Special Consular Services

HANOI, VIETNAM:
Disposition Of Remains Report

Revised September 17, 2008

Normally, when a death occurs in a hotel or rest house, the owner of the establishment takes responsibility for arranging a meeting with representatives of:

- Immigration police
- Customs office
- Hanoi External Relations office
- Investigation police and
- U.S. Embassy or family

The investigation police then will examine the room and the body in the presence of representatives from these offices, and prepare a report. An inventory of the deceased’s personal effects will be made at that time. The body then will be transported to a morgue at a hospital (Viet Duc Hospital or Friendship Hospital). Conoff then may bring the deceased’s personal effects back to the Embassy for safe storage.

When the death occurs in a private home, usually the householder contacts a doctor or hospital to arrange for transportation to a morgue.

When an accident occurs, the body is usually transported to the morgue of a hospital. The same applies when the death occurs in a hospital.

The family of the deceased chooses one of the two companies in Hanoi that provide funeral services (autopsy, embalming, local burial, local cremation, or shipment of the remains to the United States). Costs are determined on a case by case basis.

1. International SOS:
Address: 31 Hai Ba Trung
Tel: (04) 3934 0666 (24 hour); Fax: (04) 3934-0556
Costs are on case by case basis.

2. Hady Service Co., LTD
Address: 11 Ngo Ba Trieu, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (04) 3821-1405; Fax: (04) 3821-0935
Cell phone: 0912223969 (Ms. Van Anh)
Estimated costs as of 2008:
- Repatriate remains in coffin (including autopsy, embalming, shipment of remains): $8200
- Repatriate cremated remains (including autopsy, cremation, shipment of ashes): $3700
 
If the remains are to be shipped to the U.S. the funeral service needs to obtain a Quarantine Certificate from the Quarantine office (35 Tran Binh street, Mai Dich, Hanoi, tel: (04) 3768-8827) and Customs office (129 Nguyen Phong Sac, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Tel: (04) 3791-0169). If the body is being shipped back rather than cremated the body must be in a zinc case with an outer wooden coffin.

The Embassy’s Role

Depending on the situation, these two companies are responsible for all paperwork relating to local procedures. However, the embassy must assist by:

1) Providing an official letter addressed “to whom it may concern” (in Vietnamese or w/translation) with 6 or 7 copies for the appropriate authorities (depend on specific case they may be investigation police, transportation police, tour agency, justice department, external relations department, customs office, quarantine office, local police, ...) confirming that the chosen company is authorized by the next of kin (NOK) of the deceased to take care of his/her disposition, that whether or not the NOK wishes an autopsy or requests a waiver of an autopsy and the wishes of the NOK as to disposition of the body.

2) Providing a Mortuary Certificate a Local Sealed Casket Mortuary Certificate

The chosen company is responsible for providing post with the official Vietnamese Death Certificate. The Consular Report of Death of an American Citizen is prepared based on this death certificate. Procedure for this official Death Certificate may take 1 to 2 months.