FAQ / Q. Are the methods described in section 1608(a)(4) exclusive? Can't I just serve the foreign embassy or mission to the United Nations?

A. The FSIA provides the exclusive methods for effecting service of process on a foreign state, political subdivision, agency or instrumentality. See H.R. Rep. No. 94-1487, 94th Cong., 2d Sess. (1976), reprinted in 1976 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 6604, 6622-23. Service on a foreign embassy in the United States or mission to the United Nations is not one of the methods of service provided in the Act. For the proposition that service is governed by the statute see e.g., Gray v. Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of the Congo to the United Nations, 443 F. Supp. 816 (S.D.N.Y. 1978); 40 D 6262 Realty Corporation v. United Arab Emirates Government, 447 F. Supp. 710 (S.D.N.Y. 1978); Alberti v. Empresa Nicaraguense de la Carre, 705 F. 2d 250 (7th Cir. 1983).

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