Repatriation from the USA: state paperwork and transit

State law, not one federal rule

In the United States deaths are registered not by a federal agency but by each state's vital records office, and forms, deadlines and fees differ from state to state. In New York, California or Texas the same paper may have a different name and be handled by a different office. So in our very first conversation we ask the family for the exact location: the state, the city and the county where the person died. That decides which registrar issues the certificate and which state's office will put an apostille on it.

Funeral home: who receives the body in America

At the centre of the American system stands the licensed funeral home and its director. The director collects the body from the hospital or from the medical examiner's office, completes the personal details in the death record, obtains the permit to move the body and prepares the deceased for a long journey. For an international shipment the funeral home also acts as the official shipper for the airline. Not every American funeral home has experience of sending someone abroad, so we work with those who already know the set of papers Georgia needs and spare the family endless emails.

Medical examiner or coroner

If the death was sudden, happened in an accident, at work, or at home without a doctor in attendance, the case is usually taken up by the county medical examiner or coroner. Until the body is released, the funeral home cannot begin its preparations. Sometimes the cause-of-death field at first reads only "pending", meaning tests are still under way, and the final entry is made once laboratory results come in. The family cannot speed this stage up, but our partner keeps in daily contact with the examiner's office and lets us know the moment the release is signed.

Certified copies of the certificate

For use abroad you need not an ordinary photocopy but a copy certified by the state or county registrar (a certified copy). The information sheet a hospital hands out will not do. We recommend ordering several certified copies at once: one for the apostille and the file that travels with the coffin, a second for the House of Justice, and the rest for the employer, the bank, an insurer and the inheritance case. Ordering an extra copy from America by post across the ocean takes weeks, so this small bit of foresight saves a great deal of time later.

Apostille from the state Secretary of State

The United States joined the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention in 1981 and Georgia in 2007, so an American certificate needs no consular legalisation: an apostille is enough. It is issued by the Secretary of State of the state where the certificate was produced, not by any department in Washington. In some states the vital records office forwards the request to the Secretary itself; in others you have to submit the certified copy separately. The apostille goes only on a certified copy; a Georgian office will not accept a seal stamped on a photocopy.

Georgia's diplomatic mission in the USA

Georgian citizens in America are served by the consular section of the embassy in Washington and by consulates general, including the one in New York; which of them to contact depends on the consular district the state belongs to. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, local authorities must inform the consulate when a foreign national dies. For the family the consulate matters most when the deceased had no Georgian passport on them and the Georgian database must be used to verify who they were, or when the Georgian side requires a consular certificate for the coffin to enter the country. We run the consular contact in parallel with the American paperwork, not after it.

"Known shipper": the airline requirement

Under the rules of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an airline accepts human remains leaving America only from a "known shipper", and a funeral home holds that status with each carrier separately. This means a relative or friend cannot hand the coffin in at the cargo terminal themselves, even with every document in hand. When we choose a partner, we check which airlines it has known-shipper status with, because that is what narrows or widens the transit routes available.

Transit: changing planes in another country

A coffin from America usually reaches Tbilisi with one or two connections through a major hub in Europe or the Middle East. Each airline has its own list of documents and its own procedure for accepting remains, and at the intermediate airport the consignment is moved to another flight. So we choose the route not on price alone: we weigh how reliable the transfer is and how many hours lie between the flights. The family receives both flight numbers and the air waybill number in advance, so they know where the coffin is at every stage.

The document set that travels with the coffin

Following the guidance of the professional association of American funeral homes, a body sent abroad is usually accompanied by:

• a certified death certificate with an apostille;
• a burial-transit permit, issued depending on the state by the local health department or the registrar;
• a letter stating the cause of death was not a communicable disease;
• a written statement from the embalmer (embalmer's affidavit);
• the deceased person's passport, where available;
• a letter from the funeral home describing the contents of the coffin, the flight and the consignee.

On top of these come the requirements of the Georgian side, including a hermetically sealed inner metal coffin inside an outer wooden casing. We check the full list against the specific flight every time.

