Recently I went through the whole process of applying for NICOP online through NADRA’s website and received our cards by mail a few days back. It was kind of a roller coaster ride as some aspects were clear in the beginning and others weren’t. The whole process has educated me enough that I wanted to pass my experiences on to others who are interested in applying online for NICOP.
Why Apply Online?
I would highly recommend to my fellow overseas Pakistanis to apply online if:
1. You want it as soon as possible (I got mine in less than 3 weeks!)
2. You hate working with papers, photocopies and filling forms (I really hate that!)
3. You are comfortable working with websites and online services (e.g. if you pay bills online)
4. You can operate a scanner and a few easy to use photo editing software with instructions (isn’t everyone into digital pictures these days?)
Getting NICOP is a Good Deal!
Here are some other compelling reasons to go get your NICOP.
1. Visa free entry into Pakistan, that’s currently a savings of $124 for people living in US (if you are a US citizen, travel on US Passport and don’t have a valid Pakistani Passport)
2. NADRA now requires every overseas Pakistani Citizen to obtain a NICOP.
3. It’s also a requirement now for the issuance of Pakistani Passports by our consulates/ embassies in foreign countries. Though you can still get a passport using your CNIC, but don’t count on it for too long. They will eventually expire as well and can only be renewed while you are in Pakistan, so you will need a NICOP eventually.
4. CNIC is printed in Urdu and targeted towards local population in Pakistan, NICOP is printed in English and thus targeted towards overseas Pakistanis. It serves as an identity in situations where you may need to prove your Pakistani Citizenship in the absence of a valid Pakistani Passport.
5. In my case it was a superb deal and best value for my money. My wife’s CNIC was about to expire so getting her a NICOP was a just investment. I needed a NICOP for my daughter who was born here in US so that she can enter Pakistan on our upcoming trip, and paying $124 for a Pakistani visa was just out of the question for a guy like me who keeps a very tight control over waste of his hard earned salary.
6. In the end I was the only one with a valid CNIC, which was good for another 5 years, but had to go get one as applying for NICOPs for your whole family at the same time is the best way to go, plus being the ‘Family Head’ I had to get it, as I needed to prove my status as such so that they can issue a NICOP to my daughter.
7. Our NICOPs are valid until 2018/2020/2023 (see my little concern below on validity periods) and we paid $37.11 (NICOP Fee) + $1.11 (Foreign Transaction Fee, charged by my credit card issuer), a total of mere $38.22 (per card) for them.
8. I personally think it’s a great deal and I thank our government for not robbing us, though they recently increased the fee (from $15 to $25 – this did affect me, I paid $25 plus delivery charges, totaling $37.11) & lowered the validity period (from 10 to 7 years – this didn’t affect me, as mentioned above the validity of our NICOPs is in the range of 10 to 15 years) but it still is pretty cheap, at least in my personal view.
Concern: I never understood why they issue CNIC/NICOP to everyone with totally different expiry dates, even if the cards were issued at the same time! All of my family members got our CNICs back in Pakistan at the same time and only a couple of us had the same expiry date or validity period, some had the validity of 5 years, others for 10 and 12 years! Same issue is there with our NICOPs.
Editor’s Note:
Amir Haque has detailed a very informative step by step procedure (with screen shots) of how to apply for a NICOP online. We were not able to accommodate that informative part of his post here but we recommend a visit to Amir’s web site here (http://amirhaq.blogspot.com) to get further information on this topic.
Reference:
NADRA’s website at: http://www.nadra.gov.pk
ATP’s Related Post:
Should Foreign Men Marrying Pakistani Women get Pakistani Citizenship?
Hello,
i need a help, i have a question!
CAN MY FOREIGNER WIFE (NON PAKISTANI) CAN APPLY FOR POC????
I HAVE A VALID PAKISTANI PASSPORT SO CAN SHE APPLY FOR POC ON THE BASIS THAT SHE IS LEGALLY MARRIED TO A PAKISTANI?
NADRA , PAK US EMBASSY, PAK RUSSIAN EMBASSY AND MANY OTHER WEBSITES DOES MENTION THAT FOREIGNER SPOUSES OF PAKISTANIS CAN APPLY FOR POC BUT PRACTICALLY WHEN MY FAMILY WENT TO NADRA OFFICE IN ISLAMABAD THEN THE GUY OVER THEIR TOLD THEM A STRANGE STORY AND SAID THAT ITS NOT POSSIBLE……..
PLEASE TELL ME WHATS THE REALITY?
IF ITS NOT POSSIBLE THEN WHY THOSE WEBSITES ARE MENTIONING FALSE INFORMATION???
PLEASE REPLY ME
KINF REGARDS,
will any body tell me about the ID number difference of CNIC and NICOP? normally CNIC number is like 12345-1234567-1 but in NICOP it is written as 123456-123456-1 …. is it correct? or is it mistakenly printed like that?
If my child was born in the US and I am applying for a NICOP card for him will a birth certificate and copy of my CNIC card suffice? Also do I choose “dual citizenship” in the status part of the application?
Pakistan detains, releases man with U.S. citizenship – CNN.com
A Pakistani man with dual U.S. citizenship was questioned and released after being detained in a dangerous area of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, Pakistani …
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/14/pakist an.man.detained – 71k – Cached
This was interesting.
We applied from the Embassy in New York City for both NICOP AND POC CARDS rather than online and received our cards quickly (less than 4 weeks) via regular mail. There is just something comforting about doing this in person plus the people working at the embassy were very helpful with any questions.
Ali:
Insha’allah your NICOP will arrive soon. See this website for valuable information regarind nic, cnic, nicop, and poc cards. http://www.pakistan-embassy.org/nicop.php
DUAL NATIONALITY: In addition to being subject to all of Pakistan’s laws affecting U.S. citizens, individuals who also possess the nationality of Pakistan may be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on citizens of that country. For additional information, see the Consular Affairs home page on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov for our Dual Nationality flyer.