Repatriation from the Marshall Islands to Moldova
The Marshall Islands are a nation of atolls in the Pacific, more than 12,900 km from Chișinău. The country is a party to the Apostille Convention, and we found no official sources on taking remains out.
- Issuing authority and document
- The Marshall Islands are not on the list of states under the Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses (1973; list on treatydatabase.overheid.nl, consulted 13.10.2026), so local rules and the requirements of the Republic of Moldova apply. According to the getinthepicture.org country page (consulted 13.10.2026; undated), civil registration is handled by the national Civil Registry Office under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and families go to it in person, in Majuro or Kwajalein; deaths are also recorded by the Ministry of Health through the two major hospitals, in Majuro and Kwajalein. Registration is compulsory by law but incomplete; the page names neither the law nor a deadline for deaths. Who permits remains to leave the country we did not find, and we name no authority. The list of missions on mfa.gov.md (consulted 13.10.2026; the page shows no date) has no embassy in the Marshall Islands and does not name the country among those covered by another mission; we establish the competent mission at the start.
- Transport
- Majuro is about 12,960 km from Chișinău in a straight line (our own calculation from approximate coordinates of the town). The destinations list of Chișinău airport (RMO) on Wikipedia, read on 13.10.2026, has no destination in Oceania. On the Wikipedia page for Majuro's airport (consulted 13.10.2026), United Airlines flies to Honolulu, Guam, Kwajalein, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Kosrae, and Nauru Airlines to Brisbane, Koror, Nauru, Pohnpei and Tarawa; no direct flights to Europe appear. So the journey involves at least one connection; which airline accepts remains on which route we have not verified.
- Timing
- We confirm the timeline once we have the documents. What matters here is that air links pass through few hubs in the Pacific and some deaths happen on distant atolls, where information arrives slowly: getinthepicture.org notes that monthly reporting from the outer islands is sometimes done by radio. How long registration at the Civil Registry Office takes we did not find in an official source, so we give no number of days.
- Price
- We will quote the price once we know the details.
Country status under the 1973 Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses: per the Council of Europe list (archived 20.05.2014) and the Netherlands treaty database; checked 11.10.2026.
Procedure
According to getinthepicture.org (consulted 13.10.2026), families go in person to the Civil Registry Office in Majuro or Kwajalein; the page does not describe the steps beyond that. It also says that finding previously issued certificates is difficult and that people often ask for a new registration instead of a certificate, so at the start we check which document exists.
For deaths in hospital, the Ministry of Health and Human Services records them through the hospitals in Majuro and Kwajalein and outer-island health programmes. Which of these papers accompanies the remains we did not establish from an official source.
Required documents
We found no official list of documents for taking remains out of the Marshall Islands, so we do not present one as fact. According to the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (consulted 13.10.2026), the mortuary passport is issued by embassies and consulates of the Republic of Moldova, and a foreign death certificate must be legalised by the authorities of the country where the death occurred.
The Marshall Islands are a party to the Hague Apostille Convention (accession 18.11.1991, in force 14.08.1992; HCCH table updated 30.06.2026, no objection by Moldova), and the page of the Moldovan ministry with the list dated 02.02.2017 includes them as no. 64. The designated apostille authorities, according to HCCH, include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General, the Clerk of the High Court and other officials; which of them apostilles a death certificate we have not established.
Specifics of the Marshall Islands
The country has two major hospitals, in Majuro and Kwajalein, and the air network starts in Majuro. On the airport page (Wikipedia, 13.10.2026) Air Marshall Islands is listed with domestic flights to distant atolls; if the death happened on one of them, getting to Majuro is a separate leg.
On embalming, cremation and coffin requirements we found no official sources, and the page states nothing from them. We clarify them at the start with the Moldovan mission and the airline.
Frequently asked questions
Where is a death registered in the Marshall Islands?
According to getinthepicture.org (13.10.2026), at the Civil Registry Office in Majuro or Kwajalein, where the family goes in person. The steps and deadlines are not described there.
Will the death certificate carry an apostille?
Probably yes: the country has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 1992 (HCCH, 30.06.2026). Which authority applies it to a death certificate and in what form we confirm with the competent mission.
Which Moldovan mission handles the Marshall Islands?
The list on mfa.gov.md (13.10.2026) has no embassy in the Marshall Islands and does not name the country among those covered by another mission. We do not invent a mission; we establish it before sending documents.
Which flights link Majuro to the rest of the world?
According to Wikipedia (13.10.2026), United Airlines flies to Honolulu and Guam and Nauru Airlines to Brisbane, Koror, Nauru, Pohnpei and Tarawa; no direct flights to Europe appear. We check the timetable at the time of planning.