An apparatus and method for accessing foreign processes in a heterogeneous database environment includes a local database server having heterogeneous services to selectively send requests to the foreign processes based on their respective capabilities. A client application sending a statement to the local database server is checked by the local server process to determine if the statement includes a reference to a foreign database system. The local server process selectively outputs a request to an agent process in communication with a foreign database via a generic Application Programming Interface (API). The request output to the foreign database is based on accessing a capabilities table specifying the operations that can be executed by the foreign database. Hence, the heterogeneous services within the local server process manages client statements involving foreign database systems having limited capabilities, and uses the agent process to manage interactions with the foreign database systems, including converting data, to preserve the integrity of the local server process and provide the appearance to the client application of a homogeneous distributed database system.