28 U.S.C. § 1603
Section 1603 · Definitions
This is § 4 of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976
Amended 2 times on record
The circuits are split over this section — Whether service of process on a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1608(a), requires strict compliance or whether substantial compliance with the statutory service requirements suffices.
Applied in 970 court decisions — leading case Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc. (1992)
Most recently applied in United States v. Pangang Group Company, Ltd. (April 2025)
Applied most in the District Circuit Circuit (161 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1605 · 28 U.S.C. § 1330 · 28 U.S.C. § 1604
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
For purposes of this chapter—
(a) A “foreign state”, except as used in section 1608 of this title, includes a political subdivision of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as defined in subsection (b).
(b) An “agency or instrumentality of a foreign state” means any entity—
(1) which is a separate legal person, corporate or otherwise, and
(2) which is an organ of a foreign state or political subdivision thereof, or a majority of whose shares or other ownership interest is owned by a foreign state or political subdivision thereof, and
(3) which is neither a citizen of a State of the United States as defined in section 1332 (c) and (e) of this title, nor created under the laws of any third country.
(c) The “United States” includes all territory and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(d) A “commercial activity” means either a regular course of commercial conduct or a particular commercial transaction or act. The commercial character of an activity shall be determined by reference to the nature of the course of conduct or particular transaction or act, rather than by reference to its purpose.
(e) A “commercial activity carried on in the United States by a foreign state” means commercial activity carried on by such state and having substantial contact with the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2005—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 109–2 substituted “(e)” for “(d)”.
Effective Date of 2005 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 109–2 applicable to any civil action commenced on or after Feb. 18, 2005, see section 9 of Pub. L. 109–2, set out as a note under section 1332 of this title.