Repatriation from the UK to Romania: what families ask us

Romania is where a large share of the families we serve are from, and the questions they ask on the first call are nearly always the same five. This guide answers them as we do on the phone. It does not repeat the price and the timing for the route, which are on the Romania route page as estimates; both depend on your case and we tell you which on the first call.

Does he go by plane or by road?

By road, in one of our own vehicles, with two of our own staff, from our chapel of rest to the funeral operator in Romania. The vehicle crosses the Channel into France and drives through Germany, Austria and Hungary; since January 2025 it no longer stops at Nădlac or Borș, because Romania is in Schengen, and what Schengen membership changed explains exactly what that means. The drive is under two days, driven in shifts without an overnight stop. Air is possible and rarely better; by road or by air says why.

What does the consulate need?

The consular section of the Romanian Embassy in London, or its Edinburgh office, authorises the transport of your loved one into Romania, and Romanian families know the result as the mortuary passport, the pașaport mortuar. To issue it the consulate wants the UK death certificate legalised with an apostille, your loved one’s Romanian identity document or proof of citizenship, the coroner’s acknowledgement, the embalming and sealed-coffin certificates, a free from infection certificate, and a paper from the cemetery in Romania confirming the family has a plot and the burial can take place. That last one is the family’s to obtain, and asking the cemetery for it on the first day avoids a wait at the end. The passport itself is free of charge. We take the file to the consulate ourselves and tell you the day it is issued. The consulate’s opening days are one of the things that decide the date.

What are the UK’s own steps?

Three, and two of them have waiting periods built into the law. The death is registered at a UK register office, after the medical examiner has cleared the certificate; the coroner for the district is notified that your loved one is leaving England and Wales, and has four clear days to acknowledge; and your loved one is embalmed and placed in a sealed coffin at our chapel of rest. We send the coroner’s notice on the first day so that its four days run alongside the registration. Sending someone home from the UK goes through all three, and what documents does a repatriation need lists the papers.

When can the family set the funeral?

When we confirm the vehicle has left the UK, and not before. Orthodox tradition asks for the burial on the third day, and a family in Romania will want to tell the priest a date the moment they hear of the death. The date depends on the coroner’s reply, the registrar’s appointment and the consulate’s day, none of which we can promise on day one. We give the family a realistic shape of the timetable on the first call and a firm arrival when the vehicle leaves, and we are happy to speak to the family in Romania directly, in Romanian, so that the message arrives from us rather than through you.

Who receives him in Romania?

A funeral operator, the operator funerar, in the town where the funeral is, who takes your loved one and the documents from our driver and completes the registration with the local civil registry so that the burial can go ahead. We hand over to an operator we work with, or to the one the family has already chosen; tell us early which, because the vehicle goes to their door. Their charges for the funeral are theirs and separate from ours, and what a repatriation fee covers explains where the line falls.

What does it cost, and who pays?

Every figure we publish is an estimate, and for Romania it is in the band for road repatriations to the rest of Europe; how much does repatriation cost from the UK has the bands. Unless an employer’s policy or the estate pays, the family does, and who pays for a repatriation goes through what can step in. The written quote is the figure on the invoice.

What should I have ready when I ring?

Where your loved one is now and whether the death has been confirmed; whether the coroner is involved; their Romanian identity card or passport; the town where the funeral will be and the funeral operator there if the family has one; and who in the family is deciding. With those we can tell you the route, the documents and the shape of the timetable on the first call, and we can ring Romania for you the same day. Repatriation, step by step is the whole process, of which Romania’s particulars are the five above.