Attestation of documents / POA

POA can be attested in-person at the Consulate General or application can be filed at https://poa.nadra.gov.pk/ for an Online/Digital POA 
Mandatory Requirements for In-person Attestation of POA
  • Original Power of Attorney (To be signed in front of Consular Representative only)
  • Original Valid Pakistani Passport or Valid CNIC/NICOP of the Executant (applicant) along with one photocopy. 
  • One recent colored passport size photograph of each Executant for each POA document.
  • Copy of Attorney’s Valid CNIC. 
  • Proof of Residence of the Executant i.e., State ID, Driving License or recent Utility Bill from one of the following states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, and North and South Dakota.
  • 20$ Fee (per page/per executant) payable by credit/debit card 
  • If advised to the Executant from Pakistan, two witnesses may sign on the draft POA and photocopies of their valid Pakistani ID cards have to be provided (Their physical appearance in the Consulate General is not required). 
Click https://poa.nadra.gov.pk/ to apply for online/digital POA
Steps for Application Submission: https://poa.nadra.gov.pk/how-to-apply/ 
Step 1:  Account Creation:
An Applicant will get access to the POA Portal to create their account by providing their email address along with other details.
Step 2:   Applying for POA: 
Once successfully signed up and authenticated, the executor can lodge POA by submitting required documents.
Step 3: Biometrics: 
The applicant to upload biometrics on the provided fingerprint form.
Step 4:   Fee Payment: 
Applicants will be asked to pay the required fee for the application and receive results of biometric verification.
Step 5:  Video Interview: 
The Consular Officer of the selected Mission (in the case of Consulate General of Chicago) will schedule and conduct an online (video) interview with the applicant to determine the final decision on the case.
Step 6: Final Consent: 
A system-generated email is sent to the applicant’s registered e-mail address to acquire the Final Consent for POA issuance. This Consent has to be responded within two weeks otherwise the POA will be automatically rejected by the System.  
Important Points Regarding uploading of Documents for online/digital POA
  • Front and back side of all original CNICs/NICOPs to be uploaded.
  • US ID of the Executant (s) showing address to be uploaded.
  • If there is one-page POA document, it should bear Thumb Impression (lefthand for Males and Righthand for Females), signature, and recent color size photo of the Executant (s), and signatures of the two witnesses along with their valid CNIC/NICOP numbers.
  • In case of more than one-page document, last page to meet above guidelines and other page (s) to have thumb impression and signature of the Executant (s). 
  • The witnesses can only be the ones who are holding valid CNIC/NICOP and they have to actually witness signing of the POA by the Executant (s). The POA document uploaded in the system should be photo/color scan of the original and final document. All pages of POA should be preferably be uploaded one pdf file.         
Specific Requirements for Attestation of Documents other than POA:
  • For attestation of signatures for executants of an Affidavit, personal presence before the consular representative is mandatory. Copies of State ID and valid Pakistan ID (NICOP/CNIC/Passport) are required.
  • Pension Paper/Life Certificate and Bank related Documents can be sent for attestation by mail with prepaid return envelope. However, documents being sent by mail must be notarized. Non-Marriage Certificate of dependent pensioners can only be authenticated if it has already been apostled by Secretary of State of the State where the applicant resides.
  • Death Certificates issued by US authorities will be attested by the Consulate General only if they are apostilled/authenticated from the local Secretary of State office.
  • For attestation of Pakistani documents like Nikah Nama, Academic Certificates etc. prior authentication of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad is mandatory. These documents can be submitted in person or by postal mail with prepaid return envelope. 
  • For attestation of photocopies of Pakistani Passports and Computerized Identity Cards, presentation of original documents is mandatory. These documents can be submitted to us in person or via postal mail.
  • $20 payable by debit/credit card for in-person attestation and $20 money order if documents are being sent by mail.
  • For attestation of any of the documents issued by the US authorities, they should first be authenticated/apostilled by the concerned Secretary of State or US Department of State, Washington D.C as the case may be. For further information about the authentication from US Department of State, kindly visit Apostille Requirements (state.gov). These documents can be submitted in person or via postal mail.
Note: The Government of Pakistan has acceded to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) of 1961. The Convention reduces the public document authentication process to a single formality i.e. issuance of an authentication certificate called as ‘Apostille’ by the designated authority of the country where the document was issued. Thus, foreign public documents authenticated by Apostille can be directly presented to the concerned authorities without any other attestation requirement. Concerned authorities in Pakistan will have started accepting the foreign apostille certificates issued by the members/contracting states of Convention from the date of its entry into force i.e., March 9, 2023, without any requirement of attestation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad or Pakistan Missions abroad.
It may be noted that Normal Attestation Services at Consulate General continue.
 
General Pointers/FAQs:
  • In-person presence of the executant(s) is mandatory for physical attestation of POA at the Consulate General.
  • For the POA, Attorney is the person to whom the POA is being given in Pakistan.
  • The original POA document is acceptable on a regular paper, and there is no special requirement for the POA to be on stamp paper.
  • Witnesses are not required to be physically present for in-person POA attestation.
  • In case of more than one Executants of POA, all of them will have to be physically present for in-person POA attestation. 
  • In cases involving multiple jurisdictions (applicants who are resident in the consular jurisdiction of Consulates General/Embassy other than this Consulate General) have an option to execute POA separately from respective Mission.