LV → UA · 24/7
Repatriation of the deceased from Latvia to Ukraine
from €1,800 including documents, the coffin and transport to your town. We will give you the exact price within 5 minutes.
Summary. The price of bringing the deceased home from Latvia is from €1,800: it covers the documents, the coffin and the road to your town, while the funeral in Ukraine is a separate service. We usually go by road through Lithuania and Poland. The key Latvian paper is the permit from the Health Inspectorate, issued within 10 working days. The body's journey home to Ukraine takes from 24 hours after collection. Tell us the city and the address and we will give you the exact price within 5 minutes.
Thank you. We will call you back. For urgent matters, please call: +380 77 882 77 77.
- Since 2015 bringing people home
- Ukrainian company Company code (EDRPOU) 46261246
- Contract with a fixed price
- 35 countries with “from” prices
- Own workshop coffins and funeral goods
- 24/7 one number from start to finish
If it has just happened
- Call or write any time. We explain what to say. We contact the hospital and the police.
- Find the insurance policy. The compensation depends on it.
- Name two cities. Where it happened. Where to bring the body. The passport can come later.
From the first call to home: the steps in Latvia
In Latvia everything depends on one document: the permit from the Health Inspectorate. To get it, the death has to be registered first and the coffin prepared to Latvian rules. We handle this. We explain every step to you and prepare the Ukrainian documents.
If the hospital or the police ask who is arranging the transport, give them our number +380 77 882 77 77. We will take care of the rest. We speak Ukrainian, English, Polish and German, so you or the hospital can call us in English. If an international call is expensive for you, write to us on Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram, or leave your number and we will call you back.
We listen and give you the price
We ask where the death occurred, where the body is now and which documents have already been issued. We give you the cost straight away.
We agree the details with the hospital
The healthcare facility issues a certificate of the cause of death. We take a copy and agree when the deceased can be collected.
We register the death
The death can be registered at any Latvian civil registry office (dzimtsarakstu nodaļa) within 6 working days. The office issues the death certificate (miršanas apliecība).
We prepare the coffin to Latvian rules
We give a certificate that the body will be placed in a coffin that meets the requirements for taking it out of the country, and prepare the coffin ourselves. Without this certificate there will be no permit.
We get the permit to take the body out
We submit the application to the Health Inspectorate. The review is free of charge. It takes up to 10 working days, but the Inspectorate says it will issue the permit as soon as possible.
We handle the Ukrainian side
Translations, certification of the documents, the certificate of no prohibited items and the papers for the Embassy of Ukraine in Riga. We do this at the same time as the Latvian steps.
We bring the deceased home
By road to the Ukrainian border and on to your town: to the family home, a church or a farewell hall.
We work out your price
Call or leave your number.
Documents in Latvia
For the permit to take the body out of Latvia, four documents are submitted to the Inspectorate. Collecting them is our job.
What is submitted to the Inspectorate
- The application for a permit to transport a deceased person's body (miruša cilvēka ķermeņa pārvadāšanas atļauja). It can also be submitted online, through the latvija.gov.lv portal.
- A copy of the healthcare facility's certificate of the cause of death.
- A copy of the death certificate (miršanas apliecība) from the civil registry office (dzimtsarakstu nodaļa).
- Our certificate that the body will be placed in a coffin that meets Latvian rules.
What we do
- We register the death and obtain the certificate ourselves.
- We submit the application to the Inspectorate and keep an eye on the deadline.
- We have the documents certified as Ukraine requires and translated into Ukrainian.
- We prepare everything for the embassy and for customs at the Ukrainian border.
What we need from you
- The deceased's passport, or a photo of it.
- Your passport and a document showing you are a relative.
- A power of attorney for us. We will tell you how to draw it up.
The language of the permit
The permit is completed in Latvian and in one more official language of the Council of Europe. The cause of death is written in Latvian and in English or French, or given as an international disease code. We translate the permit into Ukrainian.
Latvia is a party to the 1973 Strasbourg Agreement on the transfer of corpses; Ukraine is not. So for the Ukrainian border we prepare two documents separately: the death certificate and the certificate of no prohibited items in the body and the coffin. The general list of documents is on the “Documents” page.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia
The Embassy of Ukraine is in Riga and has a consular section. We handle the Ukrainian part of the documents with it.
- As a rule, the death of a Ukrainian citizen abroad is registered by the consul, based on the place of death, the place of residence, the place where the body was found or the place of burial. We will check with the embassy whether this is possible in your case.
- The Latvian documents must be certified for the consul and translated into Ukrainian.
- The consul registers the death and issues the first death certificate without a consular fee.
- The consul also issues a certificate for the social protection authorities, which the family needs to claim the funeral allowance.
- The embassy certifies the certificate of no prohibited items in the body and the coffin. It is needed at the Ukrainian border.
What to do in the first hours is on the page “What to do if a loved one dies abroad”.
How we bring the deceased home from Latvia
Latvia does not share a border with Ukraine. We usually go by road through Lithuania and Poland, and then cross into Ukraine at one of the crossing points on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
Where we collect from
We collect the deceased from any town or settlement in Latvia: Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Ventspils or a small town: from a hospital, a morgue or from another place where the deceased is. Tell us where the body is now, and we will agree on the day of collection.
