Why does formal (treaty) service take so much time?
For formal service, the service documents must either go through diplomatic channels, beginning with the U.S. State Department and or to the appropriate foreign central authority (dependent upon which treaty or convention is applicable). It is then forwarded to the appropriate foreign jurisdiction to which the service is addressed. The channels of government between the foreign central authority and the appropriate jurisdiction could be as many as 3 or 4 different branches of government. Hague Service Convention has the least amount of channels to go through, thereby it is the timeliest. Once attempts for service have been effected, the documents then must return through the same channels before returned to the United States.
