Kenya - Export a Deceased Body

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Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. Upon the death of the deceased, the Embassy mission in Kenya of the country of origin of the deceased will inform the next-of-kin of the deceased.
2. The next of kin will then visit the Kenya embassy in their home country to begin funeral and transportation arrangements.
3. He/She will be issued with the travel documents necessary to travel to Kenya.
4. Next of kin to visit their home country’s embassy in Kenya where he will be given forms to fill and a list of documents which are required for the deceased to be transported outside Kenya. A list of these required documents can be found in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
5. The next of Kin should then contact the funeral home holding the body to obtain some of relevant clearance letters.
6. These should be submitted to the embassy to be approved, where transport clearances will be issued to transport the body.
7. The next of kin should then make transportation arrangements with an airline of his/her choice and present the transportation clearances issued by the embassies and any required document to the airline. It should be noted that the coffin is hermetically sealed for carriage by air.
8. Identify a funeral home to take and preserve the body once it arrives in your home country once it’s exported.

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Required Documents

1. A copy of Death Certificate.
2. Copy of Burial Transit Permit.
3. A letter from the Health Department confirming that there was no contagious disease at the time of death.
4. Copy of burial Permit
5. Letter from Hospital cause of death or Death Certificate
6. Embalming Certificate from authorized Funeral Home
7. Copy of Passport/ID of Deceased
8. Copy of Passport/ID of Shipper
9. Contact Details of Consignee (Next of Kin) and ID/Passport number
10. Letter from Embassy in case of international repatriation

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade - Head Office
Old Treasury Building, Harambee Avenue
P.O Box 30551 - 00100 G.P.O
NAIROBI, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 318888
Email: [email protected]
Website: MFA link

Eligibility

• Only the next of kin can state how the body will be handled.

Fees

• The fees depend on the country the deceased is being transported to.
• Also, the family will pay the airline transportation costs for the body, washing and embalming the body and buying the coffin.
• The transportation cost also differ with different airlines having different transportation fees, and also the washing and embalming the body and buying the coffin will differ with the funeral home/mortuary handling the body
• The certificate fees for exporting the in Kenya Ksh 1500.

Validity

• They are valid for 3 months before expire, so it is expected that with that period of 3 months deceased is exported the country of origin.

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• This process takes 7 days to 14 days to complete the document.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

• It has to be confirmed that the coffin is hermetically sealed for carriage by air
• Only on receipt of all the required documents will the High Commission issue a letter of no objection for the remains to be transported from Kenya.

Required Information

1. The deceased persons identification information
2. Date and place of death
3. Next of kin information (name, address, contacts)if available

Need for the Document

• This is the process allows the sending the body of a deceased citizen of another country, who died in Kenya, back to their home country.

Information which might help

• A metal hermetically sealable casket is recommended for the transportation of the deceased person.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• List of diplomatic missions of Kenya
• [file:///C:/Users/STUDIO/Downloads/BirthsandDeathsRegistrationAct2of1928_subsidiary.pdf Births And Deaths Registration Act]
• Application For Registration Of Death

Others

• According to the law in Kenya, if a body remains at the institution unclaimed for 21 days, the hospital is allowed to dispose it off so long as they have sought orders from court and are given 14 days’ notice to allow the public to collect them.