Vietnamese Death Procedures

Vietnamese Death Procedures

The Vietnamese authorities may move quite slowly in death cases. Normal cases require five to seven working days before remains can be transported. Complicated cases involving a police investigation and/or an autopsy can take ten working days or longer. It is difficult to give specific shipment dates.

The body of the deceased is taken to the nearest morgue or hospital pending funeral or shipment arrangements. In Ho Chi Minh City, this is usually the morgue at Cho Ray Hospital or Franco-Vietnamese Hospital. Before burial or transportation can be arranged, the local police of the ward where the deceased was residing must be notified. If the American died at a hospital, the hospital will issue a report of death. When the death occurs at a private residence, a family member of the deceased must present the letter/declaration of death to be verified and sealed by the police of the ward in question. The Report of Death or the Statement/Declaration of Death is presented to the Justice Department to obtain the Vietnamese Death Certificate. The Immigration Department at 161 Nguyen Du, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City must also be informed of the death of a foreign citizen.

Under Vietnamese law, the family should contact the Consulate to obtain a Diplomatic Note detailing the family’s request regarding the disposition of remains (burial/cremate/shipment). An autopsy is required for foreigners who die in Vietnam, if the death was of a suspicious nature. However, the family may request that an autopsy be waived. To do this, the Consulate must send a Diplomatic Note to the HCMC External Relations Office (ERO) stating the family’s wish to handle the disposition of remains, and stating that it has no objection to the waiver of autopsy. The Vietnamese authorities will then issue a permit for burial or cremation. If the body is to be shipped to the U.S., the next of kin (or a legal representative) must obtain a Quarantine Permit for Exportation of Corpse from the Service of Health of Ho Chi Minh City. Local funeral services can help with this matter. The Consulate will then issue a Consular Mortuary Certificate, which will accompany the remains. Several other documents must also accompany the remains to the U.S.: 1) a draft of the Death Certificate (produced by the Service of Health); 2) a Customs Certificate (produced by the Customs Office); and 3) a Laissez-Passer for Human Remains (produced by the External Relations Office).