Service of Judicial Documents
in Venezuela

There is currently no practical method of service available that will provide an ability to enforce a judgment in Venezuela.

Venezuela is a signatory to both the Hague Service Convention and Inter-American Convention. However, every request for international judicial assistance forwarded to Venezuela from our office for service in accordance with treaties over the past 3 years has not produced a single response. This has been corroborated by the foreign litigation department at the Department of Justice in Washington, who has also forwarded requests for service without a single response.

It appears that Venezuela has chosen not to honor its declarations to either the Hague Service Convention or the Inter-American Convention. Unfortunately, there are no provisions for enforcement of a signatory country's obligations. Neither the US Department of State nor US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, can assist or alter this situation. Both have recommended that private agent service be utilized.

Agent service can be easily obtained through an attorney. The only drawback could be the validity of agent service with respect to the statutes of the originating court. This because private agent service of America legal documents is not considered valid, authorized or recognized in Venezuela. The average cost for service in a major area such as Caracas is $895. The average turnaround time is 14 to 21 days. Rush services are available for an additional fee. A quote of the cost for a particular address can be easily obtained at no cost.

Treaty service can be attempted and the cost would be $465. Additional entities are reduced by $75 for each additional entity, if in the same case, in Venezuela, at the same time. For service under the Inter-American Convention, the cost would be $565 for the first and $495 additional entities, with the same conditions above. For each treaty, the documents to be served would need to be translated into Spanish. For the Inter-American Convention, the 7 pages of treaty documents we prepare would also need to be translated. Our translation costs for Spanish are $60 per page, double spaced, typed, with exhibits and singe spaced text priced upon viewing.

If your state statutes provide for service by registered mail, return receipt requested, this is an alternative you should consider. While we do not provide this service, we can provide an affidavit listing the reasons why the court should consider this alternative.

Call Prestige Legal Services toll free at 1-800-784-7572 for your free, no-obligation quote.

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