Translating into Georgian

American documents are in English, and to be used in Georgia they need a Georgian translation certified by a notary. It is better to translate after the apostille has been added, because the wording of the apostille is translated too. Check whether the Latin spelling of the first name and surname matches the Georgian passport: American records often contain a shortened or anglicised first name, an added middle name, or a surname changed after marriage. A mismatch like this prompts extra questions at the House of Justice, so we look for it in advance and, where needed, prepare an explanatory document.

Timing: what it depends on

Nobody can promise an exact timeframe in advance. Three things slow a case most: the medical examiner releasing the body, obtaining the certified copy and the apostille in that particular state, and free cargo space on the connecting flight. US federal holidays and weekends stop government offices working, and because of the time difference a question sent from Tbilisi often gets an answer only the next morning. We tell the family the same day whenever a stage begins or ends, so the funeral date can be planned around the real schedule.

Time difference and daily updates

Tbilisi is eight or nine hours ahead of the US East Coast, and up to eleven or twelve ahead of the West Coast. When the working day starts in New York or Chicago, it is already evening in Georgia. Our conversations with the American partner therefore often take place during our night hours, and we agree with the family on one fixed time when they receive the day's summary. That way relatives do not sit up all night by the phone, and each piece of news arrives as one short, clear message.

Cremation in America and coming home with the urn

Cremation is widespread in the USA, and some families choose it because carrying ashes is far simpler and cheaper than shipping a coffin as cargo. A relative can even take the urn in cabin baggage. The TSA recommends a container made of a light material such as wood or plastic that shows up as transparent on an X-ray: out of respect, staff never open an urn, and one they cannot see through will not be allowed past. Keep the death and cremation certificates with you and check the airline's conditions beforehand. In Tbilisi you can choose a permanent urn and plan the burial of the ashes.

Insurance, employer and community help

Before you start adding up costs, find out whether your relative had travel insurance, life insurance or a policy through an employer. Some policies explicitly cover returning remains to the home country, but they often require the insurer to be involved from the very start. In such days the Georgian community in America, a church parish or colleagues often raise money. For socially vulnerable families in Georgia there is also a state reimbursement scheme, with applications accepted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consulates; check the current conditions before applying.

Family tasks in Georgia during the wait

While the American side handles the paperwork, there is plenty to do in Tbilisi. Choose the cemetery and agree the plot, ask the priest about the day of the funeral service, and decide where the panikhida (the Orthodox prayer service for the departed) and the memorial meal will take place. Prepare documents proving kinship and a notarised power of attorney if one does not exist yet. Announce the funeral day publicly only once the coffin is on board and the arrival time is confirmed: on a transatlantic route a single rescheduled departure shifts the whole timetable.

Meeting the coffin at Tbilisi airport, and the House of Justice

On arrival in Tbilisi the coffin goes through customs at the cargo terminal, which requires the air waybill, the death certificate and the accompanying papers. Our representative files the declaration, and our hearse escorts the coffin home, to the church or to a hall. After that the translated and apostilled American certificate is registered at the House of Justice, Georgia's Public Service Hall, and the family holds a Georgian death document, without which inheritance, bank and pension matters cannot be settled.

Price and what affects it

Repatriation from the USA or Canada starts from 9,000 GEL. The final amount depends on the state and city, because funeral home rates vary between regions; on the distance to the nearest international airport; on the transit route and the coffin's weight, which the airline uses to calculate the cargo charge; and on the number of days of storage at the examiner's office. If the family has dealt with the American part itself, with help from a relative or a local funeral home, we can take on only the reception at Tbilisi airport and customs, which costs from 600 GEL. The full package is described on our Repatriation page.

A partner funeral home and one coordinator

Our partners in America operate under a local licence, while we cover the Georgian side and act as the link between two languages and two systems. The family talks to a single coordinator in a language it understands, and the coordinator deals with the funeral home, the examiner's office, the consulate and the airline. If a relative or friend lives in America, we suggest a specific, small role for them, such as bringing the passport or handing over clothing, so they are not dragged into the bureaucracy. Every expense is recorded in writing, and the American receipts are passed to the family.

Frequently asked questions