How to bury or repatriate dead body from KSA?

After the death of an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, the family has to complete some death formalities for burial or to send the body to his home country (India, Pakistan). 

Report to the Hospital

The first thing you need to do in case of the death of an expatriate in Saudi Arabia is to call an ambulance by dialing 997 who will take the body to a nearby hospital. 

• Upon receiving the dead body, the hospital then shall examine the dead body and issue a death report.
• If there is a traffic accident or a murder, the relevant police report will also be required.

Inform the Kafeel

It is very important to communicate with the sponsor of the deceased person as he is legally responsible for all the administrative processes as well as bearing the cost of repatriation to the native country.

NOC from the deceased family

The deceased’s family back in the home country will have to prepare one of the following two documents;

1. An authorization to an Iqama holder to collect the dead body for the burial in Saudi Arabia.
   • The embassy will issue the NOC for the burial in Saudi Arabia.
2. An authorization to an Iqama holder to repatriate or send the dead body back to the home country (e.g. India, Pakistan).
   • Translate the NOC in the Arabic language.
   • The embassy will stamp both the NOC and its translation.
   • The embassy will issue the NOC to send the body from KSA.

You would be required to submit the following documents to the Embassy or consulate for the attestation;

• Death report from the Hospital +  police report (if any).
• Iqama + passport copies of the deceased person.
• Iqama copy of the person authorized to collect the dead body.

Death Certificate from Saudi Arabia

On the basis of the above-mentioned power of attorney, only the authorized person will collect the death report from the hospital and go to the Ahwal e Madani to get an official death certificate in Saudi Arabia.

Burial Procedure in Saudi Arabia

The police letter

In case the family of the deceased person wants to bury the dead body in Saudi Arabia, the power of attorney and the embassy NOC will be submitted to the police.

• The Saudi police will write a letter to the hospital to hand over the body to an authorized person for the burial.

The governate

In the next step, the governorate would be contacted to assign a graveyard for the burial.

It is vital to discuss here that only Muslims can be buried in Saudi Arabia. If some non-Muslim dies in Saudi Arabia, his body has to be sent back to his native country.

The burial

On the basis of the police report and the slip issued by the governorate, the hospital will prepare the body for the burial and hand it over to the person whose name is written on the police report.

Send body back to home country

Repatriating the dead body

In case you want to send the dead body back to the home country,

• Take the NOC issued by the embassy for the MOFA attestation.
• Visit the cargo office of any airlines to book the ticket for the dead body to be repatriated.
• Take the NOC issued by the embassy and the cargo office slip to the governorate office for their approval.
• The Kafeel of the deceased family member will get the final exit visa issued from Jawazat.
• Inform the hospital at least 24 hours before the cargo flight so that they can prepare the body for the shipment.

Collecting the body in the home country

The family of the deceased person needs the airway bill issued by the cargo company to collect the body.

The person making arrangements to send the body can carry the airway bill himself in the flight or request any passenger to hand it over to a particular family member.