Power of attorney from abroad: give it narrow, cancel it safely
You need someone in Pakistan to act for you on property, or you want to cancel a power you gave.
All Pakistan. 12 steps, 10 confirmed against the text.
What this route rules out
- Once your agent has partly used the power, cancelling it does not undo what was already done.
- A cancellation does not bind your agent, or people dealing with them, until they know of it.
The steps
You
Write the power for the one act you need, such as one sale or one case. An agent may do every lawful thing needed for that act, so name the act and the property exactly.
s188, Contract Act 1872, read .
The text says
An agent having an authority to do an act has authority to do every lawful thing which is necessary in order to do such act.
Notary, court or Pakistan consul
Sign the power before a notary public, a court or judge, or a Pakistan consul, so it can be used to present papers for registration.
s33(1)(c), Registration Act 1908, read .
The text says
a power-of-attorney executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public, or any Court, Judge, Magistrate, Pakistan Consul or Vice-Consul or representative of ... the Federal Government
Pakistani mission
Have the power attested by a Pakistani mission. You can do it online through NADRA's Digital Power of Attorney from where you live, even with no mission in your country: make an account, upload the signed power and the fingerprints of you and two witnesses, pay by card, then a consular officer interviews you by video. Pick the right mission when you apply, or the application can be rejected. Your mission's own page gives its walk-in steps and fee.
Do this online: Digital Power of Attorney (opens in a new tab)
- Run by
- National Database and Registration Authority
- What you can do there
- Apply from abroad for a power of attorney attested online, with a video interview, even where there is no mission.
- What it asks for
- You make an account with your email and confirm it by a one-time code. You need a CNIC, NICOP or POC, two witnesses' fingerprints and a card to pay. Apply Now leads to a NADRA sign-in, where we stopped.
Opened
The official page: Application Fee (opens in a new tab)
- Run by
- National Database and Registration Authority
- What you can do there
- See the fee for a digital power of attorney by number of executors.
- What it asks for
- Public page.
Opened
What each Pakistani mission says about attesting it, country by country
Papers to take
Papers: Eligibility and Pre-requisites, NADRA, Digital Power of Attorney, read .
The text says
Biometrics of Executor (s) and 2 x witnesses (Best 4 fingers) Credit Card / Debit Card to make online Fee Payment within the application Scanned Copy of Original Power of Attorney with signature and thumb impressions of executants(s) and witnesses, as well as photo of executant affixed on it
- Fee
US$36 for up to 5 people giving the power, then US$6 more for each extra person, up to US$126 for 20.
Fee: Application Fees, NADRA, Digital Power of Attorney, Application Fee, read .
The text says
Upto 5 Executors 36
Step: Application Submission Guidelines, Video Interview, NADRA, Digital Power of Attorney, read .
The text says
The Consular Officer will schedule and conduct an online (video) interview with the applicant to determine the final decision on the case.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Send the attested power, with NADRA's digital receipt if you used the online service, to your attorney in Pakistan. Your attorney takes it in person, with their original CNIC, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad or a camp office in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar or Quetta for attestation. The Ministry says the power is valid for 120 days from the attestations, so do not let it sit.
The official page: Attestation of Documents (opens in a new tab)
- Run by
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- What you can do there
- Read how the Ministry attests a power of attorney made abroad, once the mission has attested it.
- What it asks for
- Public page. Your attorney in Pakistan goes in person with the original CNIC.
Opened
- Time
The Ministry says a power from abroad is valid for 120 days from the mission's attestation and the Ministry's re-attestation.
Power of Attorney (Originating from Abroad), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Services, Attestation of Documents, read .
The text says
Power of Attorney from abroad is required to be attested by Pakistan Embassy/Consulate in that country. After obtaining the confirmation of its genuineness from the concerned Embassy/ Consulate, the Ministry will attest it. For this purpose, attorney appointed in Pakistan is required to come in person with original Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC).
The validity of Power of Attorneys is 120 days from the date of attestation of Pakistan’s Missions abroad and re-attestation/verification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad or its Camp offices in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.
Sub-registrar
Ask the sub-registrar whether your power must be registered.
UNCONFIRMEDThis clause can be read to make registration compulsory for a power over property worth Rs 100 or more. We do not settle that reading. Ask a lawyer or the sub-registrar.
s17(1)(ba), Registration Act 1908, read .
The text says
an instrument which grants power to an attorney or which constitutes an agreement to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, by way of sale, any right, title or interest of the value of one hundred rupees and upward, to or in immovable property;
Sub-registrar
If it must be registered, present it within four months of its arrival in Pakistan.
- Time
4 months after it arrives.
s26(b), Registration Act 1908, read .
The text says
that it has been presented for registration within four months after its arrival in Pakistan
presented for registration within four months after its arrival in Pakistan
High Court
You can deposit the power, with the affidavit or declaration that verifies it, in the High Court for the area where it is kept.
s4(a), Powers-of-Attorney Act 1882, read .
The text says
An instrument creating a power-of-attorney, its execution being verified by affidavit, statutory declaration or other sufficient evidence, may, with the affidavit or declaration, if any, be deposited in the High Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the instrument may be.
You
You can cancel the power at any time before the agent has used it.
s203, Contract Act 1872, read .
The text says
The principal may, save as is otherwise provided by the last preceding section, revoke the authority given to his agent at any time before the authority has been exercised so as to bind the principal.
You
If the agent has already used part of it, cancelling does not undo what was done.
s204, Contract Act 1872, read .
The text says
The principal cannot revoke the authority given to his agent after the authority has been partly exercised so far as regards such acts and obligations as arise from acts already done in the agency.
Your agent
Give your agent reasonable notice that you are cancelling.
s206, Contract Act 1872, read .
The text says
Reasonable notice must be given of such revocation or renunciation; otherwise the damage thereby resulting to the principal or the agent, as the case may be, must be made good to the one by the other.
Registrar, buyers, banks
Tell everyone who may deal with the agent. The cancellation does not bind them until they know.
s208, Contract Act 1872, read .
The text says
The termination of the authority of an agent does not, so far as regards the agent, take effect before it becomes known to him, or, so far as regards third persons, before it becomes known to them.
Sub-registrar or High Court
Ask the office that registered or holds the power how to record your cancellation.
UNCONFIRMEDNo text we read says how a cancellation is recorded with a sub-registrar or the High Court. Ask that office or a lawyer.
4 more steps depend on where the property is. Choose Islamabad or Punjab above to see them.