Transporting the deceased from Georgia abroad - to any country, with all the paperwork

Families and situations this service covers

• Foreign nationals: tourists, students, people working here and retirees who die in Georgia, together with their families back home.
• Georgians with dual citizenship: people who came to visit, whose family lives in Europe, America or Russia and wishes to bury them there.
• Parents of emigrants: when the children live permanently abroad and want their parent's grave to be close by, somewhere they can visit.
• A family grave in another country: for example in Armenia, Azerbaijan or Turkey, where the family's ancestors are buried.

If you are a relative reading this from abroad, you do not need to know Georgian procedures or speak the language. Our coordinators work in English, Russian and Georgian, and every document we prepare can be explained to you line by line before anything is signed.

Prices by destination

The price includes all work on the Georgian side and delivery to the airport or border of the destination country. The funeral itself on the receiving side, if a local funeral home carries it out, is calculated separately, and the family is told the figure in advance.

Air freight has the biggest effect on the price: the airline charges for the zinc and wooden coffin by weight, and a transit stop means an extra fee. We send a written estimate within two hours, in English, Georgian or Russian, so that the family abroad or the insurance company can read it.

Step by step: from a death in Georgia to the destination country

1. Medical certificate and police: after a call to 112, a doctor issues the medical certificate. When a foreigner dies suddenly, a forensic examination is often ordered, and we collect the body once it has been completed.
2. Death certificate and apostille: at the Public Service Hall (Georgia's civil registry, locally known as the House of Justice) we obtain the Georgian death certificate and arrange the apostille there too, which means the document is recognised in Hague Convention countries without further legalisation. The certificate is then translated into the language of the destination country and notarised.
3. Consular permit: the embassy or consulate of the destination country in Tbilisi issues a document allowing the body to be brought in. Some countries also ask for a medical statement confirming that no infectious illness led to the death - we obtain that document as well.
4. Embalming and coffin: the body is embalmed to international standards, placed in a hermetically sealed zinc-lined coffin, with the sealing confirmed by a formal certificate, and finally enclosed in an outer wooden coffin.
5. Transport: we book space on a cargo flight from Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi airport, while for neighbouring countries our hearse travels overland: to Turkey via Sarpi, to Armenia via Sadakhlo, to Azerbaijan via the Red Bridge, and to Russia via Upper Lars.
6. Reception abroad: in the destination country the coffin is met at the airport or border by our partner funeral home and taken wherever the family asks. We send relatives the flight details and arrival time before the plane even leaves.

Documents we need from the family

The family is often abroad, so we ask for as little as possible, and for the first step photos taken on a phone are enough:

• the deceased's passport or a copy of it; for a foreigner, the one they used to enter Georgia;
• the ID of the family representative, plus a paper showing how they were related to the deceased;
• a power of attorney, needed when no relative can be in Georgia: it is drawn up by a notary in the country of residence with an apostille, or at a Georgian consulate;
• the insurance policy, if the deceased had travel or health insurance.

Everything else - the Georgian certificate, the apostille, the translation, sanitary certificates, the consular permit, the coffin sealing certificate, the air waybill and the export declaration - we arrange ourselves.

The first 24 hours, when the family is far away

It is hardest when the person was alone in Georgia, and the family is thousands of kilometres away and does not know the local language. In that case we become the family's eyes and hands on the ground. Within the first hour we tell you where the body is and who is responsible for releasing it. We contact the embassy, which must be officially informed of the death of its citizen, and find out whether the police will order a forensic examination. The family sees every step in photos and short messages, and all decisions, such as embalming or cremation, are taken only with their written consent. Personal belongings from the hotel or rented flat are collected against an inventory and sent with the coffin or as a separate parcel.

Religious and cultural requirements

Many faiths have their own timeframes and rules for burial, and the transport has to respect them. Under Muslim custom families aim to bury as soon as possible, so for Turkey and Azerbaijan we choose the overland route and complete the documents in a single day. Jewish tradition often restricts embalming when a body is sent to Israel, and in that case we agree with the receiving side what is acceptable within the airline's requirements. Christian families frequently ask for a panikhida, the brief Orthodox prayer service for the departed, to be held in a Tbilisi church before departure, and we arrange that too. More about faith-specific arrangements is on our pages on Muslim and Jewish funerals.

Overland or by air

For neighbouring countries the overland route is almost always quicker and cheaper: there is no waiting for a cargo flight, and two or three relatives can travel with the hearse. At the border crossing the driver carries the full set of documents, and the check usually takes less than an hour. For distant countries there is really only one option - air cargo. We then choose an airline that can carry the coffin with a single transit stop, because every extra transfer adds time and risk.

Common mistakes that cause delays

• An inaccurate name on the certificate: the Georgian transliteration of a foreign name must match the passport letter for letter, otherwise the destination country's consulate will not accept the document. We check this before submitting anything to the Public Service Hall.
• A late power of attorney: until the family representative has authority, some steps cannot begin. We send the family the wording of the power of attorney on day one.
• Cremation without a clear family decision: cremation is irreversible, so we carry it out only with the written consent of the next of kin.
• The wrong airline: some carriers do not accept human remains on certain routes, so we book a flight only after the airline's cargo department has confirmed.

Cremation as an alternative

Some families, especially in Europe and America, choose cremation. Transporting an urn is much simpler: it needs no zinc coffin and no embalming, and many airlines allow an accompanying person to carry the urn in hand luggage with a cremation certificate and a consular permit. This route cuts the cost several times over. If you are weighing the two options, our team can set out both estimates side by side, with timings, so the family can decide without pressure.

For the reverse journey - bringing a loved one who died abroad home to Georgia - see our repatriation service.

Frequently asked questions