How much it costs to bring a body home to Ukraine from abroad
Bringing a body home to Ukraine costs from €800 from Poland and from €1,000 from Czechia; elsewhere, the price depends on the country. Below are some examples, a table for all countries and what the price includes. We will give you the exact price within 5 minutes.
The price of bringing a body home depends on the country: the route, the documents required there, and the rules for preparing the body and for the coffin. Some examples of “from” prices:
Poland: from €800;
Czechia: from €1,000;
Germany: from €2,100;
Italy: from €3,000.
All countries are in the table below. Bringing home an urn with ashes is a separate service: from €800 from most countries. From Moldova an urn costs from €400, from Thailand and Vietnam from €1,800, and from the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia from €2,500. If your country is not listed, we will bring the deceased home from there too. We will give you the price by phone.
A “from” price is for the simplest case: the body is in a city that is easy to reach, the documents are issued without delay and the route is standard. If anything is more complicated, the price will be higher, and we will tell you so before you agree.
Oleg Zdendiak, ownerpersonally responsible for every case
5,0★★★★★129 reviews on Google
Translated from Ukrainian
“You were always available, whatever the time…”
— Віта Х.
“Everything was organised with great dignity, professionally and with attention to every detail.”
— Тамара Ю.
“Every question was resolved promptly, with respect and attention to detail.”
— Olha B.
“…your support, compassion, sense of responsibility and professionalism meant a great deal to us.”
Urn with ashes from Thailand and Vietnam to Ukraine
from €1,800
Urn with ashes from the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia to Ukraine
from €2,500
Country not listed? We work there too. Call for a price.
Choose your country in the list of countries. Each country has its own page, with the documents and the questions people ask about it.
What the price is made of
We give one amount for the whole journey, but it is made up of several parts. It helps to know what they are. It makes offers easier to compare, and it explains why two funeral homes may quote different figures.
1. Documents in the country of death
Each country has its own procedure: who certifies the death, who issues the certificate and who gives permission to take the body out of the country. Some documents are free, and for others the country charges a fee. For example, both Austria and Germany issue their own accompanying document for the body, the “body passport” (Leichenpass), and the fee for it differs from one federal state to another. The amounts are small, but each country sets its own. Translations and an apostille are added where they are needed.
2. Preparing the body
Whether embalming is compulsory depends on the country. In Romania it is compulsory if the body is taken outside the town or village where the death occurred. In Denmark it is required if the body travels by air. In Czechia embalming as such is not required, but if an unembalmed body is carried for more than 8 hours or more than 500 km, it needs a hermetically sealed coffin or refrigeration equipment. So the same journey from different countries can cost different amounts. More in the article “Coffin and embalming for bringing a body to Ukraine”.
3. Coffin requirements for crossing the border
For international transport an ordinary coffin will not do. It must be hermetic: wooden on the outside, with a soldered zinc liner inside (the law calls this a hermetic metal coffin). The coffin is put under official seal. The countries that are parties to the Strasbourg Agreement also require a hermetic coffin with metal inside:
a wooden coffin with a sealed metal liner;
or a wooden coffin lined with metal on the inside.
For a flight the coffin must either have a valve that equalises the pressure or be strong enough. A coffin with a zinc liner is included in the “from” price. If the country or the airline requires more, or the family would like a different coffin, we will tell you during the call whether it changes the amount. More on the page “Coffins and sealed zinc liners”.
Sealed zinc liner in a wooden coffin
4. The route and the transport
From nearby countries the body is usually taken by road, in a specialist vehicle. From further away, part of the journey is by plane to an airport near Ukraine, and then by road again. The air leg takes from 2.5 hours. The body's journey home to Ukraine takes from 24 hours after collection. A flight is charged at a separate airline rate, with its own requirements for packing and documents. More on the pages “Air transport” and “Road transport”.
5. The city abroad and the city in Ukraine
A large city next to a motorway is one thing. A small town in the mountains or on an island is another. The same applies in Ukraine: taking the deceased to a city close to the border is not the same distance as taking them to a city in the east. That is why we always ask which town you need.
