Part I.
The Republic of Haiti
Part II. U.S. Embassy or Consulate Information
U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince
Boulevard du 15 Octobre
Tabarre, Haïti
Phone 509-2229-8000
Fax 509-2229-8028
After Hours Phone 509-3465-0091
Haiti Country Specific Information:
Haiti Travel Advisory:
Register with the U.S. Embassy:
Part III. Profile of Religions of the Host Country and Religious Services available to visitors.
Country Profile: Host Country Religions:
- Roman Catholic 55%, Protestant 28%, Vaudou (voodoo) practices pervasive.
- The dominant religion is Roman Catholicism. Increasing numbers of Haitians have converted to Protestantism through the work of missionaries active throughout the country. Much of the population also practices Vaudou (Voodoo), recognized by the government as a religion in April 2003. Haitians tend to see no conflict in these African-rooted beliefs coexisting with Christian faith.
Religious Activities for Visitors:
- Haiti is predominately a Roman Catholic country. Parish churches are located throughout the city, and the Port-au-Prince Cathedral is in the city center. Mass is traditionally said in French or Creole. An English Mass is held at 9:30 Sunday morning at the Villa Manrese in the Turgeau area.
- Protestant services are held on Sunday mornings at the Episcopal Church of St. James in Petionville and at the Quisqueya Chapel, a nondenominational church in Port-au-Prince. The Quisqueya Chapel also has Sunday school classes, Bible study groups, and a Sunday evening worship service. Services are held on Saturday mornings at the Church of the Adventist University of Haiti in Diquini.
- Members of the Jewish and Muslim communities usually hold services in their homes.
- Vaudou (Voodoo) plays a central part in the religious life of many Haitians. It is essentially a bringing together of beliefs and rituals of African origin, loosely tied to Catholic practices. Some understanding of Voodoo is essential to an understanding of Haiti.
Part IV. Funeral Directors, Mortician and Related Services Available in the Host Country:
Absent any special circumstances (such as the death having occurred as the result of a crime), Haitian law allows the remains to be interred, cremated, or embalmed as soon as possible. An appropriate funeral home should be contacted immediately by the next of kin or another individual representing the family of the deceased Amcit. The following list of funeral homes in Haiti is provided FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and in no way constitutes an endorsement, expressed or implied, by the Department of State:
Pax Villa Funeral Home and Crematory
29, Avenue Mais gâté, Boulevard Toussaint Louverture et St. Paul
PO BOX 2520
Tabarre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Telephone: 3701-8162; 509-3685-8085; 3869-6084; 22269848.
Creole, French, and English spoken.
Entreprises Funéraires St. Charles
Brochette 99 #7
Route de Carrefour
Carrefour, Haiti
Téléphone: 3646-6769; 3478-9045
Creole and French spoken.
Caraibes Entreprises Funeraire
Address 1 : 73, Turgeau, en face Eglise du Sacre Cœur
Tel. 3703-0379 / 4703-1179 ; 4703-1744 ; 3862-4439 ; 954-241-3755
Address 2 : 43 Blvd J.J., Dessalines, En face Eglise St Charles Carrefour
Tel. : 3407-5077 ; 3675-6643 ; 3862-4439 ; 3718-1074 ; 3723-7199 ; 3715-5092
augustentreprisefuneraire@gmail.com
Les Entreprise Guerriers
Delmas 83
Tel. : 3916-0201
Email. : lesentreprisesguerrier37@gmail.com
Chapelle Paradis
Delmas 31 #9
Tel. : 3839-2950 ; 3839-2946 ; 3443-6448
Auguste Entreprise Funéraire
Route de Carrefour
En face de l’église St. Charles #43
Carrefour, Haiti
Telephone: 3407-5077; 3461-4650; 3718-1074
Creole and French spoken.
Entreprise Funéraire Roger Lanauze
29, Rue Metellus, Petion Ville
Téléphone : (509) 3825-1720
(509) 3736-3663
(509) 3403-0876
(509) 2223-5956
DISCLAIMER: The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, assumes no responsibility or liability for the professional ability or reputation of, or the quality of services provided by, the following persons or firms. Names are listed alphabetically, and the order in which they appear has no other significance. Professional credentials and areas of expertise are provided directly by the funeral directors, morticians and other service providers.
Part V. Profile of services available in the host country regarding preparation and shipment of remains: The purpose of this section is to describe:
- Disposition of Remains (general) – quality, cost, and capacity of refrigerated morgues and mortuary professionals; availability, cost, and quality of embalming; autopsy requirements; special post specific remarks.
The disposition of Remains in Haiti is defined by the local authorities (Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Health, Justice of the Peace, Commissaire du Gouvernement), the family members (next of kin) and the funeral homes. The HUEH (Hôpital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti) contains a morgue with limited refrigerated capacity. However, the remains of loved ones are rarely left at the HUEH morgue and are most of the time transferred to the refrigerated morgues of funeral homes responsible for burial and/or shipment of the remains.
Costs for local interment, including funeral and cemetery plot. (Cost could be higher, depending on the type of casket chosen.)
200,000.00 – 800,000.00 gourdes+ 10 %Taxes
$2,000.00– $8,000.00 USD + 10 %Taxes
The act of Embalming is done to treat a corpse with preservatives to prevent decay. Embalming is practiced in Haiti and is required once a person dies. Depending on destination of remains, a partial or complete embalming can be done. Prices for embalming are as follow:
Partial: 10,000.00 gourdes
$145.00 USD
Complete: 305,300.00 gourdes
$4,300.00 USD
An autopsy is required only when dealing with suspicious deaths. Before the death certificate can be issued, an autopsy must be made by the forensic scientist at the HUEH (Hôpital de l’Université d’Haïti). Currently in Haiti, there is one Forensic Scientist, Dr. Jean R. C. Armel Demorcy.
