International Service of Process
Serving a defendant who is overseas is one of the more procedurally demanding things in litigation, because it runs through a layer that domestic service does not: treaties and each country’s own law. Where the destination country is a party, the Hague Service Convention typically governs, often routing the documents through a designated central authority; other countries fall under different treaties or their own rules, and some methods that are perfectly normal in the United States are restricted or prohibited abroad. Getting that wrong can invalidate the service and unravel the case. But underneath all of that procedure sits a more basic requirement that the treaties cannot satisfy for you: you have to know where the defendant actually is. A central authority cannot serve a person whose address you do not have, and the entire machinery of international service stalls at the same place domestic service does – an unknown or unverified location. That is where the honest answer matters more than a sales pitch. People Locator Skip Tracing is a skip-tracing and public-records research firm, and our research covers United States records. We do not run searches in other countries. Many countries treat personal address data far more strictly than the United States does, and we will not work around another country’s law or its data-protection rules – so a current overseas home address is not something we can lawfully produce for you. If that is the whole of what you need, the people who can help are your attorney and qualified counsel admitted in the destination country, who can work the Hague Service Convention and its central authority on your behalf. What we can search is the record the defendant left on this side of the border: a last known U.S. address, employer and professional licensing records, county recorder and assessor filings, and the registered-agent record behind a company. Sometimes that record points at where someone went and sometimes it does not, and we will tell you plainly which it is. We are not a law firm and we are not the court. We do not decide which treaty or method applies, we do not draft requests to a central authority or advise on the Hague Convention, and we do not determine whether a given service is valid – those are matters for your attorney, qualified foreign counsel, and the court. We are also not a consumer reporting agency: what we produce is not a consumer report and must not be used to decide whether a person receives credit, employment, insurance or housing. We work only lawful sources, under a permissible purpose. For a workable request, a first read typically comes back within 24 hours. This page explains the work. It is general information, not legal advice.
The Short Version
Serving a defendant overseas runs through treaties and local law: the Hague Service Convention and its central authorities where it applies, other rules elsewhere, and U.S.-ordinary methods restricted abroad. Getting it wrong can invalidate service. Underneath sits a requirement no treaty satisfies: a request with no verified address goes nowhere. Our work is the U.S. side only – a last known address, an employer, a registered agent, a U.S. paper trail – from lawful sources under a permissible purpose. We do not run searches overseas and never work around another country’s law. We are not a law firm or the court, and do not decide which treaty applies or whether service was good. General information, not legal advice.
Watch: Where International Service Stalls
And how a locate gets it moving.
Watch Overview
The Treaty Is Counsel’s; The U.S. Record Is Ours
Where our research fits, and where it stops.
International service has a procedural half and a factual half, and they belong to different people. The procedural half – which treaty governs, whether the Hague Service Convention and a central authority apply, which methods the destination country permits, and how the request is prepared – is law, and it belongs to your attorney and, very often, qualified counsel in the foreign country. We do not touch it. Underneath it sits a factual requirement no treaty satisfies: every treaty path and every permitted method still needs a real address to send the papers to. A request to a central authority with no verified address goes nowhere, and the most sophisticated understanding of the Convention cannot serve a person nobody has located. That factual question is where we can help – but only as far as the United States record reaches, which is a real limit and one worth saying out loud rather than discovering after you have paid for it.
What we search is the United States record, and only that. We work to confirm the defendant’s identity, and we search the last known U.S. address, employer and professional licensing records, county recorder and assessor filings, and the registered-agent record behind any company they run – the same disciplined U.S. records work behind helping clients find someone to serve papers, applied to a defendant who is believed to have gone. Where the matter also crosses jurisdictions in other ways, the broader strategic picture is the subject of suing someone in another jurisdiction, and confirming who and what you are dealing with draws on the same depth as a background investigation. We do not search foreign registers, and we will not work around another country’s law or its data-protection rules to develop an address. Whatever the U.S. record supports, we hand to your counsel with its source; counsel chooses and executes the treaty-compliant method, and the court decides whether service was valid. For a workable request, a first read typically comes back within 24 hours.
