Dispatch desk / Coverage / Haiti
Service of process in Haiti
We work in Haiti. We will not pretend it is an ordinary serve, and we will not quote you an ordinary timescale. What we can tell you is exactly what is possible, what it depends on, and what it will cost — before you commit anything.
What the Haiti desk handles
- Personal service where access and conditions allow
- Divorce, custody and family documents, including diaspora matters
- Judgment enforcement and debt documents
- Trace and locate — usually the larger part of the work
- Discreet enquiries to establish whether a person is still in the country
- Document retrieval and certified copies where the office concerned is functioning
- Corporate service in Port-au-Prince where the business is operating
- Swearing of the affidavit before a notary or attorney
If what you have is not on this list, ask. We will tell you plainly whether it can properly be served here.
What honesty looks like on a Haiti file
Three things we will always tell you, whether or not you ask.
Access is conditional. Some neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince and some provincial roads are not safely reachable on a given week, and that changes. If your address is in an area we cannot reach now, we say so at the outset rather than taking the file and reporting failure a month later.
The fee includes the agent’s security and access costs. That is stated in writing before we begin. There is no later addition, and nothing extra is incurred without your prior authority.
The timescale is realistic, not commercial. We will give you a date we believe we can meet. If a firm has quoted you a fixed number of days for Haiti without asking where the address is, be careful.
The other frequent reality is that the person is no longer there. A great many Haiti instructions end with a defendant who has moved to the Dominican Republic, Florida, Quebec or Paris. Establishing that, with reasons, is a proper result and we will report it as one.
Documents drafted in English will often need a French or Haitian Creole translation to be of any use at the door or before a court. Ask us before you send, and we will tell you what your particular document needs.
Timing, and what comes back to you
We do not publish a standard Haiti timescale, because there is not one. Tell us the address and the deadline and we will tell you, honestly, what we think is achievable — and whether we think you should be attempting service somewhere else entirely.
- A court-ready Affidavit or Certificate of Service, sworn locally
- A record of every attempt — date, time, address and who was spoken to
- A description of the person served and the circumstances of the handover
- Photographs of the location where lawful and practical
- Progress updates by email or WhatsApp while the matter is live
- A reasoned report if service cannot be effected, with what we established about the true address
- A single point of contact who knows your file, start to finish
Why instruct us in Haiti
Because we have a person there, not a listing in a directory. Because the fee is agreed in writing with the security and access costs already inside it. And because we would rather turn down an address we cannot safely reach than take your money for an attempt that was never going to happen.
If service in Haiti is not realistically achievable, we will say so and tell you what we do think is achievable — a trace, a confirmed departure, an address in another jurisdiction. That is usually more use to you than an empty file.
French and Haitian Creole on the ground; we report to you in English. There is a full French version of this information at fr.html, written rather than machine-translated. Ask us about the correct route and any translation requirement before you send.