Cases of Natural Death

Death of Nationals

Registration of Death Reports of nationals is carried out in a smooth and easy way, in the case of natural causes, through the following steps: 1) If a person dies in a hospital due to some sort of sickness, the hospital would then file a report stating the cause of death. 2) One of his family members would come to the police station in charge to give his statement and attach it to the report. 3) The station, at the same time, issues two letters: one to Dubai Municipality- Burial Division, and the other to the concerned hospital. If a person dies in his home, it must be reported to the police which, in return, would call the on duty physician to go and conduct the routine checkup then issue a death report, providing there is no suspicion of criminal act. After issuing the report, the same procedures are followed, as previously stated.

Death of Foreigners

Reporting is done in a similar way to that of the Nationals, regardless of differences in nationalities and religions. To facilitate the burials of foreigners, in Dubai, the Government of Dubai has assigned cemeteries for non-Muslims. As for the procedures, the following steps are taken into consideration

First: In a hospital:

1) If a person dies in a hospital due to some sort of sickness, the hospital would then file a report stating the cause of death. 2) A representative, from the company where the deceased used to work, or one of the deceased relatives would come to the police station in charge to give his statement and attach it to the report. 3) If the family of the deceased wish to bury the body in Dubai, they will be given two letters: one to Dubai Municipality- Burial Division, and the other to the concerned hospital. 4) If they wish to transfer the body to their homeland, that might take a longer time, depending on the procedures of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Consulates. The company representative would be given a letter to the Department of Preventive Medicine to issue the Death Certificate, attested by the Ministry of Health. The representative would, then, follow up with the concerned consulate to cancel the deceased passport and would be given a letter authorizing the transfer. 5) Three letters would be issued by the police station: one to Dubai airport, or any port, the second letter would be to the concerned hospital and the third one to the Al-Maktoum hospital to proceed with the embalming process.

Second: Outside a hospital:

1) If a person dies outside a hospital, the corpse would be transferred, by a hearse, to the Clinic of Forensic Medicine. 2) After the report is filed, the Clinic of Forensic Medicine would proceed with the routine examination to determine the cause of death. 3) If death is caused naturally, the deceased family would be given a letter the Department of Preventive Medicine to issue the death certificate. 4) If the family of the deceased wish to bury the body in Dubai, they will be given two letters: one to Dubai Municipality- Burial Division, and the other to the Clinic of Forensic Medicine. 5) If they wish to transfer the body to their homeland, three letters would be issued: one to Dubai airport, or any port, the second letter would be to the Clinic of Forensic Medicine and the third one to the Al-Maktoum hospital to proceed with the embalming process.

Notes:

1) If a foreigner dies of infectious disease, he/she would not be allowed the transfer to his/her homeland and would be buried in the tombs of Dubai. 2) Any incident of the death of suspected criminal act needs longer time, depending on the procedures of the autopsy and the Public Prosecution. 3) Deceased with residence of other Emirates will not be allowed to be buried in Dubai. They will be transferred to the concerned Emirate. 4) Death caused by traffic accidents are treated the same as death of natural causes, for nationals and foreigners alike. 5) Procedures of reporting the death and issuing of burial letters take about 30 minutes, providing all documents are in order.