A power of attorney for Pakistan, signed where you live.
Everything an overseas Pakistani needs to know before signing a mukhtar nama for property, court, bank or inheritance work in Pakistan — and how to cancel one that is being misused.
Short answer. Overseas Pakistanis with a CNIC, NICOP or POC can sign a power of attorney for use in Pakistan in three ways: through NADRA’s online power of attorney system (biometrics, two witnesses and an online interview with their Pakistani mission), in person at a Pakistani embassy or consulate, or before a local notary with an apostille — but the apostille route only works from countries where the Apostille Convention operates with Pakistan, which excludes Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, among others.
Reviewed by Khalil Ahmad Bhullah, Founding Partner · Last reviewed 22 September 2026 · Pakistani law only
Three routes. Pick the one your country and your transaction allow.
NADRA online power of attorney
For CNIC, NICOP and POC holders. Apply at poa.nadra.gov.pk, upload the document and identity papers, give biometrics for yourself and two witnesses, pay online, and take an online interview with the Pakistani mission you select. No embassy visit. The mission issues the attestation and you send the original to your attorney.
In person at a Pakistani mission
Book an appointment at the embassy, high commission or consulate that covers your area, sign in front of the consular officer with two witnesses and your identity documents. Still the route some Pakistani offices prefer, and the only one for foreign nationals with no Pakistani ID.
Local notary plus apostille
Sign before a notary where you live and have it apostilled by that country’s competent authority. Works only where the Apostille Convention operates between that country and Pakistan. Check the country list before you pay a notary.
Draft it narrowly. It is the cheapest protection you will ever buy.
Most property fraud against overseas Pakistanis starts with a power of attorney that said too much.
Name the property exactly
Khasra or khewat numbers for agricultural land, plot and block number and society name for a housing scheme, registry number where there is one. “All my property in Pakistan” is an invitation.
Name the act, and only that act
Sell to a named buyer at not less than a stated price; file and pursue a named suit; collect rent and sign one tenancy. Say what the attorney may not do: no mortgaging, no gifting, no further delegation.
Route the money to you
Require sale proceeds to be paid into your own account by banking channel, not to the attorney. Buyers’ lawyers will follow this if the document says it.
Put an end date on it
A power of attorney that expires when the job is done, or after a fixed period, cannot be pulled out of a drawer five years later.
Revoking a power of attorney that is being misused.
Sign a revocation deed
Through the same kind of route you used to grant it: online NADRA system, mission, or notary and apostille where valid.
Notify the attorney in writing
A legal notice from us to the attorney, recorded, so they cannot later claim they did not know.
Notify everyone who might act on it
Sub-registrar, the housing society or development authority, the patwari or Arazi Record Centre, and any bank. Where appropriate, a public notice in a newspaper.
Challenge anything already done
If the attorney has already sold, gifted or mortgaged, we sue to cancel the transaction and seek an injunction against further dealings.
Questions about powers of attorney.
Yes, if you hold a CNIC, NICOP or Pakistan Origin Card. NADRA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs run an online power of attorney system at poa.nadra.gov.pk. You upload the document and identity papers, give biometrics for yourself and two witnesses, pay online, and the Pakistani mission you select interviews you online. A foreign national with no Pakistani identity document must still go through the mission in person.
Pakistan has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 9 March 2023, so an apostille from a country where the Convention operates with Pakistan replaces embassy attestation. It does not work from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Finland, Poland or the Czech Republic, which objected to Pakistan’s accession, or from the UAE, Qatar or Kuwait, which are not parties. Some Pakistani registrars also still prefer mission attestation; we check the specific office first.
Special, almost always. A special power of attorney names one property and one purpose — sell plot 123, or file and pursue a named case. A general power of attorney lets the attorney do almost anything with your property, and it is where most of the fraud files we handle begin.
Revoke it immediately by a revocation deed signed through the same kind of route, send written notice to the attorney, and notify the sub-registrar, the housing society or development authority and any bank involved. If they have already sold or mortgaged the property, we challenge the transaction in court. Delay helps the other side.
A power of attorney used to sell or transfer immovable property is normally presented to the sub-registrar and verified before the transfer desk will act on it, and the requirements vary by office and by type of property. We check the current requirement for the district before you sign, so the document is drafted to pass first time.