Lastjourney Blog

What do I need to do if an Indian dies in the USA

Varun

07 October, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Several people from other countries choose the USA for better living purposes and other opportunities. So the daily natural death records in the USA are also very high which includes the fatalities of many residents who have the nationality of another country.

Indians cover a huge section of the percentage of foreign residents in the USA. If an Indian faces a devastating incident of close one’s death in the USA, then here is a guide of rules which will lead you to the right procedures.  Last journey plays the role of the best service provider in handling all the situations.

Step -1- Reporting the death of an Indian citizen in the USA

The demised Indian person can be a visitor or permanent resident of the USA. For reporting the death of that person properly, one must keep the following points in mind.

1. The death should be reported to the embassy or consulate of both the countries, India and the USA. This will help in issuing a US consular report of death abroad.
2. This document is very necessary for settling the legal and estate matters after demise.
3. Keep at least 20 xerox copies of this document as it is required in further checking and proceedings of legal work.
4. For the issuance of this certificate, one can go through the emailing process. The close one of the deceased person can email the concerned embassy or consular where the person was residing.
5. The last journey provides all the necessary information related to the contact details like the email addresses of the embassies and contact numbers as well.

Step-2-  Arranging the important documents for issuance of the consular report of death abroad.

As it is an important document, it can not be issued just simply by verbal details. One must collect the following other documents before reaching the embassy for the consular report of death abroad.

1. Original death certificate which is issued by the local authority of the USA where the person was visiting or residing.
2. The report of death by the concerned doctor or hospital. It certifies the cause behind the death and assures that the death did not happen in suspicious circumstances or it mentions if there is something doubtful.
3. The original passport of the deceased is also required for the issuance of this certificate. Do not forget to remind the consular about the cancelation of the deceased’s passport. It should be canceled before the release of the consular report of death abroad.

Step-3- Process of the disposition of human remains

1. Usually, people believe in bringing their loved ones back home for the last rites. The last journey organization helps in making all the arrangements related to the transportation or repatriation of the deceased body. But nobody knows the complex circumstances. So the disposition of the human remains in the USA is also a better alternative. For the disposition of the human remains of a non-native resident, the following procedure is followed by the US government.
2. The concerned embassy or consulate contacts the close kin of the deceased person and asks about the wish of disposition of the human remains. Close family members and friends can attend the last rites performances. Usually, the local authority makes its presence in this process.
3. Most Indians go with the burial and cremation process of disposition. So the concerned embassy or the consulate of the USA helps in performing it within 72 hours.
4. Survival of the human remains for such long hours is not easy. Hence the local authority first provides the embalming services for the deceased body. The authority keeps the embalmed human remains in the freezing atmosphere of the mortuary until the instructions from the close relatives of the departed soul are received.
5. The organization that family members chose for the service offerings, helps in shipping the documents and remains after cremation or burial from the USA to India.
6. One must keep the point regarding the processes like embalming, funeral, disposition of human remains, and shipping of residuals and documents of the person, that no embassy or consulate bears the expense of such services. So close family members or friends have to make arrangements for this.
7. The last journey organization makes people aware of the entire expenditure related to all services.

Step-4-  What if the person does due to the Covid infection?

Currently, we have seen that Covid infection hit hard every nation. The USA has not refrained from the effect of covid modalities. The proceedings of the issuance of documents and disposition are a little bit different in the USA. The following guidelines for such deaths are as follows.

1. These guidelines clarify that the human remains must meet the standards for importation found in 42 Code of Federal Regulations Part 71.55.
2. The remains must be buried or cremated only.
3. The remains should be properly embalmed and placed in a hermetically sealed casket or box.
4. During the shipment of residuals after the cremation, a permit issued by the CDC director is important.
5. Shipment of the human remains of the person who died due to the communicable disease of Covid must require the affirmation of the CDC department. For the permit, one can contact the CDC emergency operation centers through phone calls and email process.

For the above processes, one can hire a professional service provider which makes the entire processing easy as they have strong contacts in the embassy or consulate. The last journey is one of those leading organizations. This managing organization has professional team members who smoothly handle several cases related to death in non-native countries.

What does The last journey organization do?

This organization believes in making the facts clear before the consumers. So here is short information related to our help, which we offer if an Indian person dies in the USA.

1. We help in forwarding personal effects.
2. We work with the concerned embassy to ensure proper shipment documentation.
3. We act as a liaison in organizing the dispositions of remains.

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