Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
Every repatriation has two ends
A return abroad is never the work of one funeral home. Someone here takes your relative into care, prepares the documents and hands the casket or urn to the airline. Someone at the destination meets the flight, clears it with the local authorities and carries out the burial or service. When the two ends talk to each other early, most delays never happen. When they do not, the family discovers the gap at the airport.
This guide explains how that coordination works, what we do at Vargas–London, and what your family needs to decide on the receiving side.
How Vargas–London coordinates
We coordinate with the family member who will receive your relative, and sometimes with local shippers. Coordination comes down to a few things the two sides need to exchange early: who the receiving person is and how to reach them, what is travelling, on which flight and with which documents, and what the receiving side needs before the flight is booked.
We do not name partner funeral homes abroad on this page, and we do not choose the receiving funeral home for you. That choice belongs to your family, usually to the relative who lives there and knows the town, the cemetery and the customs of the place.
Why many countries expect a funeral home at the other end
Several governments write the receiving funeral home into their rules. Jamaica’s foreign ministry tells families to engage a funeral home in Jamaica to receive the body and arrange the burial, and its health ministry’s import guideline says the consignee for a body must be a licensed funeral director there, who obtains the health permit before the journey. An Argentine consular page says that funeral homes process the request for the entry permit, declaring the date, the place of embarkation and the destination.
Other countries ask for less, and some ask for a consular step instead. The destination guides on this site say what each country publishes. Where a country requires a local funeral home, the receiving relative should choose one before we book a flight, because its name goes on the paperwork.
Who can hand a casket to an airline
Families are sometimes surprised that they cannot take a casket to the cargo desk themselves. The Transportation Security Administration explains that carriers must run known shipper programs, and that known shipper status is what allows a shipper’s cargo to travel on passenger aircraft. Airlines apply this to funeral shipments. Alaska Air Cargo, for example, says customers must work with their funeral home or a medical institution authorized to ship human remains.
This is where a local shipper can come in. When a shipping service is involved, three things should be settled with it: who tenders the casket to the airline, who holds the air waybill, and who tells the receiving side when the flight changes.
What the price list shows for this work
The Federal Trade Commission’s guide to complying with the Funeral Rule lists the items every funeral home in the United States must price on its General Price List. Two of them are forwarding of remains to another funeral home and receiving remains from another funeral home, and the guide says those prices must already include the basic services fee. The same guide explains cash advance items: things obtained from a third party and paid for on your behalf. If a funeral home adds a charge to a cash advance item, it must tell you the price is not the same as its cost.
Ask for the General Price List at the start, ask which third-party charges are expected, such as airline freight or a shipper’s fee, and ask for the receiving funeral home’s prices in writing too. The costs guide explains how the pieces add up.
What to give each side on the first day
Give us the receiving relative’s full name, telephone number with country code, the city and cemetery, and the name of the receiving funeral home if one has been chosen. Give the receiving side our name and telephone number, the full name of the person who died as it appears on the passport, and the name of the relative here who has the right to make decisions.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Care, preparation and Texas documents | The funeral home here |
| Choosing the receiving funeral home | The family, usually the receiving relative |
| Entry or health permit at the destination | The receiving funeral home, where the country requires one |
| Tendering the casket to the airline | The funeral home here, or a shipper the family has chosen |
| Meeting the flight and the burial | The receiving funeral home or relative |
Questions families ask about coordination
- Does Vargas–London choose the funeral home abroad?
- No. We coordinate with the family member who will receive your relative, and sometimes with local shippers. The receiving funeral home is the family’s choice.
- Can a family take a casket to the airline itself?
- Generally not. Carriers must run known shipper programs, and airlines ask families to work through a funeral home or another authorized shipper.
- Are forwarding and receiving remains on a funeral home’s price list?
- Yes. The Funeral Rule requires both to be priced on the General Price List, and the price must include the basic services fee.
Sources checked and case confirmation
Sources checked September 21, 2026. Requirements differ by country and by airline, and they change. 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.
