Divorce/ Khula Procedure for Overseas Pakistani

If you are an overseas Pakistani and you wish to dissolve your marriage by giving divorce to your wife or by obtaining a decree of khula against your husband from a Pakistan family court, now you can do it without your presence in Pakistan.

1. Divorce procedure by Husband
2. Divorce procedure by wife

Divorce Procedure for Overseas Pakistani By Husband

If a husband is a Pakistani national he can divorce in Pakistan. Even if a husband is not a Pakistani national but his wife is in Pakistan or a Pakistani National or even if both husband and wife are not Pakistani nationals they can get a divorce in Pakistan provided that the marriage is registered in Pakistan.

• Husband will send a power of attorney with divorce Notice (1st, 2nd & 3rd) to his lawyer.
• Power of attorney and divorce notice should be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate of the country where he is residing.
• When a lawyer receives the power of attorney and divorce notice he will proceed according to law.
• Proceedings of overseas divorce in Pakistan are conducted in an arbitration council.
• A minimum of 90 days of proceedings will be conducted by your lawyer in the arbitration council.
• After the proceedings of overseas divorce in Pakistan, the union council will issue a divorce certificate.

Divorce Procedure for Overseas Pakistani By Wife

The Divorce procedure for overseas Pakistani females is different from the overseas divorce in Pakistan by males.

• A wife has to file a case in family court and get a divorce decree.
• The Female will send a power of attorney for the divorce case to his lawyer.
• Power of attorney should be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate of the country where she is residing.
• When a lawyer receives the power of attorney he will file a divorce case in Family Court.
• The lawyer get a divorce decree and sent the court order to the related union council for further proceedings.
• A minimum of 90 days of proceedings will be conducted by your lawyer in the arbitration council.
• After the proceedings of overseas divorce in Pakistan, the union council will issue a divorce certificate.

Khula Procedure for Overseas Pakistani By Wife

If you are a Pakistani woman residing outside Pakistan and are desirous to obtain a decree of khula from Family Court without coming to Pakistan, you can do so by adopting the following procedure:

• You will be required to execute a special power of attorney nominating any person as your special attorney/ representative. The Special Power of Attorney will be required to be attested by the nearest Pakistan High Commission in your country of stay and sent via courier to your special attorney/representative in Pakistan.
• Your representative shall accordingly upon receiving the special power of attorney get the same counter-attested from the nearest Pakistani Foreign Office.
• The personal representative nominated by you must have express power to represent you before the court and depose statements on your behalf in addition to the power to appoint a lawyer and sign suit documents etc. to be filed in family court. Additionally, he must also have the power to appear and represent you before the Union council to file an application for the issuance of a Divorce Effectiveness Certificate.
• Your personal representative can eventually file a case, through a family lawyer, in the court for obtaining khula
• After the decree of khula is obtained, your special attorney/ representative can file an application for issuance of a Divorce Certificate from the Union Council where your Nikah was registered or where you permanently or temporarily resided during your stay in Pakistan.