- Specific facts relating to embalming, cremation, caskets, exportation, documentation requirements, preparation, shipment, and exhumation.
All embalming must be performed by a Physician. Two kinds of embalming services are available: partial and complete. All bodies being transported across the Port-au-Prince city limits must be at least partially embalmed. Some funeral homes can provide partial embalming services. To be shipped abroad, however, all bodies must be completely embalmed. This service is performed only at the State University Hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince, although arrangements can be made through a local funeral home.
Partial: $250.00 USD
Complete: $4,300.00 USD+ 10 %Taxes= 4,730.00 USD
Cremation facilities are now available via two (2) funeral homes in Port-au-Prince: Pax-Villa Funeral Home and R Pierre-Louis Funeral Home.
The total price for the direct cremation (urn not included) is around
1,990 USD + Taxes (or at the current exchange rate)
The total price includes:
For the funeral home: 90,000.00 – 120,000.00 gourdes
$1,267.60 – 1,690.14 USD
When someone dies in-country, a family member must obtain certificates from one doctor certified that the person is indeed deceased.
Containers used for shipment of remains meet the requirements for export from Haiti and are available in Port-au-Prince. Arrangements for purchase of containers and/or caskets can be made with the funeral home.
Before a funeral home can ship the remains outside of the country, it must obtain the deceased person’s birth certificate from the National Archives (if the deceased person is a Haitian citizen). If the deceased person is a US citizen, the deceased’s relative will have to present the deceased persons US passport to the US Embassy/Consulate and declare that the family member is indeed deceased (while presenting appropriate documentation such as a death certificate and other pertinent information from the funeral home).
Local requirements for the exportation of human remains are as follows: (All of the documents listed below may be obtained by the local mortician or funeral director.)
(a) The body must be completely embalmed at the State University Hospital, after which a Certificate of Embalmment (Certificat d’Embaumement) is issued and signed by the Hospital Pathologist.
(b) A Burial Permit (Permis d’inhumer), specifying where the body is to be buried, must be signed by an appropriate government Health Department authority and a Civil Registrar.
(c) After the attending physician has issued a medical report (Constat de Deces) stating the cause, date, place, and time of death, a Death certificate (Acte de Décès) must be obtained from the Civil Registrar’s Office at a cost of approximately $15.00 to $20.00 USD.
(d) A Transit label must be issued by the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
(e) An Export Permit must be obtained from the Customs Office.
Prices of urns for cremation are payable in either gourdes or US dollars and vary between $300.00 and 700.00 USD.
If ashes are to be sent to the U.S. there is an additional air freight charge between $250.00 and $500.00 USD depending on the weight, payable to the airline.
Interred human remains may not be exhumed prior to five (5) years after burial. Authorization for disinterment is issued by the Department of Interior and Public Health upon presentation of certified copies of the medical and death certificates showing cause of death and date of burial (obtainable by the mortician if unavailable from the interested parties involved). The approximate price for exhumation and reburial is 55,500.00 gourdes for funeral home expenses, and an additional approximation of $1,000.00 USD for a private cemetery plot.
- As applicable, please include any unique circumstances which may apply to post, for example, special requirements for deaths by infectious disease or under suspicious circumstances.
In case of death resulting to the Covid Pandemic or to an epidemic, for example Cholera, the funeral home will follow the sanitary measures indicated by the Ministry of Public Health.
In case of death under suspicious circumstances, the funeral home will go forward only after receipt of the appropriate documentation: Official report of the Justice of Peace and most importantly, following the formal request of the Commissaire du Gouvernement permitting the body to be released to the funeral home following the autopsy.
- Shipping – options for in-country transportation (trains, truck, air, boat, etc.), reliability, quality, and ease of in-country shipping; options for international shipping, major airlines to U.S., frequency of flights, connections/routing, estimated cost to port of entry.
In-country transportation of remains is done by ambulance or by means provided by the funeral home. It is rare that remains are transported from one part of the country to another, as funerals are often held where the death occurred. However, should in-country transportation be necessary, it is reliable.
Family members may desire that the remains be shipped internationally for burial. IBC and Ameri jet International Inc. are used for transportation of remains from Haiti to the United States. Caskets are shipped to the US daily, depending on flight availability. Costs of shipment of remains are defined by the airline.
Prices for preparation for shipment, including embalming (freight not included) are as follows:
US citizen: $4,300.00 USD+ Taxes+ Air Tray+ Air Fret Flate Rate (2500 USD)
Haitian Citizen: $4,300.00 USD+ Taxes
($4,300.00USD + $260.00USD for Transit label fee) + Air Tray: 250 USD + Air Fret Flate Rate (2,500 USD)
- Local authorities responsible for licensing funeral directors and morticians.
The Ministry of Commerce is the authority that delivers a license to these types of businesses
- Local authorities responsible for making findings regarding the cause of death and for issuing death local certificates.
If the death occurs at the hospital, the medical examiner / forensic scientist, following autopsy, gives cause of death. However, should the death occur at home, an official report, provided by the Justice of the Peace will be issued and will state the cause of death. Currently in Haiti, there is one Forensic Scientist, Dr. Jean R. C. Armel Demorcy.
The local death certificates are issued by the civil registrars of the section where the death occurred.
- Note on Airline services:
An embargo regarding the shipment of remains to the US from Haiti was issued on American Airlines, started around May 2012, because of non-compliance to TSA regulations.
American Airlines, Air France, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta do not provide that type of service to the US as most of them, besides Air France, do not have a cargo service.
All other shipments are made through Amerijet International Inc., IBC, and Air France (Europe only). Additionally, remains are being shipped regularly from the US to Haiti through American Airlines, IBC, AirFrance, and Amerijet International Inc., Air Transat.
