Repatriate/ Bury Human Remains

The Consulate General assists in the repatriation/burial of human remains of Sri Lankan nationals, who passed away in Dubai and Northern Emirates on request by the Next-of-Kin (NOK) of the deceased consenting for the same by an affidavit.

When a Sri Lankan citizen in the UAE is deceased, the Consulate General and/or NOK (legal relatives) should be informed in the first instance.

• If the NOK is from Sri Lanka, the affidavit with a complaint form should be submitted to the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo or Reginald Consular office or Divisional Secretariat for onward transmission to the Consulate General for attending formalities.
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• If the NOK is residing in UAE, the Affidavit can be signed at the Consulate General with submission of required documents to prove the relationship to the deceased.

The Human Remains could either be repatriated to Sri Lanka or buried/cremated in UAE.

• If the Human Remains are to be buried or cremated in UAE, approval should be granted by the relevant UAE authorities. Whatsoever the above procedures are followed, the consent of the NOKs(legal relatives)  should be given through a formal affidavit.

The employer is obliged to repatriate or bury the human remains of an employee who worked under a valid employment agreement at the time of the death.

• If the employer entrusts the proceedings related to the death to a specialized company, it should be informed formally to the Consulate General (Through a letter addressed to the Consul General by the company where the deceased worked at the time of his demise in company letter head format)

It must be strictly ensured that no burial or cremation should be done in the UAE without obtaining No Objection Certificate from the Consulate General office.

The following documents should be submitted to the Consulate General office for obtaining the No Objection Certificate.

1. Request letter from employer requesting to issue NOC and cancellation of Passport  (The letter to be addressed to Consul General in a company letterhead)
2. Duly filled application form of the employer  stating the details related to his salary dues, Gratuity and Compensation etc. (Download here)
3. Original Passport of the deceased for cancellation
4. Copy of cancelled Visa of deceased (Visa cancelation should be done by UAE immigration)
5. Death Notification issued by the hospital/Department of Preventive Medicine of UAE (If the deaths occurred at hospitals)
6. Forensic Medical Report issued by the Department of Forensic Medicine of UAE (If the death occurred outside the hospital)
7. Legal English translation of Forensic Medical Report issued by the Department of Forensic Medicine (If the death occurred outside the hospital)
8. Permission letter from the relevant UAE Police for repatriation of human remains together with the Legal English translation
9. Original Death Certificate (both English and Arabic version) with a copy.
10. Embalming certificate (for repatriation of human remains)
11. The details of the Cargo service and Airline (for repatriation of human remains)
12. Other relevant reports and letters issued by Hospital / Court / Police related to the death.

If the body is to be cremated within the UAE, the following documents to be submitted to the Consulate General in addition to the above mentioned documents.

1. Municipality permission for the cremation of the human remains (Original with English translation)

NOTE:

• If the NOK is from Sri Lanka, the Affidavit (Download Sinhala / English )  together with the complaint form (Download here) should be submitted to the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo or Reginal Consular office or Divisional Secretariat for onward transmission to the Consulate General for attending formalities.
• If the NOK is residing in UAE, the Affidavit (Download here)  together with the complaint form (Download here) can be signed at the Consulate General with submission of  required documents to prove the relationship to the deceased.