Someone has to physically do the work of bringing a person home, and it isn’t the embassy. It’s a funeral director in the country where the death happened, working alongside one in the UK.
What the job actually involves
Start with the mortuary or hospital. The funeral director liaises directly with wherever the body is being held, arranges collection, and begins preparation. International transport rules require either embalming or a hermetically sealed, zinc-lined coffin, and it’s the local director who arranges whichever applies.
Documentation runs alongside the physical preparation. The local death certificate has to be obtained, and in most cases certified and translated into English. An export or removal permit is needed from the relevant local authority before the body can leave the country. Some countries add extra steps: a consular mortuary certificate, a specific customs declaration, or sign-off from a public health department. The funeral director should know exactly which apply for that country, because generic guidance doesn’t cover every jurisdiction’s quirks.
Once the paperwork clears, they book the cargo flight. Human remains travel as freight, not as checked baggage, and not every route or airline handles it the same way. A director experienced in a specific country will already know which airlines fly the route and what their documentation requirements are.
Where the FCDO’s directory helps
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office maintains a searchable list, “Find a professional service abroad”, of funeral directors by country who’ve confirmed they can work in English. It exists because most families researching this have never needed an international funeral director before and don’t know where to start.
Treat it as a starting point. The FCDO is explicit that being listed isn’t an endorsement of quality, only confirmation of language capability. Contact more than one where the timeline allows, and ask each the same questions so the answers are actually comparable.
What good questions sound like
Don’t ask “can you help with repatriation.” Nearly everyone will say yes. Ask instead whether they’ve handled this specific country-to-UK route before, which airline they’d use and why, and what happens if the death requires a post-mortem before release, since that changes the timeline significantly. A director who answers with specifics, actual airline names, actual document names, is usually the one who’s done this many times before.
Get a written breakdown of what’s included before agreeing to anything. This matters more here than for almost any other kind of contract, because you’re not in a position to inspect the work yourself from another country.
If your insurer has already appointed someone
Most travel insurance policies that cover repatriation come with a funeral director the insurer has worked with before, and the policy may require you to use them for cover to apply. This usually speeds things up rather than slowing them down, since the insurer and director already have a working relationship. If something about the arrangement doesn’t sit right, you can still ask questions or push back, but check the policy terms first.
The UK side of the handover
The local funeral director’s job ends when the body clears export and departs. A UK-based funeral director then takes over: receiving the body, handling customs and port health requirements, and carrying out the funeral itself. The two directors coordinate with each other directly through the process, which means you’re rarely stuck relaying technical details between two people on different continents.
For what to watch for if a choice starts to feel wrong, read funeral director mistakes to avoid abroad. For what the UK-based director will need once the body arrives, see what UK funeral directors need for a repatriated body.
Repatriate Service works with funeral directors across the world and can help you choose the right one for your case. Call +44 7703 577246 at any hour, or send an enquiry through the form below.