Returning a loved one to the Middle East or North Africa

Eleven destinations, and whether anybody publishes an answer

Eleven of our guides now cover this region, and the split that matters is not paperwork. Six of the eleven publish something about a death. Five publish nothing at all, and that silence was measured rather than assumed: searched in Arabic and in Persian on those countries’ own sites, with ordinary consular words found on the same pages, proving the search worked. Among the six that do publish, the consular cost runs from a Jordanian service at government expense to a reported 3,200 dollars in Iraq. The table below carries a row for every one of the eleven.

Where the office is, and where Texas lists nobody

The Texas Secretary of State’s directory of foreign consulates carries a hundred and one country entries. Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon are on it. Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Iran and Syria are not. Saudi Arabia holds the only career consulate general in Texas among the eleven, in Houston, with an address and telephone on the state’s own page. Egypt and Iraq are served from Houston as well, Lebanon and Jordan from Washington, with a Jordanian honorary consul in Rockwall and a Tunisian honorary post listed too — though nothing published states what either of those can do.

Algeria is the one most people get wrong. The file does not go to Washington: the consulate general in San Francisco publishes a coverage page taking nineteen states including Texas, under a presidential decree of 8 July 2024, and the Washington embassy’s jurisdiction page agrees. For Libya, Syria and Iran no office covering Texas could be identified from any source we could read.

Money, and the five that publish no figure

Jordan publishes the most generous position we have found anywhere. Its foreign ministry’s service card describes the transport of the bodies of Jordanian citizens who die abroad at government expense, states that there are no fees, with a refund route if the family already paid. Lebanon comes next: its embassy’s transfer page says that, effective March 1, 2026, the transfer of remains and death registration are exempt from consular fees.

Egypt publishes a fee for each step instead, on a page read in Arabic: 47 dollars to authenticate the American certificate, 52 for the translation, 46 to register the death, 14 for a copy. Iraq is the outlier, reporting 3,200 dollars where the person who died was not an Iraqi citizen. Morocco publishes no fee but asks for proof the cost is covered. Algeria publishes no fee for the transfer authorisation, and three of its own pages give three answers on legalisation — 75 dollars, 2.50, and none at all. We quote all three and call none of them correct. The remaining four publish nothing.

Three settled apostilles, one too new to rely on, and seven longer chains

We read the HCCH status table again on September 23, 2026. Three of the eleven sit inside the Apostille Convention on settled dates: Morocco in force since 14 August 2016, Tunisia since 30 March 2018, and Saudi Arabia acceding 8 April 2022, in force for the Kingdom from 7 December 2022. For those three a single certificate from the Texas Secretary of State finishes a Texas document.

Algeria is the fourth and is deliberately not counted with them. It acceded on 5 November 2025 and joined on 9 July 2026 — recent enough that older advice about Algeria is simply wrong, and recent enough that we will not tell you which rule now governs your document. The status table alone does not settle that. The other seven have no row at all. For them, as the Texas authentication page explains, a document runs from the state certificate to the Office of Authentications at the U.S. State Department and then to that country’s own mission — and for Libya, Syria and Iran that last counter has no address we could find.

Who has to say yes, and where nobody publishes who

Algeria is now the best-documented destination in this build. Its body transfer page issues two documents and asks for ten, four of them made in Texas, including a transit permit from the City Hall and a certificate that the body was laid out according to Muslim rituals; its published hours run Tuesday to Saturday, which matters to a Dallas funeral director telephoning on a Monday. Iraq has the longest chain: its ministry procedure has the consulate ask Baghdad to approve the body’s entry, with the Ministry of Health agreeing, and the consul seals the coffin with wax. Egypt issues a consular permit through the funeral home once the certificate is authenticated and translated.

Jordan approves the service itself, by ministry decision. Lebanon publishes no separate approval. Morocco asks the family to settle the cemetery and the arrival airport first. For the other five the question has no published answer, and we would rather say so than name an office that might turn a family away.

Arabic, French and Persian, and five measured silences

The detailed procedures for Egypt, Iraq and Jordan are published in Arabic with no English alongside; the Egyptian death-cases page and the Jordanian service card were read that way. Algeria names its key document in French, the autorisation de transfert de corps. Iran’s sources are in Persian.

Where this page says a country publishes nothing, that is a measurement. Tunisia’s embassy was searched across five pages, including vital records: birth and marriage found, no death term anywhere. Libya’s foreign ministry was searched in Arabic, with the Arabic words for consul and passport found on the same page. Syria’s ministry and UN mission were searched in Arabic and English, and Iran’s interests section in Persian. The American missions are a separate matter: the Saudi, Libya and Syria pages are written for Americans leaving, and none of it is reversed here into an arrival checklist. Iran is published as a virtual embassy, a website rather than a building.

Questions families ask about this region

Which of these countries has an office near Dallas?

None in Dallas. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq serve Texas from Houston, Lebanon and Jordan from Washington, Algeria from San Francisco. Jordan and Tunisia have honorary listings in Texas. For Morocco, Libya, Syria and Iran no covering office could be identified officially.

Will any government pay?

Jordan publishes a service at government expense, and Lebanon has exempted the transfer and registration since March 2026. Egypt publishes a fee for each step, Iraq reports 3,200 dollars where the person was not Iraqi, and Morocco asks the family to prove the cost is covered. Five publish no figure.

Does a Texas apostille work here?

For Morocco, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, yes, on settled dates. Algeria joined in July 2026 and we do not say which rule now governs your document. The other seven have no row, so their documents follow the longer chain through the U.S. Office of Authentications.

Sources checked and case confirmation

Sources checked September 23, 2026. This page compares what our eleven guides report; each carries its own sources and check date, and fees change without notice. Where we say nothing is published, we mean nothing was found on the sources we could read, in the language those sources use. Confirm the documents, fees, authentication route and receiving arrangements for the case. Contact Vargas–London with the country and the city where your relative is now, without sending medical or identity documents through the form.