the foreign state in the same way described above.