What Should You Do First When Someone Dies in Dubai?
When someone dies in Dubai, call the police on 999 if the death happened outside a hospital. In a hospital, staff start the process for you. Then gather the passport, Emirates ID and visa. Under the Dubai Health Authority’s Jabr system, a government service officer contacts the family, usually within hours, and the death certificate is issued automatically. What is left for the family is to choose burial, cremation or repatriation, and to tell the embassy and the employer.
If this has just happened, you don’t need to read all of this now. Read the next section, do what it says, and come back to the rest later.
Most repatriation guides online still describe a process that has changed. Until late 2025, a family in Dubai would spend days going between the hospital, the police, Al Baraha, their embassy and the cargo office with folders of photocopies. Some of that still happens. A lot of it doesn’t any more.
This is the process as it works now, in October 2026, written by a team that arranges repatriations from the UAE.
Right now
If the death happened at home, in a hotel or in public: call the police on 999. Don’t move the person. The police will come, write a report and take your loved one to a government mortuary, where a doctor will establish the cause of death.
If the death happened in a hospital: the hospital takes care of the first step. Staff issue a death notification and move your loved one to the mortuary.
Either way, find these documents: the passport, the Emirates ID, and the visa page if there is one. Put them in one place. Almost everything that follows depends on them.
After that, take a breath. Nothing else has to be decided in the next hour.
In the next few hours: Jabr
In December 2025 the Dubai Health Authority launched a system called Jabr. If you went through a death in Dubai before then, what follows will be very different.
Once the death has been registered by a hospital or the police, a government service officer is assigned to your family. They usually call within a few hours, and you don’t need to apply. That person:
- arranges for the death certificate to be issued automatically, as a digital copy plus a printed copy delivered to you
- shares it with every government department that needs it, so you don’t have to keep presenting it
- coordinates the government steps for burial, cremation or repatriation
- tells you about any fees, which are paid once through the Dubai Now app
Jabr is free and covers citizens, residents and visitors. The only time you have to go anywhere in person is for burial or repatriation arrangements.
Keep your phone on and answer unknown numbers for the next day or so.
What Jabr doesn't do ?
Jabr handles the government side. A family still has to:
- decide between burial in the UAE, cremation, or repatriation home
- tell the embassy of the person who died. They cancel the passport and issue the letters needed for repatriation, cremation or burial
- arrange the private side, such as the coffin, the airline booking, a funeral director in the home country, the cremation slot and a pandit or priest, flowers, and the urn
- look after the people, meaning who needs to be told, who is flying in, and where they will stay
This is the part we take on for families. Many people do some of it themselves and hand us the rest. That works fine too.
Burial, cremation or home: how to decide
Ask these three questions, in this order.
- What did they want, and what does their faith require? Muslims are buried, usually quickly, and are never cremated. Hindus and Sikhs are almost always cremated. For Christians and others it is often the family’s choice.
- Did they have a UAE residence visa? A local burial needs a valid residence visa. Visitors can be cremated here or repatriated, but not buried.
- Where will the family grieve? If the funeral and the mourning rites will happen at home, repatriation, or cremation here with the ashes carried home, keeps everyone together.
If you’re unsure, it’s fine to say so to the government officer and to us. The decision doesn’t have to be made in the first hour. It does affect which documents are needed, though, so try to settle it within the first day.
People to tell in the first two days
- The employer, if your loved one was working. Under Article 15 of the UAE Labour Law, the employer has to pay any outstanding wages and end-of-service benefits to the family within 10 days. If the family asks, the employer also has to pay to prepare and transport the body home.
- The insurer. Travel, life and health policies may cover repatriation. Call before you commit to anyone’s quote.
- The embassy or consulate. Most have a 24-hour line for deaths.
- Family abroad. Agree on one person who speaks to the government officer and to us. When three relatives call five offices, things slow down.
Things that can wait
These matter, but not this week:
- Bank accounts. UAE banks generally freeze individual accounts once they’re told of a death, and releasing the money goes through the inheritance process.
- The estate. Under Jabr, Dubai Courts opens an estate file automatically when the death certificate is issued.
- Tenancy, car, phone and utilities. Notify them once the funeral is over.
- Visa cancellation for dependants. Spouses and children on the deceased person’s sponsorship usually get a grace period. Ask the government officer how long, then plan for it.
If the death wasn't natural
For a traffic accident, a fall, or any sudden death where the cause isn’t clear, the police and the public prosecutor are involved. There may be a post-mortem. The body is only released with the prosecutor’s permission, and that can take several days or longer.
We know this is hard to accept when your faith asks for a quick burial. All we can say is that it is normal, it isn’t a sign that anything is wrong, and pushing harder rarely makes it faster. We keep in contact with the case and tell you the moment there is news.
A short checklist
- Police called (if not in hospital) or hospital notified
- Passport, Emirates ID and visa copy gathered in one place
- Phone on for the government service officer’s call
- Embassy or consulate informed
- Employer and insurer informed
- Family agrees: burial, cremation or repatriation
- One family member named as the main contact
- A funeral coordinator chosen for the private arrangements
Frequently asked questions
Tell Us What Has Happened. We Will Guide You.
During a difficult moment, your family should not have to learn unfamiliar procedures while trying to grieve.
Global Nest Worldwide provides one point of coordination for funeral, burial, cremation and repatriation arrangements in Dubai and across the UAE.
