U.S. Embassy Buenos Aires

Av. Colombia 4300
(C1425GMN) Buenos Aires
Argentina
Telephone: +(54)(11) 5777-4533
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(54)(11) 5777-4354
Fax: +(54)(11) 5777-4240
BuenosAires-ACS@state.gov

U.S. Embassy Buenos Aires

Argentina is a party to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters.  Complete information on the operation of the Convention, including an interactive online request form are available on the Hague Conference website.  Requests should be completed in duplicate and submitted with two sets of the documents to be served, and Spanish translations, directly to Argentina’s Central Authority for the Hague Service Convention.  The person in the United States executing the request form should be either an attorney or clerk of court.  The applicant should include the titles attorney at law or clerk of court on the identity and address of applicant and signature/stamp fields.  In its Declarations and Reservations on the Hague Service Convention, Argentina formally objected to service under Article 10, and does not permit service via postal channels.  For additional information see the Hague Conference Service Convention website and the Hague Conference Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention.  See also Argentina’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Service Convention.

The United States and Argentina are also parties to the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol. The United States only has a treaty relationship with countries party to both the Convention and the Additional Protocol, which relates to service of process. The U.S. Central Authority for the treaty is the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of Foreign Litigation.  Requests for service under the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol may be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice's contractor, Process Forwarding International (PFI), for transmittal to Argentina’s Central Authority.  Unlike the Hague Service Convention, must be transmitted the U.S. Department of Justice contractor, Process Forwarding International (PFI), which can provide the requisite forms.

Service on a Foreign State

See also our Service Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) feature and FSIA Checklist for questions about service on a foreign state, agency or instrumentality.

Service of Documents from Argentina in the United States

See information about service in the United States on the U.S. Central Authority for the Service Convention page of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Service Convention website.

Prosecution Requests: U.S. federal or state prosecutors should also contact the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice for guidance about the U.S. – Argentina bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters treaty. 

Defense Requests in Criminal Matters: Criminal defendants or their defense counsel seeking judicial assistance in obtaining evidence or in effecting service of documents abroad in connection with criminal matters may do so via the letters rogatory process.

Argentina is a party to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters.  Argentina’s Central Authority for the Hague Evidence Convention designated to receive letters of request for the taking of evidence is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.  See the Hague Evidence Convention Model Letter of Request for guidance on preparation of the letter of request.  Requests for the evidence under the Hague Evidence Convention are transmitted directly from the requesting court or person in the United States to Argentina’s Central Authority and do notrequire transmittal via diplomatic channels.  Letters of Request and accompanying documents should be prepared in duplicate and translated into Spanish.  See Argentina’s Declarations and Reservations regarding the Hague Evidence Convention.  See also Argentina’s response to the 2008 Hague Conference questionnaire on the practical operation of the Hague Evidence Convention.  

Requests from Argentina to Obtain Evidence in the United States:  The U.S. Central Authority for the Hague Evidence Convention is the Office of International Judicial Assistance, Civil Division, Department of Justice, 1100 L Street N.W., Room 8102, Washington, D.C. 20530.

In its Declarations and Reservations to the Hague Evidence Convention, Argentina excluded all of Chapter II of the Convention, including the taking of depositions before consular officers or commissioners.  The taking of voluntary depositions of willing witnesses outside of making a formal request under the Hague Evidence Convention is not permitted in Argentina, regardless of the nationality of the witness.

Argentina is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents.  Argentina’s competent authority for the Hague Apostille Convention will authenticate Argentine public documents with Apostilles.  For information about authenticating U.S. public documents for use in Argentina, see the list of U.S. Competent Authorities.  To obtain an Apostille for a U.S. Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America, contact the U.S. Department of State, Passport Services, Vital Records Office.