6. The border and the escort
At the Ukrainian border the customs officer is shown the death certificate and a certificate that the body and the coffin contain no prohibited items. The second certificate is issued by an authority of the country of death, and the Ukrainian consulate or embassy legalises it. A short written declaration for customs is added. We prepare these documents and accompany the deceased across the border. This, too, is part of the price.
hermetically sealed coffin with a zinc liner for transport
sealing as the border requires
transport by road, or part of the way by air, whichever is faster and better value for you
handover to the family
Coffin of your choice and urn: free of charge.
Not included: a funeral in Ukraine. A place at the cemetery, the farewell ceremony, a priest and the memorial meal are a separate service and a separate bill. We can arrange that too anywhere in Ukraine, but we always quote the amount separately, so that you can see what the transport alone costs. More on the page “Funerals across Ukraine”.
Sometimes the body waits a long time for documents, for example when the local authorities carry out a post mortem or a check. Extra costs can then appear that were not in the first quote. We warn you about such things as soon as we see the risk.
Why the price is “from”
The final amount depends on things that only become clear in a conversation: where the deceased is now, which documents you already have, whether embalming is needed and which route to take. That is why the site shows a “from” price. We will give you the price for your case once we know the city and the documents.
How to get the exact price in 5 minutes
Call +380 77 882 77 77, or write to the same number on Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram. So that we can give you the price straight away, have the answers to a few questions ready. If you do not know one of them, that is all right: we will work it out together.
The country and the city where the death occurred.
Where the body is now: a hospital, a morgue, a private home or a local funeral home.
Which documents you already have: the medical certificate of death, the death certificate, the deceased's passport.
The town or city in Ukraine the deceased should be taken to.
Whether the person had insurance that may cover the transport.
How not to overpay
A few simple tips that work with any funeral home, not only with us.
Ask what the price includes. Ask for a list: what the funeral home does for the amount it names, and what it charges separately. Our list is in the “What the price includes” section above.
Check how far the price goes. To the border, to a regional centre or to your town: these are different amounts.
Compare like with like. A low price that leaves out the documents or part of the journey is not cheaper, only incomplete.
Check the insurance before you pay. If the policy covers repatriation, the insurer may require you to agree the funeral home with it in advance. Otherwise you can lose the compensation. More in the article “Insurance and bringing a body home”.
Keep all bills and receipts. You will need them for the insurer, for the employer or to claim the funeral allowance.
If cremation has already taken place abroad, bringing home an urn is simpler than bringing a body. The same rules apply at the Ukrainian border as for a coffin: a death certificate and a certificate of no prohibited items. The Strasbourg Agreement does not cover ashes. We bring urns with ashes to Ukraine from any country. The price is from €800. More on the page “Transport of an urn with ashes to Ukraine”.
Questions about the price
How much does it cost to bring the deceased home from the nearest countries?
The “from” prices are: Poland, from €800; Czechia, from €1,000; Romania, from €1,500; Hungary, from €1,900; Slovakia, from €2,000. They cover the whole journey home.
Why does it cost more from Germany than from Poland?
The route is longer, there are more borders, and Germany has its own procedure for issuing documents and its own requirements for the coffin. So the price starts at €2,100 for Germany and at €800 for Poland.
Is a funeral in Ukraine included in the price?
No. The price is for bringing the deceased to Ukraine; what it includes is listed in the “What the price includes” section. A funeral is a separate service. We can arrange it and quote the amount separately.
Can the price change after it has been quoted?
It can, if circumstances arise that nobody knew about at the start: for example, a post mortem or another delay with the documents in the country of death. We warn you about such risks when we give you the price, and we never add anything without telling you.
Which is cheaper: a plane or a road vehicle?
It depends on the country. From nearby countries a road vehicle is usually simpler and cheaper. From further away, a plane is sometimes the only sensible option. We will choose a route that suits both the price and the documents.
How much does it cost to bring home an urn with ashes?
It costs from €800 from most countries. From Moldova an urn costs from €400, from Thailand and Vietnam from €1,800, and from the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia from €2,500. It is a separate service, and simpler than bringing a body.
Will insurance cover the transport?
Often yes, if the policy includes repatriation. But policies have limits, and a policy may cover the journey only as far as the border. Tell us about the policy on the first call. We will help you understand its terms and will agree the arrangements with the insurer ourselves.
Part of the family is abroad and part is in Ukraine. How do we pay?
You can pay by bank transfer, through payment systems or in cash at the XREQUIEM office. We discuss the payment method during the call: tell us what suits you. We will give you the price, and you decide who pays and how.
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