Consular assistance
British Embassy contacts for Yemen: when someone dies abroad
No resident British Embassy. The British Embassy in Sana'a closed in 2015. UK nationals should contact the FCDO directly. Limited consular assistance is provided by the British Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. handles cases in Yemen. A death must be registered with the local authorities in Yemen before a body or ashes can leave the country. Consular staff will register the death with UK authorities, issue consular documents and give you a list of local funeral directors. They cannot meet any cost, arrange the repatriation, or authorise release of the body. If the person who died was not British, contact the embassy or consulate of their own country instead.
Emergency numbers
FCDO 24-hour line (from UK)
+44 (0)20 7008 5000Handling a death in Yemen
British representation: No resident British Embassy. The British Embassy in Sana'a closed in 2015. UK nationals should contact the FCDO directly. Limited consular assistance is provided by the British Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Authority that must release the body: Internationally recognised government (IRG) in Aden/Riyadh, Ministry of Interior; Houthi (Ansar Allah) administration in Sana'a and northern/western Yemen
Documentation language: Arabic
Areas needing extra care: All areas, FCDO advises against all travel; Active frontline areas (Sa'dah, Ma'rib, Taiz, Hudaydah governorates); Red Sea coastal areas (Houthi missile/drone activity); Houthi-controlled Sana'a and north-west
FCDO advises against all travel to Yemen. Active conflict continues between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government, with Saudi-led coalition involvement. The 2022 UN-brokered truce has been extended but the underlying conflict is unresolved. Civil infrastructure is severely degraded. The humanitarian situation is among the world's worst. Repatriation from Houthi-controlled areas requires working through different authority channels than IRG-controlled areas. British nationals are extremely rare in Yemen; any such case should be treated as a specialist emergency.
Always verify numbers before calling
Official lists for Yemen
Published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for British nationals. We are not connected to the firms listed.
- Lawyers, where an estate or an investigation needs local legal advice
Embassy phone numbers change. Confirm current details at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/yemen before a trip. The FCDO 24-hour line (+44 (0)20 7008 5000) is the most reliable point of contact in an emergency.
Contact details
British Embassy and consulates in Yemen
What you need to know
What the British post in Yemen can and cannot do
No resident British Embassy. The British Embassy in Sana'a closed in 2015. UK nationals should contact the FCDO directly. Limited consular assistance is provided by the British Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. is the post that registers the death and can give you a list of local funeral directors. It cannot pay any repatriation cost, arrange the repatriation itself, release the body, or shorten a local timeline.
The full list of what consular staff can and cannot do applies in every country.
Death registration in Yemen
The Embassy can register the death separately under UK law. This is optional and does not replace the local certificate, but some families find the UK death certificate useful for administrative purposes.
Typical timeline from Yemen
What the Embassy can and cannot pay for
Consular staff in Yemen cannot pay repatriation costs, funeral director fees, or any local charges, and cannot lend money to cover them.
They can give you a list of local funeral directors, contact next of kin, and help you reach an insurer. If there is no insurance and no family funds, they can explain what limited options exist.
What repatriation from Yemen involvesNeed help bringing someone home from Yemen?
We can take over the arrangements from wherever you are in the process, and bring your loved one home to the UK, Ireland or any other country. Send us the details and we will come back to you with a quote.