For any expat working or living in Saudi Arabia, a process needs to be followed to repatriate dead body to the country of citizenship of the deceased (e.g. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh). In this article, we will explain Process to Bring Dead Body from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan for any Pakistani expat after his or her death in KSA.

Step By Step Process to Bring Dead Body from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan after a Pakistani Expat Death in KSA

Saudi Arabia is second home for thousands of Pakistani workers and their families who are living in KSA. Life in Saudi Arabia as an expat is quite fulfilling with good salary packages, lower cost of living, excellent law and order situation, closeness to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina and for various other good reasons. However, death is also a bitter reality and many expats working or living in Saudi Arabia die due to illness or accidents.

Saudi Arabia is known for very formal and strict laws and one has to abide by all the rules as a resident iqama holder. Same goes for the case of a death of an expat in Saudi Arabia. A thorough and formal process has to be followed in either case: to bury the dead body of an expat in Saudi Arabia or to repatriate the dead body to the home country. The focus of this article is the explain the steps required to take the dead body back to home country from Saudi Arabia. The information is more focused for the case of Pakistani Expat Death in KSA but similar steps might be needed (with just some slight differences) for expats of other nationalities like India, Bangladesh.

Step 1: Get a Death Certificate from Hospital

In case of an accident, the first step required is to call ambulance by calling 997. Normally police is also involved in any accident cases to grab the initial reports. Once a dead body is brought to the hospital in case of a road accident or in case of death from any other reasons, hospital will issue a death certificate. Note that for the cases of accidents, police report will also be required by hospital to proceed with the issuance of death certificate.

Step 2: Inform Kafeel (Sponsor) Immediately

Although I am mentioning it as second step, normally it is considered together with first step. It is extremely important to inform Kafeel of the deceased at its earliest. If an expat worker dies in Saudi Arabia, it is responsibility of Kafeel to take care of necessary administrative and legal matters and bear the cost of repatriation.

Step 3: Get NOC from the Embassy or Consulate of Pakistan

In order to Bring Dead Body from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, NOC (No Object Certificate) is required from the embassy or consulate. In case of the death of a Pakistani Expat in Saudi Arabia, following requirements must be fulfilled to get NOC from the embassy of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia.

• Provide hospital death certificate or police report (in case of death in an accident).
• A permission letter (Authorization Letter) from the family of the deceased. This letter from the family on a plain paper should explicitly mention that family wants burial of dead body in Pakistan. The letter should also nominate a resident in Saudi Arabia (Iqama Holder) for the proceedings related to repatriation of the dead body from KSA.
• A copy of iqama and passport of the person who died.
• A copy of iqama and passport of the person who is made responsible by the family.

It is also important to mention here that translation of permission letter in Arabic is also required. This Arabic translated permission letter from the family must also be stamped by embassy for further processing.

Step 4: MOFA Attestation of NOC and Permission Letter

You need to go for MOFA Attestation of the NOC that was issued from embassy and also the translated permission letter. MOFA attestation process is straight forward with payment of required fees, appointment booking and going to MOFA office and get the documents attested.

Step 5: Booking in Cargo Office of an Airline for Transporting Dead Body to Home Country

You need to go to the booking office of the airline (e.g. PIA, Airblue) and book a ticket for transporting dead body to home country. Airlines like PIA do facilitate to the extent they can to help you in this case.

Step 6: Visit Commissioner or Governorate Office for Approval

Once you have MOFA attested NOC and cargo booking available, visit commissioner/governorate office to seek their approval. The approval process will depend on the nature of the case. It may involve respective police station, Dafa Madni (Civil Defense) , Traffic Police depending on the case.

Step 7: Get Final Exit of the Deceased from Jawazat

Final Exit is mandatory and it is responsibility of Kafeel to arrange it. Kafeel will coordinate with Jawazat Office to get a final Exit (Khurooj Nihai) for the dead body.

Step 8: Coordinate with Hospital as well as Cargo Office for Transporting Dead Body

You (along with kafeel) need to coordinate with hospital and ensure clearing any pending dues. You should also inform hospital at-least 24 hours before cargo flight. This is necessary as hospital will need time to fulfil formalities at their end and prepare dead body for the shipment.