Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
Belize has an honorary consulate in Dallas
This is unusual, and worth knowing. Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists its honorary consulates in the United States, and three of them are in Texas: Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The ministry gives the Dallas office as 8035 East R. L. Thorton Freeway, Suite 221, Dallas, TX 75228, telephone (214) 328-6877. The Texas Secretary of State’s list shows the same office and telephone at the same address but with a different suite number, so confirm the suite before you travel there.
An honorary consulate is usually a point of contact rather than an office that issues permits. Call before going, say that a death has occurred and that the family wishes to take the person to Belize, and ask what the office can do and what it cannot.
What Belize publishes, and what it does not
We looked for an official Belizean list of the documents a body needs to enter the country, and did not find one. Neither the foreign ministry nor the health ministry publishes a page on importing human remains that we could read, and the customs department’s restricted goods list was not readable. That is a gap in what is published, not a sign that nothing is required.
So the file has to be built from two answers rather than from a web page. Ask the honorary consulate in Dallas, or the foreign ministry, what Belize requires and whether any consular document is issued here. Ask the funeral home that will receive your relative in Belize what the health and customs officers at the airport will want to see, and get that in writing before the flight is booked. A Texas funeral director will prepare the usual file in the meantime: the certified death certificate, the burial-transit permit, the embalming certificate and a letter that the death was not from a communicable disease.
Three questions settle most of what is unknown. Does any Belizean office have to stamp or issue a document before the casket flies, and if so which one? Who meets the casket at the airport, and does that person need a licence or a permit of their own? And is there anything the family must obtain inside Belize, as several countries in the region require? Put those three in one email, to the consulate and to the receiving funeral home, on the first day.
Death records in Belize
Deaths inside Belize are registered by the Vital Statistics Unit, a unit of the Attorney General’s Ministry that maintains the records of births, deaths and marriages within Belize, and applications for certificates are made in person. Its page describes the domestic process, and we found no published route for recording a death that happened abroad. Order extra certified copies of the Texas death certificate for the family in Belize, who may need them for land, a pension or an estate.
Apostille
Belize has been in the apostille system for a long time. The HCCH status table shows accession on July 17, 1992 and entry into force on April 11, 1993, so a single certificate from the Texas Secretary of State makes a Texas death certificate usable in Belize; see the authentication FAQ. Nothing we read says the documents travelling with the body must be apostilled, but an apostille is inexpensive next to the cost of a delayed flight, and a Belizean bank or court may want one later.
From DFW to Belize City
American Airlines publishes a route page from Dallas/Fort Worth to Belize City, Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport, that describes nonstop or connecting service, so ask which applies on the proposed date. American Airlines Cargo’s TLC page says its specialists work directly with funeral homes and mortuaries on the advance arrangements, and Caribbean Airlines Cargo lists human remains among its products. No airline page we found confirms acceptance of human remains on a Dallas–Belize routing, so ask the cargo desk directly. For a burial in Belmopan, Dangriga or Orange Walk, settle the road transport with the receiving funeral home first.
| Step | Who to ask |
|---|---|
| Death certificate, transit permit, embalming | The funeral director here |
| Apostille on Texas documents | Texas Secretary of State |
| What Belize requires, and what the office can do | The honorary consulate in Dallas, or the ministry |
| Health and customs on arrival | The receiving funeral home in Belize |
| Acceptance of the casket and the flight | The airline’s cargo desk |
Who pays
We found no Belizean statement about the government meeting the cost of a return. Plan on the family, an insurer or an employer paying. The insurance and assistance guide lists places to ask.
Questions families ask about a return to Belize
- Is there a Belizean office in Dallas?
- Yes. Belize’s foreign ministry lists an honorary consulate in Dallas, and two more in Houston and San Antonio. Call before going, because an honorary consulate is usually a contact point rather than a permit office.
- What documents does Belize require?
- We found no published list. Ask the honorary consulate and the receiving funeral home, and have the answers in writing before ordering documents.
- Does a Texas apostille work for Belize?
- Yes. Belize has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 1993, so the state’s certificate is the authentication to use.
Sources checked and case confirmation
Sources checked September 21, 2026. Belize publishes no document list for bringing remains in that we could find, and the two official lists differ on the suite number of the Dallas office. Confirm documents, fees, route and receiving arrangements for the individual case. Contact Vargas–London with the origin and destination to discuss the next step without sending medical or identity documents through the inquiry form.