What We Do vs. What Stays With Counsel
The line between locating and the legal path.
| The task | Ours | Counsel, foreign counsel, court |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the defendant | We search U.S. records to confirm it. | Choose the treaty path. |
| The U.S. paper trail | Last address, employer, registered agent. | Weigh what it is worth to the case. |
| A current overseas address | Outside our scope – we do not search abroad. | Foreign counsel or the central authority. |
| The Hague Convention | We don’t interpret it. | Counsel applies it. |
| A first read on the U.S. record | Typically comes back. Within 24 hrs | Serves and validates. |
The division matters most in a cross-border matter, so here it is without hedging. We search the United States record and nothing else; your attorney and foreign counsel choose the treaty path and execute it, and the court rules on validity. We never decide which treaty applies or whether service worked, and we do not go looking for people in other countries – if the U.S. record cannot carry your case any further, we would rather tell you that on the first day than bill you to find out.
When Service Goes Across Borders
Where the U.S. record can still help, and where it cannot.
The Defendant Who Left the Country
A U.S. trail that stops at departure.
The Lifelong Foreign Resident
Little U.S. trail – we would say so.
The Overseas Company
Its U.S. registered-agent filings, if any.
The Dual-Country Life
A U.S. address that may still be live.
The Stale U.S. Address
The last U.S. record before the move.
The Entity-Held Defendant
U.S. corporate filings behind them.
How the Research Works
Confirm, search the U.S. record, document, hand off.
Confirm Identity
The right defendant, not a namesake.
Search the U.S. Record
Address, employer, registered agent.
Map the Footprint
U.S. entities and their agents.
Hand It to Counsel
They choose the treaty path.
Our Role: The U.S. Record – Counsel Serves
The research, and the edge of it.
Our contribution is the United States half of the question, which is the half a U.S. records firm can honestly work. For a lawful, permissible purpose, we search to confirm the defendant’s identity, and we search the last known U.S. address, employer and professional licensing records, county recorder and assessor filings, and the registered-agent record where someone operates through a company, reporting each finding with its source and an honest confidence note. We say what the record does not show as plainly as what it does. For a workable request, a first read typically comes back within 24 hours. We work under a permissible purpose, use only lawful public-records and investigative-grade sources, and we are a skip-tracing and public-records research firm. We are not a consumer reporting agency, and nothing we produce is a consumer report or may be used to decide whether a person receives credit, employment, insurance or housing.
The boundaries are strict, because this is intricate, cross-border legal territory. We are not a law firm and we are not the court. We do not decide which treaty governs, whether the Hague Service Convention applies, or which method of service a destination country permits; we do not prepare requests to a central authority or advise on the Convention; and we do not determine whether a given service is valid – those belong to your attorney, qualified foreign counsel, and the court. Critically, we do not run searches in other countries, we never work around another country’s law or its data-protection rules, and we do not interpret foreign law for you – whether a particular method or inquiry is lawful in a given country is a question for counsel admitted there. We report facts in context, with sources and with the gaps named, and never a verdict. We search the United States record; the treaty path, the foreign search and the service itself stay with the people who own them. If the whole of your trail is already outside the United States, say so when you write and we will tell you straight away that this one is not ours to take. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Who This Helps
For lawful, permissible-purpose inquiries.
Litigation Attorneys
The U.S. record on a defendant
International Counsel
What the U.S. filings show
Plaintiffs
A cross-border case moving
Businesses
Suing a foreign counterparty
Process Servers
A U.S. records search behind it
Individuals
A lawful, legitimate need
Whoever you are, what we can offer is the same: a lawful search of the United States record and an honest account of how far it reaches. We are not the right firm if the search you need runs through a foreign register – that belongs to counsel admitted there, and saying so is kinder than taking the work. If there is a U.S. trail to work, tell us the defendant and your lawful, permissible purpose, and a first read typically comes back within 24 hours.
Our Commitment
For a lawful, permissible purpose, we search United States records to confirm the defendant’s identity, and we search the last known U.S. address, employer and professional licensing records, county recorder and assessor filings, and the registered-agent record where they operate through a company – each finding reported with its source and an honest confidence note, including what the record does not show, typically a first read within 24 hours. We do not run searches in other countries and never work around another country’s law or data-protection rules. We are not a law firm or the court: we do not decide which treaty governs, interpret the Hague Convention, prepare central-authority requests, or rule a service valid – that is your attorney, qualified foreign counsel, and the court. We are not a consumer reporting agency; what we produce is not a consumer report and must not be used for credit, employment, insurance or housing decisions. We use only lawful sources and never access private financial account contents. We report what the record supports, not a verdict. Lawful U.S. research since 2004 – we search this side of the border; counsel serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you handle the Hague Service Convention process?