By road
The most usual option for Latvia. Our specialist vehicle collects the coffin and takes it to the place of burial without reloading.
Plane and road
If you would rather save time than money, we fly the body to an airport near Ukraine and continue by road. The air leg takes from 2.5 hours. We do not promise direct flights to Ukraine.
How long it takes
The journey home takes from 24 hours after collection. The longest wait is for the Inspectorate's permit.
The coffin Latvia requires
Latvian rules require a hermetically sealed coffin with a moisture absorber. The walls are wooden: at least 20 mm thick with a soldered zinc liner, or at least 30 mm thick with zinc cladding. If needed, a pressure-equalisation valve is fitted. The coffin is then placed in a tightly closed wooden case that does not look like a coffin. For Ukraine we choose the option with a soldered zinc liner, because Ukraine accepts a body only in a metal, hermetically sealed coffin under official seal. More on the pages “Coffins and sealed metal liners” and “Road transport of the deceased to Ukraine”.
An urn with ashes from Latvia
If the person was cremated in Latvia, the urn can be collected from any Latvian crematorium. We take the urn by car through Lithuania and Poland, or by plane.
The Strasbourg Agreement does not cover ashes, so no body passport is issued for an urn under it. You need the Latvian cremation papers and the Ukrainian documents for the border: the death certificate, the certificate of no prohibited items legalised by the Ukrainian consulate, and a short customs statement that we write. We will tell you after the call which Latvian document is required.
Transport of the urn is from €500. How it goes is explained on the page “Urn transport”, and the article “Customs clearance of an urn with ashes” deals with customs and flights.
Price of repatriation from Latvia
Body from Latvia from €1,800This sum is for the whole way home. A funeral in Ukraine is not included and is priced separately.
What the price includes
The price includes:
- contact with the hospital and the morgue
- local, consular and border documents
- preparing the body for the journey
- hermetic coffin, soldered zinc liner
- sealing as the border requires
- usually by road; if needed, part of the way by air
- handover to the family in your town
Farewell coffin: quoted separately.
What can change the price
The city in Latvia and the town in Ukraine. Road or air. The model of the coffin. How many documents are already in place. You will hear the full amount before we start. Prices for other countries are on the “Prices” page.
Call us, day or night
Languages: Ukrainian, English, Polish, German. The same number works on Viber, WhatsApp and Telegram.
Our work
Questions about repatriation from Latvia
How much does it cost to bring the deceased home from Latvia?
From €1,800 for the whole journey home: documents, preparing the body, the coffin for transport, transport and customs formalities. A funeral in Ukraine is separate. We will give you the exact amount as soon as we know the city in Latvia and the town in Ukraine.
How long does it take?
The journey home with the deceased takes from 24 hours after collection. Before the journey we have to wait for the permit from the Health Inspectorate: up to 10 working days, although the Inspectorate says it will issue it as soon as possible. We submit the application as soon as we have all the documents.
What should I do first?
Start by calling us: we will tell you what to say to the hospital or the police. The details are on the page “What to do if a loved one dies abroad”. Do not pay anyone until you know the full cost of bringing the deceased home.
Who issues the permit to take the body out?
The Health Inspectorate of Latvia (Veselības inspekcija). It reviews the application free of charge. We submit the application together with copies of the death certificate, the certificate of the cause of death and our certificate about the coffin.
Do I need to travel to Latvia?
In most cases, no. We prepare the documents, and the application to the Inspectorate can be submitted online. If a relative's signature in person is needed at any point, we will tell you in advance. What you can do from home is described in the article “If the family cannot travel abroad”.
Which documents do you need from the family?
The deceased's passport or a photo of it, your passport, a document showing you are a relative and a power of attorney for us. We take care of the death certificate, the permit, the translations and the documents for the embassy.
What kind of coffin is needed? Is embalming compulsory?
The coffin is hermetically sealed, with a zinc liner and a moisture absorber, and is placed in a tightly closed wooden case. Such a coffin is already included in the price. For a road journey, we will advise whether embalming is appropriate. If part of the journey is by plane, we take the airline's requirements into account: some accept only embalmed bodies. We will tell you in advance if the price changes. More in “Preparing the body”.
The deceased had insurance. What should I do?
First tell us about the policy, and do not hire a local funeral home yourself until you have agreed it with the insurer. We will check the terms and deal with the insurer. Often a policy pays only as far as the Ukrainian border; we will tell you in advance about the part it does not cover.
Which cities in Latvia do you collect from?
From any town or village in Latvia: from a hospital, a morgue or another place where the deceased is. Give us the address and we will tell you when we can collect the deceased.
Can you bring home an urn with ashes?
We do that too, once the body has been cremated: the urn travels with the death certificate and the embassy-certified certificate of no prohibited items. Urn transport costs from €500; more on “Transport of an urn with ashes to Ukraine”.
Tell us what happened
Oleg Zdendiak and the team. We explain the next steps.
Send a request for repatriation from Latvia
Leave your number and we will call you back.
Thank you. We will call you back. For urgent matters, please call: +380 77 882 77 77.
Nearby destinations: Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Finland. All countries are on the countries page.