Issuing authority and document: Permits to take a body out of the country are issued by state and local authorities (for example a transit or burial permit); the rules differ between states. The Polish certificate is issued by the competent Polish consulate in the USA.
Transport: By plane, as air cargo. We agree the arrival airport 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 the USA

The USA is not a party to the Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses, and the export of a body is governed by state law. According to the Polish consulate in the USA, the authorities may require: a certificate of no infectious disease, a permit to take the body out of the state (transit or burial permit) and a notarised statement from the funeral director that the body has been prepared for transport in a hermetically sealed metal coffin.

USA: five posts, each with its own states

Poland has five posts in the United States: the embassy in Washington and consulates general in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York. New York covers, among others, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York State, Chicago covers Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, Houston covers Texas and Florida, Los Angeles covers California and Arizona, and the embassy covers Pennsylvania, Virginia and Georgia. We tell you which one handles the case.

The consular page says the certificate is issued by the office competent for the applicant's place of residence. The starosta's permit can be sent by email or via ePUAP. An original death certificate or its certified copy is needed. Documents are collected in person or by post, with the cost of postage added. If the consul refuses, he issues a decision, which can be appealed within seven days.

Documents for the Polish consulate

The Polish consulate issues the certificate (by law at the latest within 3 days, Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead) on the basis of the starosta's permit and the death certificate. For ashes, a cremation certificate is needed, where necessary a local permit to take the ashes out of the country, and a statement from the funeral home about the sealed container. The application can be submitted in person, through a representative or by post.

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

Is transcription of a US death certificate necessary to bring the body home?

No, according to the Polish consulate in the USA, transcription is not a condition for issuing the certificate for transport. We can, however, help you prepare the application for it, because a Polish death certificate is useful later, for example in inheritance matters.

How much does it cost to bring a body from the USA to Poland?

The price depends on the city, the documents, the type of transport and whether we are transporting a body or an urn. We will give you a price once we know the details.

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

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 the USA to Poland