Ask where in DR Congo the death happened, and the answer shapes everything that follows: whether the case is difficult, very difficult, or, in the worst circumstances, not currently achievable at all.
Kinshasa: the workable half of the country
Unlike much of Central Africa, DR Congo has a resident British Embassy, in Kinshasa, fully operational and reachable on +243 81 555 8900. It registers the death and issues the documentation a family needs directly. The FCDO Emergency Travel Line, 020 7008 5000, is still the right first call at any hour.
For deaths in Kinshasa and accessible western DR Congo, the process runs through several steps in sequence: attendance by the Police Nationale Congolaise for any non-natural death, forensic certification from the Institut National Medico-Legal, clearance from the Parquet, the state prosecutor, confirming no criminal case is pending, a civil registry death certificate, and finally a Ministry of Health export permit before a funeral director prepares the body for departure via Ndjili Airport.
Where the delay actually sits
The INML step is where cases slow down. The institute’s forensic capacity hasn’t kept pace with the caseload of a city of roughly 15 million people, and there’s no dependable way to jump the queue. Seven to 21 days is a realistic range to expect for this stage alone, and building it into a family’s timeline from the outset avoids a difficult conversation later.
Eastern DR Congo: a genuinely different reality
Armed conflict has run in various forms across eastern DR Congo since the 1990s. As of the current situation, North Kivu and South Kivu are seeing active fighting involving the M23 movement and the DR Congo’s own armed forces, alongside numerous other armed groups, and Ituri province faces comparable conditions. The FCDO advises against all travel to North Kivu, including Goma, South Kivu, Ituri, and border areas within 50km of Rwanda and Uganda.
Goma’s airport has limited scheduled service that suspends during active fighting. Recovering a body from a combat area needs a specialist crisis recovery firm, and only a small number operate in the country at all. Timelines in these cases are genuinely unpredictable and can stretch into months. It has to be said plainly: in some cases, repatriation from active conflict areas isn’t currently achievable, and a family deserves that assessment honestly rather than a false promise.
The route home
From Kinshasa’s Ndjili International Airport, Brussels Airlines offers a direct service and is the primary, most dependable route to the UK. Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa and Kenya Airways via Nairobi provide alternatives where needed.
Read repatriation from a conflict zone or crisis area for how DR Congo’s eastern provinces compare with other constrained corridors, or see repatriation from DR Congo to the UK for the full document list.
Contact Repatriate Service on +44 7703 577246 at any hour, or use the enquiry form below.