Issuing authority and document: In Italy, authorisation to transport a body abroad is issued by the prefect (prefetto) of the province. The Polish certificate is issued by the Polish consulate in Rome or Milan.
Transport: By a specialised vehicle for carrying bodies, or by plane. We agree the route and the handover place in Poland with the family.
Timing: We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Polish Act provides that the starosta (district head) and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion and delivering the originals, and the time needed to deal with matters in the country of death depends on the authorities there.
Price: We will quote the price once we know the details.

The procedure in Italy

Italy is not a party to the Strasbourg Agreement on the Conveyance of Corpses, so Italian rules apply. We confirm the requirements for the authorisation and the coffin for your province before we start.

If the family chooses cremation in Italy, Italian law requires a written declaration of the wish to be cremated: the signature of a close relative certified by a notary or an official body. A template is on the website of the Polish consulate.

Rome or Milan, and 24 hours to report

In Italy a death must be reported no later than 24 hours after it occurs to the civil registrar (ufficiale dello stato civile) of the place of death. It is reported by close relatives, a person living with the deceased or their representative, including a funeral home. If the death occurred in a hospital or care home, the institution's management notifies the registrar.

The Polish certificate is issued by one of two offices, depending on the region. The Embassy in Rome serves Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria, as well as San Marino. The Consulate General in Milan serves the north, including Lombardy, Liguria, Piedmont, the Aosta Valley, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. We establish which one is competent for your case. In Rome the death is received by the Ufficio Denunce di Morte, and registration takes place at the moment of the report. A certificate from the necroscopic doctor of the local ASL is needed and, if the death occurred in hospital, the hospital's death notice.

Documents for the Polish consulate

The Polish consulate in Italy requires the starosta's permit and a death certificate from the Italian municipality (comune). An Italian passport for the body or a coffin-closing record may also be needed; we confirm this with the consulate in your case.

On the Polish side two documents are always needed: a permit from the starosta (district head) responsible for the place of burial, and then a certificate from the Polish consul, issued on the basis of that permit and the death certificate (Article 14(4) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead). The same documents are needed for an urn with ashes.

Frequently asked questions

Who issues the authorisation to take a body out of Italy?

The prefect (prefetto) of the province where the body is located. The application may be submitted by the funeral home.

Can a body be cremated in Italy and the urn transported?

Yes, but Italian law requires a written declaration of the wish to be cremated with a signature certified by a notary or an official body. For an urn, the starosta's permit and the consul's certificate are also needed.

How long does it take to bring a body home from Italy?

We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Act provides that the starosta and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion, delivering the originals, formalities in the country of death and the transport itself.

Other countries

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Repatriation of a Body from Italy to Poland