EMERGENCY SERVICES

Consular Reports of Death of American Citizens Abroad

When an American citizen dies outside the United States, the U.S. Consulate General with responsibility for that region documents the death by issuing a Report of Death of an American Citizen Abroad (RODAC). The Report of Death provides the essential facts concerning the death of a U.S. citizen, disposition of remains, and custody of the personal effects of a deceased citizen. The form is generally used in legal proceedings in the United States in lieu of the foreign death certificate. The Report of Death is based on the foreign death certificate, and cannot be normally completed until the foreign death certificate has been issued.

If you have lost a family member in our consular district, please contact our office so that we may assist you. Before we can issue a Report of Death, the deceased's next-of-kin should submit the deceased's original passport, the original local municipal death certificate, and a written declaration of the cause of death. (In India, the attending physician will often issue a separate letter noting the exact time and cause of death.) We will forward the original death certificate to the U.S. Department of State, but we will cancel the passport and return it to you. As soon as all necessary documents have been submitted, we will issue 10 copies of the Report of Death and forward them to you free of charge.

Please note that we cannot normally issue a Report of Death in the absence of an Indian death certificate. It is common for local municipal authorities to take anywhere between two and twelve weeks to issue a death certificate.

Please contact our office if you need to request additional copies of a previously-issued Report of Death.

For additional information about the types of services provided overseas see the Department of State’s website on Help for Americans Abroad.

Additional information on death notification procedures can be found on the Department of State website.