Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
When the journey ends in Dallas–Fort Worth
Most of this site describes sending someone home from Texas. The reverse also happens: a parent dies while visiting family abroad, a worker dies overseas, or a family that has settled here wants a relative buried in North Texas. In that direction the funeral home abroad prepares and ships, the airline carries, and a funeral home here receives the person at the airline’s cargo facility and carries out the burial, cremation or service the family chooses.
The family’s first task is to connect the two funeral homes. The documents are issued in the country of death under that country’s rules, so the sending funeral home and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate there are the people to ask about them. This guide covers what the United States and Texas look for on arrival.
What U.S. public-health rules ask for on entry
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on importing human remains, last updated on December 4, 2025, says that except for cremated or embalmed remains, human remains intended for final resting after entry into the United States must be accompanied by a death certificate stating the cause of death. It requires a leak-proof container, a requirement it explains is based on infection prevention and control practices and which does not apply to cremated remains. It also says there are no CDC permit requirements for remains that were fully cremated or embalmed before importation.
The same page describes the situations in which a CDC import permit is needed and how a death certificate in another language is handled. Those depend on the cause of death and on how the person was prepared, so the sending funeral home should read the current page before choosing a container or booking a flight. CDC’s rules are public-health rules; customs and the airline have their own requirements.
What Texas accepts once the person arrives
A family sometimes worries that a permit issued abroad will not be recognized here. The Texas DSHS Death Registration Handbook, revised January 2026, quotes the statute directly: a Burial-Transit Permit issued under the law and rules of a place outside of this state in which a death occurred authorizes the transportation of the body in this state, and a cemetery or crematory shall accept the permit as authorization for burial, cremation or other disposal of the body in this state, citing Health and Safety Code 193.008(a). The death itself is registered where it occurred, not in Texas.
If the family chooses cremation in Texas after arrival, the handbook’s cremation rules still apply, including the authorization and waiting-period provisions it describes. The receiving funeral director handles those with the local registrar and, where required, the medical examiner or justice of the peace.
What the receiving funeral home charges for
Receiving someone is a listed service, not an improvised one. The FTC Funeral Rule entitles you to a General Price List, and ours shows “Receiving remains from another funeral home” as its own item, separate from a cemetery’s charges, a ceremony, merchandise and anything billed by the airline or a customs broker. You can read the current figures on our General Price List and ask any North Texas funeral home for theirs. Charges from the funeral home abroad and the carrier are set by them and are usually paid there.
What the receiving side needs before the flight
Problems at arrival are almost always missing information. Before the shipment leaves, the receiving funeral home needs the items below from the sending side.
| Item | Who provides it |
|---|---|
| Airline, flight and air waybill number | Shipping agent or sending funeral home, once confirmed in writing |
| Copies of the documents travelling with the shipment | Sending funeral home |
| How the person was prepared and the type of container | Sending funeral home |
| Name of the receiving funeral home as consignee | Family, to the sending funeral home |
| The family’s wishes and the cemetery or crematory chosen | Family, to the receiving funeral home |
Our receiving handoff note puts those items on one page for both funeral homes, and the contact window helper finds hours when both are open.
Questions about bringing someone to Dallas–Fort Worth
- Does CDC require a permit to bring cremated remains into the United States?
- CDC says there are no CDC permit requirements for human remains that were fully cremated before importation. The airline and customs still have their own rules.
- Will a Texas cemetery accept a permit issued in another country?
- The DSHS handbook cites Health and Safety Code 193.008(a): a Burial-Transit Permit issued where the death occurred authorizes transportation in Texas, and a cemetery or crematory shall accept it.
- Who arranges the documents abroad?
- The funeral home in the country of death, under that country’s rules. The nearest U.S. embassy or consulate can explain what it issues when a U.S. citizen dies abroad.
