Pakistan property lawyer for owners living in Australia.
For Pakistani-Australians whose house, plot or land in Pakistan is occupied by a relative, a tenant or a qabza group, or has been transferred behind their back.
Short answer. An owner living in Australia can usually recover occupied property in Punjab without travelling. A Lahore advocate files under a special power of attorney signed through NADRA online, at the High Commission in Canberra or the Consulate General in Sydney, or before an Australian notary public with a DFAT apostille — in Punjab’s special court for overseas Pakistanis’ property, under the Illegal Dispossession Act, 2005, or by civil suit.
Reviewed by Khalil Ahmad Bhullah, Founding Partner · Last reviewed 7 October 2026 · Pakistani law only. We are Pakistani advocates. We are not admitted in any Australian state or territory and do not advise on Australian law.
Three things that change an Australian owner’s case.
You are ahead of Lahore
A Lahore court morning is your afternoon. You can follow a hearing on WhatsApp as it happens and instruct us the same day — a real advantage when an injunction has to be pressed quickly.
Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth have no Pakistani mission
Pakistan’s missions are in Canberra and Sydney. Elsewhere, the practical routes are NADRA online or a local notary public with the DFAT apostille.
Notary public, not a JP
A document witnessed only by a Justice of the Peace is usually not what DFAT apostilles for overseas use. Use a notary public for a power of attorney going to Pakistan, or the NADRA online route.
How the file runs from Australia.
You stay where you are. We appear in Lahore on your power of attorney; a court can still ask for you by video link at a particular stage.
Send the paper trail on WhatsApp
Registry deed, fard, mutation, society allotment or transfer letter, your CNIC, NICOP or POC, and any power of attorney you have ever signed. Photos are enough to start.
We check the record first
We pull the current fard or Arazi Record Centre print and the society or development authority file. If the record has already been changed, the case and the court are different.
One special power of attorney, signed in Australia
Drafted for this property and this case only. Signed through NADRA online, the High Commission in Canberra or the Consulate General in Sydney, or a notary public plus DFAT apostille.
Freeze, then file
Legal notice, a request to the registrar or society to note the dispute, and an injunction application to stop onward transfers — then the complaint or suit in the right forum.
A typical Australian file.
An IT consultant in Melbourne owns a plot in Multan. A neighbour has built a boundary wall around it and put a gate on it.
He signs a special power of attorney through NADRA online, naming the plot and this dispute only. We confirm the revenue record still shows him as owner, photograph the site through family, and file a complaint under the Illegal Dispossession Act, 2005 with an application for interim restoration of possession, alongside the special court route. He hears the outcome of each hearing in his afternoon.
Illustrative example, not a client file. Timelines depend on the court, the district and the other side.
Document route from Australia.
The single most expensive mistake overseas clients make is paying for the wrong signing route.
- Notary plus apostille. Sign before an Australian notary public, then an apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The Apostille Convention operates between Australia and Pakistan, so no further attestation by a Pakistani mission is legally needed — though some registrars still prefer a mission-attested document, and we check first.
- NADRA online power of attorney. For CNIC, NICOP and POC holders at poa.nadra.gov.pk: biometrics for you and two witnesses, online payment, and an online interview with the mission you select. No visit.
- In person at a mission. The High Commission of Pakistan in Canberra, or the Consulate General in Sydney. The route for anyone with no Pakistani identity document who does not want the notary route.
- Documents issued in Australia — a death certificate from a state registry, a court order — are apostilled by DFAT before use in Pakistan.
What we will ask for
- Proof of title: registered sale deed, gift deed or inheritance mutation; for society plots, the allotment or transfer letter and file number.
- Current fard or Arazi Record Centre print if you have one — we can obtain it.
- Your CNIC, NICOP or POC, and passport pages showing you live in Australia.
- Every power of attorney you have signed for the property, and any revocation.
- Recent photos or video of the property and the names of the occupiers, if known.
Time difference with Lahore.
- Sydney and Melbourne are 5 hours ahead of Lahore in winter and 6 hours ahead during Australian daylight saving; Brisbane stays 5 ahead; Perth is 3 ahead.
- A 10:00 AM hearing in Lahore is 3:00 PM in Sydney (4:00 PM in daylight saving), so the result of the day usually reaches you before dinner.
- Our office day is 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM in Sydney (3:00 PM to midnight in daylight saving) and 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM in Perth — easy to reach after work.
- WhatsApp is read Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pakistan time. Fees are quoted in writing before any work starts.
Questions from Australia.
Usually not. With a power of attorney signed through NADRA online, at the High Commission in Canberra or the Consulate General in Sydney, or before a notary public with a DFAT apostille, a Lahore advocate files and appears for you. The court can still ask for you by video link.
There is no Pakistani mission in Western Australia. Use NADRA’s online power of attorney if you hold a CNIC, NICOP or POC, or sign before a notary public in Perth and have it apostilled by DFAT.
For a document going overseas, use a notary public. A JP-witnessed document is usually not apostilled by DFAT for this purpose. NADRA’s online route avoids the question altogether.
An Australian lawyer can advise on Australian law, but the case must be filed and argued in a Pakistani court by a Pakistani advocate. We handle the Pakistani side only.
Read next.
Power of attorney from Australia
Which signing route works, and the wording.
Inheritance from Australia
Succession certificate and transfer to heirs.
Divorce & khula from Australia
Talaq, khula, maintenance and custody.
All matters for Pakistanis in Australia
The country desk: missions, time zones, every service.
Property disputes: the full guide
The law and the routes, for clients in any country.
Apostille by country
Which countries’ apostilles work in Pakistan.