(a) The body of any person whose death occurs in the Virgin Islands, or which shall be found dead therein, shall not be interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from or into any local registration district (or temporarily held pending further disposition more than 24 hours after death), unless a permit for burial, removal, or other disposition thereof shall have been properly issued by the local registrar or deputy registrar of such local registration district.
(b) No burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar until, wherever practicable, a complete and satisfactory certificate of death has been accomplished as hereinafter provided. When a dead body is transported from outside the Virgin Islands into the same for burial, the transit or removal permit, issued in accordance with the law and health regulations of the place where death occurred, shall be accepted by the local registrar in lieu of such certificate. In such a case, the local registrar shall note upon the face of the burial permit that the body was shipped for interment and shall also note thereon the actual place of death.