The Syro-Malankara Church observes the Antiochian Rite in the Syriac language.

It is immediately subject to the Major Archbishop of Trivandrum, and is not part of an ecclesiastical province.

In 2001, the Holy Synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church requested that Pope John Paul II establish a jurisdiction for Syro-Malankara parishes in the United States, which had each been functioning under the direction of the local Latin Church bishops, and requested the appointment of a proper Ordinary of the church sui iuris.

[2] Thomas Eusebius, formerly secretary general of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archeparchy of Trivandrum, became the first Exarch.

[3] In the sole incumbent was also vested the office of Apostolic Visitor in Canada of the Syro-Malankars.