Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
Two of these offices are not in Washington
Almost every African guide on this site ends at an embassy in Washington. This group holds two exceptions, and both matter to a Dallas family.
Nigeria’s Consulate General in Atlanta lists Texas inside its consular service area, and Atlanta publishes the human-remains checklist and takes the file. The second is closer still: Texas lists an honorary consul of Sierra Leone in Garland, in the Dallas area, though the published requirements are still the embassy’s in Washington. Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Liberia are Washington: ask the Ghanaian embassy which post handles a Dallas death, the Cameroonian embassy answers on +1 202-265-8790, the Senegalese embassy covers the whole United States from 2215 M St NW, and Liberia keeps no Texas office.
One caution about Ghana. A detailed checklist is published by the mission in New York, useful reading but that mission’s list, and it does not establish that a Texas family should post originals to New York. Ask Washington which office holds the file first.
| Country | The office that publishes the procedure |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | Consulate General in Atlanta, which names Texas |
| Ghana | Embassy in Washington; a New York checklist also exists |
| Cameroon | Embassy in Washington, by mail |
| Senegal | Embassy in Washington, covering the whole country |
| Liberia | Embassy in Washington; no Texas office at all |
| Sierra Leone | Embassy in Washington; an honorary consul in Garland |
Cameroon asks for four sets; Senegal asks for two documents
The distance between the heaviest file and the lightest here is larger than anywhere else on the site.
Cameroon’s mortuary travel document form is the most demanding African application we have read. It wants one set of originals and three of copies — four in all — states that the consular section will not photocopy anything, and warns that an incomplete application may be returned with significant delays. It asks for proof of Cameroonian citizenship, the original death certificate, a transit and burial permit naming the final resting place, a doctor’s letter that the remains are free from contagious disease, embalming certification, and a photograph of the casket taken while it is empty. The fee is a postal money order for $181.82, and processing is about three business days.
Senegal’s civil status page asks for two things: the original death record and a copy of the Senegalese identity document. It is also the only one whose embassy does something with the death rather than merely permitting the flight: it transcribes the death into its own registers, issues its own certificate, then signs the transfer authorization.
Two documents only your family at home can obtain
Cameroon’s form contains the most commonly missed requirement in this block, and it cannot be started from Dallas.
Before the file is posted, the family must obtain in Cameroon a prefectural order from the senior divisional officer for the city of entry — Douala or Yaoundé — authorising the transfer to the final destination, and an authorisation to bury from the administrative or traditional authorities where the burial will be. The form says both are obtained by the family and supplied to the funeral home before the request goes. That puts relatives in Cameroon on the critical path from day one, and the point of entry has to be decided early, because the order names it.
Ghana’s equivalent sits with the state. Its 2021 registration regulations cover remains or ashes with origin-country health certification and sealed containment, and a Births and Deaths Registry burial permit authorises the burial. In the capital the Accra Metropolitan Assembly adds a public-health step after it. A consular stamp and an air waybill are not proof of local permission to bury.
Five of the seven are outside the apostille system
The split here is five to two, and both exceptions are recent in their own way.
Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are all absent from the HCCH status table. Senegal acceded on 13 July 2022, in force 23 March 2023, new enough that its embassy list does not mention an apostille. Liberia is the stranger case: it acceded in 1995, but the United States objected, and only withdrew that objection on 20 May 2015, when the Convention entered into force between them.
For the five outside, the Texas Secretary of State sets out the chain when authentication is required: the state’s certificate, then the Office of Authentications at the State Department, then the embassy. Two extra offices, two extra fees, two extra postal legs.
Language is the other planning item. French is the language of administration in Senegal and its embassy’s pages are in French; Cameroon’s file is the same. Nothing we read requires a translation of a Texas death certificate, but a registry or a receiving funeral service may expect one.
Where the published lists contradict each other
This group has something the East African guides did not: official sources that disagree. Three of them, all worth knowing before a family is quoted a price or a date.
Nigeria’s Atlanta checklist requires a Federal Ministry of Health Port Health waiver. The ministry’s own May 2025 FAQ describes that waiver as being for exceptions to the standard requirements and says a compliant shipment may proceed without one. Do not resolve that by dropping Atlanta’s item; ask both offices, and note that the ministry’s 48 to 72 hour review is the waiver’s, not the consulate’s.
Nigeria again, on money: the consulate’s administrative charge notice and its shipment checklist carry different fee references. Ask for the currently payable amount and method before buying a money order. This page does not pick between them.
And Cameroon: its consular services page says walk-in is required for most services, while the repatriation form says the funeral home submits by mail only. Follow the form, and confirm by telephone first.
Questions families ask about a return to West and Central Africa
- Which of these countries takes an apostille?
- Senegal since March 2023, and Liberia since 20 May 2015, when the United States withdrew an objection it had lodged in 1995. Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Sierra Leone are outside, so a Texas document needing authentication goes to the state, then the State Department, then the embassy.
- What do these embassies charge?
- Cameroon publishes $181.82 by postal money order, Liberia $150 with $50 more for next-day rush, and Sierra Leone $100 by money order. Nigeria publishes two different fee references. Ghana and Senegal publish no amount, and none is estimated here.
- Can cremated remains be sent?
- More than for East Africa. Cameroon’s form covers ashes in a polyurethane bag inside an urn; Ghana’s New York mission names a cremation certificate and a hermetically sealed container. Senegal says nothing; Nigeria says to ask separately.
Sources checked and case confirmation
Sources checked September 22, 2026. This page compares what our seven West and Central African country guides report, and each carries its own sources and review date: the Nigerian consulate in Atlanta, the Nigerian health ministry, the Ghanaian embassy and its New York mission, Ghana’s 2021 regulations and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the Cameroonian embassy’s consular page and mortuary form, the Senegalese embassy’s jurisdiction and civil status pages, Liberia’s mortuary certificate form, Sierra Leone’s consular services page, the HCCH status table with the declaration behind its objection marker, and the Texas Secretary of State. Coverage: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cameroon is Central rather than West Africa, which is why the page is titled for both. The Congolese embassy is the only one to name its permit and price it twice, at $150 or $100 depending on the passport. What this page does not claim: any fee for Ghana or Senegal; any resolution of the three published contradictions; and no airline, route or packaging specification. Contact Vargas–London with the community in West or Central Africa and where your relative is now, without sending medical or identity documents through the inquiry form.
