How to apply for placing additional ashes of the deceased in a niche managed by Food and Environmental Hygiene Department?

Content

• Relaxed arrangement for placing additional cremated ashes into public niches
• Eligibility
• Mean of application submission
• Supporting document
• Fee

Relaxed arrangement for placing additional cremated ashes into public niches

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has relaxed the arrangement of placing additional cremated ashes into public niches. If applicant prefers, a standard niche may hold more than two sets of cremated ashes and a large niche may hold more than four sets of cremated ashes (the size of niche will differ depending on individual venue). Citizens can apply to the FEHD to deposit additional cremated ashes into an existing niche.

Eligibility

1. The applicant must be the original permittee of the niche

   • if the original permittee cannot complete the procedures in person, he may authorize in writing a relative or friend to act on his behalf;

   • If the original permittee has passed away, his descendants may, upon production of his death certificate or other documentary proof, apply under oath for succession of the niche and deposit of additional ashes at the above office;

2. The deceased whose ashes will be deposited must be a close relative of or in close relationship with the deceased first deposited in that niche. Close relative means the spouse, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law or a direct descendant of either the paternal or maternal line.
3. The cremated ashes of the following persons may be deposited in the columbaria of FEHD:
   • Individuals who were Hong Kong residents at the time of their death and whose remains were cremated within three months of their death at a government crematorium; or
   • Individuals who were Hong Kong residents for at least ten years within the twenty years preceding their death and whose remains were cremated in a crematorium outside Hong Kong; or
   • Individuals whose remains were lawfully exhumed and cremated in at a government crematorium in Hong Kong.

Mean of application submission

1. Online 日pplication using the electronic form eFEHB 136A. Upon receipt of the form, FEHD staff will contact the applicant to arrange for submission of relevant documents at the Cemetery and Crematorium office.
2. Complete the form FEHB136A (PDF) and bring the required documents to any Cemetery and Crematorium office in person to submit the application.

FEHD will take around 10 days to process the application and notify the applicant in writing to settle the payment.

Supporting documents

Applicant should produce the following documents

• the original and copy of the Hong Kong Identity Card of the applicant. Authorised person should produce the authorisation letter and his own Hong Kong Identity Card
• the original and copy of Hong Kong Identity Card or other documentary proof of Hong Kong resident's status of the deceased whose ashes will be deposited
• the original and copy of the cremation record for the deceased:

• If the niche is for depositing ashes of more than one deceased, copies of the documentary proof (such as marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.) showing that the first deposited deceased person and the other deceased are close relatives or in close relationship.
  • Close relative means the spouse, parent, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law or a direct descendant of either the male or female line.
  • In the absence of documentary proof of close relatives or close relationship, the applicant may take an oath at the following offices:
    • Hong Kong Cemeteries and Crematoria Office (1J Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong) ; or
    • Kowloon Cemeteries and Crematoria Office (Upper Ground Floor, 6 Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon) ; or
    • Public Niche Allocation Office (Units 3501-3511 & 3520-3525, 35/F, Tower 1, Metroplaza, 223 Hing Fong Road, Kwai Fong, N.T.)
• For application for niches on outlying islands, the original and copy of letter from the relevant island's Rural Committee to certify that the deceased was an indigenous villager or a local resident of the island concerned.

Fee

• HK$140 per set of ashes to be deposited
• Upon receipt of the approval letter, settle the payment and arrange for deposit of additional ashes at the office of the columbarium with the registered mason.

For enquiries, please contact the Cemeteries and Crematoria Offices of FEHD on Hong Kong Island or in Kowloon:

• Hong Kong Cemeteries and Crematoria Office
  Address: 1J Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong.
  Tel: 2570 4318
• Kowloon Cemeteries and Crematoria Office
  Address: Upper Ground Floor, 6 Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon.
  Tel: 2365 5321