Questions and answers about repatriation

If the death did not happen in a hospital, call the emergency services. In EU countries the number is 112. A doctor will officially confirm the death. Then call us on +380 77 882 77 77. We will tell you what to say to the hospital or the police, and how to inform the Ukrainian consulate. If there was an insurance policy, tell us about it. For a step-by-step guide, see the page What to do if a loved one dies abroad.

The whole way: contact with the hospital, the morgue and local offices, documents in the country of death, the apostille and translations, consular certificates, preparing the body, a coffin that meets the transport rules, the route, the border and customs. The family only needs to give us a few documents and a power of attorney.

In most cases, no. A power of attorney is enough, and we act on your behalf. Sometimes local authorities ask a relative to sign an application. Then we prepare the papers and explain how to sign them.

Yes, 24/7, with no days off. Call +380 77 882 77 77 or write to us on Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram at the same number.

No. The first phone consultation is free: we ask about your situation, tell you what to do next and give you a price. The decision is yours.

From across Europe and beyond. Prices by country are on the Prices page. If your country is not listed, call us. We can bring your loved one home from there too.

XREQUIEM is a funeral home that works across all of Ukraine. We are part of the GRG group of companies (Global Ritual Group). The owner is Oleg Zdendiak. More on the page About the XREQUIEM funeral home.

Yes. We work across all of Ukraine: farewell, burial, a hearse, transport of the deceased and of relatives, funeral goods. We serve your city at your address and on your date. What it costs to bring the hearse to the venue depends on the address, and we name the amount before departure. And when we bring the body from abroad, delivery to any city in Ukraine is already included in the price. The funeral is a separate service. Its cost is not included in the price of bringing the body home. Ask us during the call and we will tell you what we can take on. More on the page Funeral arrangements. Across Ukraine we do everything ourselves, and one of our coordinators handles your case from start to finish. The cities we deliver to are listed on the page Cities of Ukraine.

The deceased's passport (a photo is enough to start; in some countries the consulate will ask for the original), your passport and contact details, in some countries a document proving you are related, a power of attorney so that we can act on your behalf, and the insurance policy, if there was one. We will tell you exactly what your country requires during the call. The full list is on the Documents page.

It registers the death of a Ukrainian citizen, issues the Ukrainian death certificate and a certificate for the funeral allowance, and legalises the certificate of no prohibited items in the coffin. In many countries it also issues a letter or certificate for taking the coffin or the urn to Ukraine.

Registration of the death by the consul and the first certificate are free of consular fees. Local documents, the apostille and translations may have to be paid for.

Ukraine recognises a foreign death certificate only when it is certified with an apostille or legalised, unless an international agreement makes this unnecessary. Ukraine is a party to the 1961 Hague Convention, so for other member countries the apostille replaces legalisation. It is issued by an authority of the country that issued the document.

The translation must be certified, and we arrange it. In France the Embassy of Ukraine can help: it translates the French death certificate when the body or the ashes are being taken to Ukraine.

The death certificate and a certificate confirming that the body and the coffin contain no prohibited items. This certificate is issued by the country where the death happened and certified by the Ukrainian consulate. The body must be in a sealed, hermetic metal coffin. For customs a short written statement is enough. We prepare all of this.

It is a special pass for the body (a “passport for the body”) issued by many European countries. On its own it is not enough for Ukraine: our border needs its own documents as well, and we prepare them.

Bringing an urn home is a separate service and simpler than repatriating a body. It costs from €100, depending on the country the urn is in; the price for your country is in the table on the Prices page. More on the page Transport of an urn with ashes to Ukraine.

For the Ukrainian border: the death certificate and a certificate of no prohibited items in the urn, legalised by the consulate, plus a short written statement in free form. Some countries, such as Germany and Austria, also ask for confirmation of the cremation.

An urn can travel in hand luggage or in checked baggage; when we arrange the transport, we agree this with the airline. Airline and country rules differ, so check them before the flight. The urn goes through X-ray screening, so it is packed so that it cannot break.

The Strasbourg Agreement does not apply to ashes. In Denmark, for example, a ligpas is not needed for ashes. The documents for the Ukrainian border are still required.