Shipment of Remains

Steps to be taken by the Next-of-Kin in order to have the remains of a deceased U.S. Citizen shipped to the United States:

  • A funeral Home in the U.S. should directly send an email or fax to this office announcing their preparedness to receive the remains upon arrival in the U.S.
  • Have the remains delivered to the State Forensic Organization, located at Jadeh Ghadeem Ghom, 500 meters after East Entrance Gate to Behesht-e-Zahra, opposite Kahrizak Telecommunication Office – Tel:(021) 5652-4800 thru 10 (direct line: (021) 5652-4797) in Tehran, from wherever it is being held (such as hospital, home or forensic org. of other cities in Iran).
  • Check with the Forensic Organization for costs of embalmment, coffin and preparation of the remains;
  • The representative should present himself/herself to the State Forensic Org., bearing this Section’s letter of introduction, receipt of payment copy of his/her ID, U.S. passport of the deceased together with a copy of it. When everything is submitted to the Coroner’s office, it would hand over two letters to the representative (i.e. the next-of-kin or their representative). Confirming that the corpse has been embalmed by international regulations.
  • Check with the airlines for the cost of having the remains shipped to America. The cost depends on the weight of the coffin. As a standard rule for the airlines, a 120 kilo is considered as the minimum weight for calculating the cost of transportation of a coffin (this means that even if the coffin weighs less than hundred kilos the airline would still charge for the minimum weight. However, if it is more, naturally the cost would be higher). This should be done through the Cargo Dept. of the airlines, which are located at the Imam Khomeini Airport. The city office is unable to give the correct information. Currently only Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways accept to ship the remains to the U.S.
  • On the day of departure, the representative should organize with the State Forensic Org. to have an ambulance ready for transporting the coffin to the airport.  The Customs formalities (sealing of the coffin) will be handled at the airport.

When all the mentioned tasks are taken care of, the original under noted documents should be submitted to this for issuance of a “Consular Mortuary Certificate”:

  • Death certificate, together with its legalized English translation;
  • Letter from State Forensic Org., confirming the embalmment of the remains & its legalized English translation;
  • The deceased’s U.S. passport;
  • Canceled Iranian birth certificate of the deceased & its English translation, as well as his Iranian passport (if available);
  • Airway Bill;
  • Valid passport of the representative.