§ 8.01-465.23.Enforcement of foreign judgments.
Chapter 17.3. Uniform Foreign-money Claims Act · Last amended 2014 · Last verified July 16, 2026
Full Text of § 8.01-465.23
Plain-English Summary
Chapter 17.3's judgment-form rules do not operate in isolation — this section connects them to how a foreign-money judgment from another jurisdiction gets enforced in Virginia in the first place. If an action is brought to enforce a judgment of another jurisdiction expressed in a foreign money, and that judgment is enforceable in Virginia, the enforcing judgment must be entered as § 8.01-465.20 provides, whether or not the original judgment itself gave the debtor an option to pay in an equivalent dollar amount.
The mechanics of filing that other jurisdiction's judgment run through the chapters already built for the purpose: a foreign judgment may be filed under Chapter 17.1 (§ 8.01-465.1 et seq.) for sister-state and other full-faith-and-credit judgments, or under Chapter 17.2 (§ 8.01-465.13:1 et seq.) for foreign-country judgments.
Two further rules round the section out. Any satisfaction or partial payment already made on the underlying foreign judgment, once proven, gets credited against the foreign-money amount the judgment specifies, even though a separate Virginia judgment has since been entered. And a judgment that another state entered on a foreign-money claim only in United States dollars — without a foreign-money component — must be enforced in Virginia in dollars only, since there is no foreign-money figure left to convert.
Frequently Asked Questions
How must a Virginia court enter a judgment enforcing a foreign-money judgment from another jurisdiction?
As provided in § 8.01-465.20, regardless of whether the original judgment gave the debtor an option to pay in an equivalent dollar amount.
Under which chapters can a foreign judgment expressed in foreign money be filed to begin enforcement?
Chapter 17.1 (§ 8.01-465.1 et seq.), which covers sister-state and other full-faith-and-credit judgments, or Chapter 17.2 (§ 8.01-465.13:1 et seq.), which covers foreign-country judgments.
How is a partial payment already made on the foreign judgment treated?
On proof, it is credited against the amount of foreign money specified in the judgment, notwithstanding the entry of judgment in Virginia.
What if another state already entered its judgment on a foreign-money claim only in United States dollars?
That judgment “shall be enforced in United States dollars only” in Virginia.
Does this section create a new filing mechanism of its own?
No, it relies on the filing procedures already established in Chapters 17.1 and 17.2 and layers this chapter's judgment-form rules on top of them.
Amendment History
1991, c. 24; 2014, c. 462.