Body repatriation from France: everything to know
Body repatriation from France follows a very specific procedure. Find all the answers to your questions here.The repatriation of a body from abroad requires the application of a very precise procedure and the involvement of many administrations to prevent the body from being stuck at the airport.
Beyond the procedure, the repatriation of a body also raises many questions to which we will try to answer. If your question does not appear here, please do not hesitate to let us know and we will add it.
The time frame for repatriating a body from France varies depending on the circumstances and the destination country, but it generally takes about 10 days on average to obtain all the necessary authorizations, especially those from the consulate.
Given that a large portion of the cost corresponds to the plane ticket, the cost varies greatly depending on the destination country or the airline used.
You can find more precise estimates for body repatriation by country on our dedicated page.
It should be noted that we need authorization from the consulate of the destination country for the body's entry into its territory. The list of required documents is different for each country, but generally, the following documents are needed:
Identification document of the person in charge of repatriation. E.g., identity card, residence card, passport, ...
Destination country's passport belonging to the deceased
Contact details of the company or person based in the destination country who will take care of the deceased upon arrival
Possibly specific documents from the destination country
Contact us to learn more about a specific country.
Embalming may be required or not, depending on the destination country.
Some countries with strong Muslim or Jewish roots do not require embalming as this is contrary to these two religions. More information on our article dedicated to embalming.
For other countries, this is generally recommended:
if the funeral takes place over an extended period of time
if it is planned to open the coffin upon arrival
if the coffin has a glass window allowing the deceased to be seen
Reservations for a deceased person or a passenger involve different procedures and contacts within airlines.
Therefore, we solely take care of the deceased, and we cannot provide a companion ticket.
However, we will quickly provide you with all the flight information so that you can make a reservation on your end.
We work with all airlines that offer reservations for deceased repatriations. Not all companies provide this service.
So, we usually have several options to propose for the same destination.
Yes, of course. Depending on the place of death, the destination country, and the availability of flights, it is possible to start the repatriation from a regional airport or return to a Parisian airport. Contact us to explore the different possibilities.
We offer repatriations from all French airports that provide this type of service. This corresponds to about a dozen airports throughout France. For example, there are Parisian airports, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, ...
