Customs clearance of an urn with ashes: how to bring ashes across the border

In brief: what the border needs for an urn

• An urn with ashes is brought into Ukraine under the same rules as a coffin with a body: the law names the urn next to the coffin and sets one list of documents for both.
• The customs officer needs to see two documents: the death certificate and a certificate that the urn contains no prohibited items.
• The certificate is issued by the competent authority of the country the urn is coming from. The Ukrainian consulate or embassy legalises it.
• A written statement for customs goes with the documents. There is no standard form and the wording is free, but the statement must be in writing.
• An urn can be opened only in exceptional cases, and then in a special room at a medical facility.
• We agree the carriage of the urn by air with the airline in advance, because airline rules differ.

Each step is explained in more detail below. If you do not feel up to reading it now, please call us: +380 77 882 77 77, around the clock. We speak Ukrainian, English, Polish and German.

The certificate of no prohibited items: who issues it and who legalises it

This is the main document for the border. It confirms that the urn contains nothing that is prohibited from being taken across the border of Ukraine.

When an urn is brought into Ukraine, the certificate is issued by the competent authority of the foreign country the urn is coming from. The Ukrainian consulate or embassy in that country then legalises it. Without legalisation the certificate does not meet the requirements of the law, and there may be problems at the border.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Germany, for example, expressly names among the documents for an urn one confirming that the urn contains no prohibited items. In other countries the name and form may differ, but the substance is the same.

Apostille or consular legalisation?

Ukraine joined the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, which replaces consular legalisation of foreign documents with an apostille. But the burial law separately requires the certificate of no prohibited items to be legalised by a Ukrainian consular or diplomatic mission.

The law does not say how these two rules fit together for this particular certificate. So each time we ask the consulate in the country of death what it requires. The consulate's role is described in the article “The Ukrainian consulate when someone dies abroad”.

Can an urn be opened at the border?

This is what families fear most. The law allows a coffin or an urn to be opened only in exceptional cases: when there is trustworthy information that it contains prohibited items. Then it is done at a medical facility, in the presence of a customs officer and the person accompanying the urn.

A routine check at the border is a check of documents. So it matters that they are complete and correctly certified.

Can an urn be sent by post?

A postal or courier service may refuse an urn, and the country of dispatch may forbid it. If you are considering this, ask the service first.

Our driver carries the urn with its border papers and gives it to the family in person. The urn and the documents stay together the whole time, and you always know whose hands the urn is in.

If you bring the urn yourself: what to have with you

You can bring the urn yourself. Here is a short list, so that there are no surprises at the border:

• the death certificate, certified with an apostille or by legalisation, with a translation into Ukrainian;
• the certificate of no prohibited items from the authority of the country of death, legalised by the Ukrainian consulate or embassy;
• the documents of the country of cremation, for example the cremation certificate;
• a written statement for customs, in free form;
• the urn in cushioned packaging, so that it does not break during X-ray screening;
• the airline's rules, checked before the flight.

Who may collect the urn from the crematorium is decided by the country of cremation, and the rules differ from country to country. If you are unsure about even one point, call us. We will check the documents and tell you what is missing.

If you do not want to travel, or cannot, we will bring the urn ourselves. Transporting an urn to Ukraine costs from €100, depending on the country: the documents, the packing, the border and handing it over to the family in the town or city you name. We have worked since 2015. The first phone consultation is free, and a contract fixes the price before the journey. More on the page “Transport of an urn with ashes to Ukraine”.

An urn from Ukraine to another country

We also take an urn with ashes out of Ukraine to another country. For the Ukrainian border the documents are the same as for bringing one in: a written statement, the death certificate and a certificate of no prohibited items (see above). When an urn is taken out of Ukraine, the law adds:

• When a coffin (urn) is taken out of Ukraine, the certificate of no prohibited items is issued by a forensic medical expert in the presence of a customs officer (Art. 22 of the Law on Burial and Funeral Services). zakon.rada.gov.ua

What the destination country requires for an urn, we will tell you when we talk. The Ukrainian documents and those of the destination country are on the page “Repatriation of a body from Ukraine to another country”. We will quote the price once the route is clear.