eCARe Portal India — How to Get Clearance for Mortal Remains

What the eCARe Portal Is and Why It Matters

India's e-Clearance for Afterlife Remains (eCARe) portal is the government's mandatory digital gateway for clearing mortal remains entering the country by air. Without a Provisional Conditional Clearance Certificate from this portal, no airline will load a casket onto a flight bound for India. The portal connects families, Airport Health Organizations (APHOs), and airlines into a single workflow — replacing the paper-based system that used to cause multi-day delays at destination airports.

Account Setup Rules That Trip People Up

Any relative, NGO representative, licensed funeral director, or airline agent can register on the portal. First-time users sign up with their name, email, mobile number, and passport number.

The critical rule: you cannot use the deceased person's passport number to create the applicant account. The portal blocks it. Use your own passport or government ID. Only one active application is permitted per deceased passport number — duplicate filings are automatically flagged and rejected.

Login authentication uses an OTP sent via SMS, WhatsApp, or email.

The Four Mandatory Documents

The portal requires uploads in PDF, JPEG, JPG, or PNG format, each under 512 MB. High-resolution color scans only — black-and-white photocopies are rejected. File names must be simple alphanumeric strings with no special characters (use DeathCertificate.pdf, not Death Certificate - UAE (2026).pdf).

The four required documents:

1. UAE Death Certificate — issued by the local health authority and MOFA-attested
2. Embalming Certificate — from the licensed mortuary confirming chemical preservation
3. Indian Embassy/Consulate NOC — the consular no-objection certificate for repatriation
4. Cancelled Passport of the Deceased — biodata and visa pages showing the physical consular cancellation stamp

From Submission to Airport Release

After uploading the documents and entering the flight details, the designated Nodal Officer at the destination Airport Health Organization reviews the application within a 48-hour SLA. Once verified, the portal generates the Provisional Conditional Clearance Certificate and emails it to the applicant, the local contact, and the airline.

At the departure airport (DXB or AUH), the airline cargo team verifies the provisional certificate before loading. At the arrival airport in India, the airline representative presents the physical originals to the on-duty APHO officer for a final casket-seal inspection and written release.

Submit the application at least 48 hours before the scheduled flight arrival in India. Last-minute submissions risk missing the review window and delaying the flight by days.

When the Portal Blocks Your Application

If the cause of death is a highly infectious disease — yellow fever, plague, anthrax, Ebola, or glanders — the eCARe portal automatically blocks the application under Rule 41 of the Indian Aircraft Public Health Rules, 1954. In these cases, the remains must be cremated locally in the UAE, and only the ashes may be transported to India.

The Indian Dies in the UAE — Family Guide walks through the full eCARe workflow with upload specifications, troubleshooting tips for common rejection reasons, and the complete document preparation checklist.