Should a death occur the police will need to be contacted immediately, followed by the respective embassy. Formal identification will have to take place and the body will then be transported to one of the mortuaries located in the major government hospitals. A coroner will examine the body to determine the cause of death prior to issuing the death certificate. Should a death have occurred at any place other than a hospital, police clearance will be required to confirm that the death was of natural causes. The coroner’s report is then taken to the Central Registry for Births and Deaths in order to have a death certificate issued.

The body will be transported from the hospital to the cemetery by ambulance. There are two cemeteries in Kuwait in which a non-Muslim burial may be carried out – Sulaibikhat and Riqqa. Burials are conducted at no cost (cremation is prohibited under Islamic law). There are small offices located at the cemeteries; it is here that you will find out about burial details, including headstones.

Should the next of kin wish to have an expatriate’s body repatriated, the death certificate will have to be attested by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the police. A home country death certificate will be issued by the respective embassy on presentation of a translated, attested copy of the Kuwait death certificate. The passport of the deceased will be cancelled and the body can then be shipped home using one of a number of forwarding agents that your embassy can recommend.