No. Whether the Hague Service Convention applies, how a request to a foreign central authority is prepared, which methods a destination country permits, and whether a particular service is valid are legal matters for your attorney and, very often, qualified counsel in the foreign country – not for us. We are a locate-and-research firm. What we can search is the United States record underneath the question – identity, a last known U.S. address, employer and professional licensing records, and the registered-agent filings behind a company. We do not search foreign registers. We work this side of the border; counsel chooses and executes the treaty-compliant method.
Why does locating come before the treaty work?
Because no treaty path can serve a person whose address you do not have. A request to a central authority, a letter rogatory, or any permitted method all need a real, current address to send the documents to, and the entire machinery of international service stalls at an unknown location just as domestic service does. The procedure your counsel handles is essential, but it sits on top of a factual requirement – knowing where the defendant actually is – and the United States record is where we can lawfully look for an answer to it. If that record has nothing left to give, the search belongs to counsel admitted in the destination country, not to us.
Can you find a defendant who moved overseas?
Not overseas, no – and we would rather say that plainly than let you hope. Our research covers United States records; we do not run searches in foreign registers and we will not work around another country’s law or its data-protection rules to develop an address. What a defendant who has left often does leave behind is a U.S. footprint: a last known address, an employer, professional licensing records, property filings, a company with a registered agent. That is what we can search, and sometimes it points at where someone went. When it does not, the next step is your attorney and counsel admitted in the destination country, who can use the Hague Service Convention and its central authority – a route no private firm here can substitute for.
Do you interpret foreign law or tell me how to serve?
No. We do not interpret foreign law, advise on which treaty or method applies, or tell you how to effect service – those are questions for your attorney and counsel admitted in the relevant country. International service is legally intricate and country-specific, and getting the method wrong can invalidate the service. We confine ourselves to the United States record and what it shows, reported with sources; your counsel and foreign counsel handle the legal path and the court decides validity. Keeping that line clear protects the integrity of the service.
Will you circumvent another country’s privacy rules to get an address?
No, never. Many countries regulate personal data far more strictly than the United States, and we research only what is lawfully available, never circumventing a foreign country’s law or data-protection rules to develop an address. An address obtained unlawfully abroad could taint the service it was meant to enable and create exposure for the client, which defeats the purpose. In practice that means we do not search overseas at all: we search the United States record, and we tell you so before you spend anything.
Can you locate a foreign company we need to serve?
Only as far as the United States record goes. Where a foreign entity or its owner has a U.S. presence, we can search U.S. corporate filings, registered-agent records, and the property and licensing records connected to it, and report what those show with their sources. We do not search foreign company registers; where the entity exists only abroad, its home registry and counsel admitted there are the route, and we will say so rather than take the file. Whether and how to serve a foreign entity, and under which treaty, remains a legal determination for your attorney and qualified foreign counsel. We report what the U.S. records show; they handle the method.
Is the research lawful and private?
Yes. We work only under a permissible purpose, use lawful public-records and investigative-grade sources, never access private financial account contents, and never circumvent another country’s law. We search to confirm identity, report findings with their source, and note confidence honestly, including where the United States record simply has nothing to give. We are also not a consumer reporting agency: what we produce is not a consumer report and cannot lawfully be used for credit, employment, insurance or housing decisions. In a cross-border matter the lawfulness of the search is especially important, because an address obtained improperly anywhere can undermine the service it was meant to support. If a request lacks a legitimate, lawful purpose, we decline it.
How fast can you turn this around?
For a workable request with a confirmed permissible purpose, a first read typically comes back within 24 hours. Because we search United States records rather than foreign ones, nothing at our end waits on an overseas registry; what limits us is what the U.S. record holds. Findings are reported with their sources, with confidence noted honestly and with the gaps named. The United States search is ours; the treaty path, the foreign search, the service itself and the determination of validity stay with your attorney, foreign counsel, and the court.
Start With the U.S. Record – Then Counsel
International service runs through treaties and each country’s law, but none of it works until someone knows where the defendant actually is. Before you write, please read the scope: our research covers United States records, we do not run searches in other countries, and if your defendant’s trail is already entirely overseas then this is a job for your attorney and counsel admitted in the destination country, not for us. If there is a U.S. record to work – a last address, an employer, a property or licensing filing, a company with a registered agent – tell us the defendant and your lawful, permissible purpose, and a first read typically comes back within 24 hours. We search this side of the border; your attorney and foreign counsel choose the treaty path, and the court decides validity. Contact us if that fits, and we will tell you honestly if it does not.
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