INFORMAL SERVICE

There are many countries who have not signed any of the service of process treaties. This places foreign litigants in a difficult position: often these countries are the worst at delaying your efforts, denying them or simply charging you a fortune in bribes.

Where a recipient resides in such a country litigants often resort to informal service. Informal Service is service of process that complies with the issuing courts rules for service of process but may not (probably will not) comply with the internal rules of the recipients country of residence- After all, if it did how could they deny, delay or extort you?

In any event, Informal service is intended to satisfy the issuing courts jurisdictional requirements over an issue in order for it to make a ruling.
Thus with Informal Service, you can get your ruling in the issuing court but it will most likely not be enforceable in the foreign country. For many litigants, particularly Divorce’s, Petitions served informally are cost effective alternatives as the US resident has a US divorce decree and enforceability in the foreign state is not an issue.