Guidance

Service of documents and taking of evidence

How to serve legal documents overseas and take evidence abroad.

From:
Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published
22 March 2013
Last updated
1 August 2023 — See all updates

Overview

If you have questions about serving documents overseas, contact Foreign Process Section (FPS) at the Royal Courts of Justice for England and Wales. FPS will advise whether your documents need to be submitted through our diplomatic channels.

Service of documents

Contact information for Foreign Process Section:

Foreign Process Section
Room E16
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL

If you need to serve documents through our diplomatic channels, you must pay a consular fee of £150 to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for this service. To pay by credit or debit card, you can pay online for service of documents.

How your documents are processed overseas

After you have paid the consular fee, you should contact the Foreign Process Section, who will advise you on how to submit the documents for service of process.

After FPS has received and processed your documents, they will forward them to the FCDO in Hanslope Park:

Overseas Public Services
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Building 109, Hanslope Park
Hanslope, Milton Keynes
MK19 7BH

You should allow 10 working days for the FCDO to process your documents. The documents will then be sent to the relevant British embassy or high commission overseas. This will take at least 2 weeks.

The British embassy or high commission will submit the documents to the host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You should allow 10 working days for this to happen. The host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will arrange for service locally.

The FCDO or British embassy cannot influence how quickly or whether the documents are served. We are not able to follow up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about your documents.

Documents process from abroad

  • contact Foreign Process Section first to check how your documents can be served
  • each country has different requirements. Contact FPS for details on the country you wish to serve in
  • provide 2 identical duplicate sets of documents. You should ensure that both sets of documents are identical, otherwise they will be returned to you
  • check with FPS whether you need to provide translated copies of your documents. If yes, provide 2 identical duplicate sets of translations of the documents, if necessary
  • provide full addresses for the documents to be served. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs often return documents marked ‘unable to serve due to an incomplete address’, for example, addresses with PO box numbers
  • criminal cases are dealt with by the Home Office

Taking of evidence in a UK court

If you have questions about taking of evidence overseas you should contact Foreign Process Section at the Royal Courts of Justice in England and Wales.

Foreign Process Section
Room E16
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL

FPS will advise if your documents need to be submitted through our diplomatic channels. If the documents are sent through diplomatic channels, you must pay a consular fee £150 to the FCDO for this service. You can pay online for taking of evidence by credit or debit card.

The documentary evidence process

  • after you have paid the consular fee, you will need to contact the Foreign Process Section who will advise you on how to submit the documents to them for taking of evidence
  • after FPS has received and processed your documents, they will be forwarded to the FCDO in London. You should allow 10 working days for the FCDO to process your documents. The documents will then be sent to the relevant British embassy or high commission overseas. You should allow at least 2 weeks travel time for this to happen
  • the British embassy or high commission will submit your documents to the host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You should allow 10 working days for this. The host country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will arrange for the evidence to be taken and recorded
  • the FCDO or British embassy cannot influence how quickly the evidence will be taken and recorded. We are not able to follow up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about your case

Contacts and additional information

Service of documents to and from other countries, and requests for taking evidence in and from other countries, are governed by:

Each country has different requirements. You should contact the Foreign Process Section for details.

FCDO contact details for service of documents and taking of evidence

Overseas Public Services
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Building 109, Hanslope Park
Hanslope, Milton Keynes
MK19 7BH

Email: SOPEnquiries@fcdo.gov.uk

Published 22 March 2013
Last updated 1 August 2023 + show all updates

  1. Information on giving video evidence has moved to a new page: 'Taking and giving evidence by video link from abroad'.

  2. Online payment link added for people paying for these services.

  3. Guidance has been reviewed and updated.

  4. Updated with new guidance for providing evidence via video link for Administrative Tribunals

  5. New Foreign Office contact details for service of documents and taking of evidence

  6. The fee for Taking of Evidence in a UK Court has increased from £130 to £150, with effect from 6 April 2016

  7. Change to a phone number rather than the Service of Process phone number to 0207 008 4126

  8. Text amended to reflect fact that printing is no longer available. In addition one the phone numbers has changed.

  9. First published.

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