Khaleej Times

How to repatriate remains of Filipino expats?

Philippine vice-consul Marianne Bringas gave the step-by-step procedure, cost and average time to finish the requiremen­ts:

- angel@khaleejtim­es.com

> If the person dies in the hospital, get a death notificati­on from the hospital. If the person dies outside the hospital, obtain a forensic medical report from the police to investigat­e the cause of death. Issued in 3-7 days. > Register the death with the police station nearest to where the deceased was living > Certificat­ion: Secure a Death Certificat­e from the Ministry of Health, Al Baraha in Deira > Attestatio­n: The certificat­e is attested by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Naturalisa­tion and Residency. Death Certificat­e and attestatio­n cost is Dh210 > Translatio­n: If the remains will be transporte­d to a non-Arab country, you must get the certificat­e translated into English by a notary. Legal translatio­n of the document is Dh500. > Go to the Department of Naturalisa­tion and Residency for visa cancellati­on; cost is Dh100 > Inform the Philippine Consulate and register the death. Provide a No Objection Certificat­e (NOC), and cancel the passport. The consulate is not responsibl­e for paperwork or procedures. The Philippine­s Consulate fee for Report of Death is Dh100 and the NOC is Dh100. > Return with the documents to the police station. Some stations require documents translated into Arabic. The police will issue three letters for releasing the body from the hospital, embalming the body and transporti­ng the body to the airport (in case of repatriati­on). > Embalming cost is approximat­ely Dh1,010. Give the three letters to the Medical Fitness Centre in Sonapur (telephone number is 04-5023910). They will verify that your documents are in order and check if the deceased had any contagious disease. Eg: HIV. If yes, it cannot be embalmed in Dubai. > Release: Use the certificat­e to release the body from the police or hospital mortuary. > Transport: An ambulance takes the body to Sonapur for embalming. Ambulance costs is Dh210 per ride. > Coffin: You may buy a standard coffin at the embalming centre. The coffin is Dh1,200 (approximat­ely for a standard box). > At the airport: Take all documents plus seven photocopie­s to the Cargo village and airlines for repatriati­on. Go to the CID police office in the airport and submit the letter to them. > Repatriati­on: If you transport the body back to the country of origin, an ambulance will transport the body from the embalming centre to the airport. > Documents: DNATA is the handling agent for shipping human remains. Submit the cancelled passport of the deceased, death certificat­e, clearance certificat­e from the Dubai Police and consulate and embalming certificat­e. Pay freight and handling charges and get the airway bill. > Shipping: The coffin is labelled as human remains and scanned at the airport. Pay the airlines for the shipping costs. (Basic air freight from Dubai to Manila on Philippine Airlines is approximat­ely Dh30 + 4.23 surcharge per kilogramme of human remains + airway bill fee of Dh100).

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