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Punjab Launches Land Record Services in UAE, Overseas Pakistanis Can Now Get Fard Without Visiting Pakistan
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Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
The Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai have launched Punjab Land Record Services in the UAE, in collaboration with the Punjab Land Records Authority, allowing overseas Pakistanis to access land and property related services in Punjab without travelling home. Both missions have already begun issuing Fards, the official records used to establish land ownership.
The UAE is home to more than 1.5 million Pakistani expatriates, who collectively send back more than 5 billion dollars in remittances to Pakistan annually. A meaningful share of this diaspora owns agricultural or commercial land in Punjab, and this service specifically targets the routine paperwork, ownership verification, transfers, and record updates, that would otherwise require a personal trip back to Pakistan to complete through local revenue offices.
This launch is not PLRA's first attempt at extending land record services to overseas Pakistanis, and that history is useful context for understanding how this service actually works. PLRA had previously established Land Record Centres at several diplomatic missions as part of a broader e-governance initiative specifically designed to help expatriates transfer immovable property without difficulty, with the plan's first phase targeting overseas Pakistanis in the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. Under that framework, mission based staff, trained by Punjab's land authority and provided by the foreign affairs ministry, were given direct online access to PLRA's central database, allowing them to process land record requests on site rather than routing paperwork back through Pakistan manually. This UAE launch represents that same underlying model reaching full operational status in this specific country, following a comparable digital land record service already introduced for Pakistanis in the United Kingdom.
A Fard functions as Punjab's official record establishing land ownership, and is typically a foundational document required before any property transaction, verification, or dispute resolution involving a specific parcel of land can proceed. Making this document directly obtainable through a diplomatic mission removes what has historically been one of the more basic, yet logistically burdensome, requirements standing between an overseas Pakistani and any formal action involving their Punjab property.
The Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works has directed NAB to investigate alleged annexation of Shamilaat and forest land in FGEHA Sky Gardens, also known as Green Enclave-II in Bhara Kahu, raising fresh concerns over the scheme’s unresolved land status
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed provinces and territories to survey properties that can qualify for financing under the Apna Ghar Scheme, with Islamabad selected as the pilot city for a new mortgage-eligible plot identification system.
The Federal Cabinet has approved the National Housing Policy 2025 and its Action Plan, introducing a new national framework focused on vertical housing, zoning compliance, energy efficiency, affordable housing finance and katchi abadi resettlement.
Punjab has prepared an Urban Water Management Plan targeting treatment of up to 930 million gallons of wastewater and surface water daily by 2029, while increasing the share of usable surface water in cities from 6% to 27% to reduce reliance on groundwater.
Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
The Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai have launched Punjab Land Record Services in the UAE, in collaboration with the Punjab Land Records Authority, allowing overseas Pakistanis to access land and property related services in Punjab without travelling home. Both missions have already begun issuing Fards, the official records used to establish land ownership.
The UAE is home to more than 1.5 million Pakistani expatriates, who collectively send back more than 5 billion dollars in remittances to Pakistan annually. A meaningful share of this diaspora owns agricultural or commercial land in Punjab, and this service specifically targets the routine paperwork, ownership verification, transfers, and record updates, that would otherwise require a personal trip back to Pakistan to complete through local revenue offices.
This launch is not PLRA's first attempt at extending land record services to overseas Pakistanis, and that history is useful context for understanding how this service actually works. PLRA had previously established Land Record Centres at several diplomatic missions as part of a broader e-governance initiative specifically designed to help expatriates transfer immovable property without difficulty, with the plan's first phase targeting overseas Pakistanis in the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. Under that framework, mission based staff, trained by Punjab's land authority and provided by the foreign affairs ministry, were given direct online access to PLRA's central database, allowing them to process land record requests on site rather than routing paperwork back through Pakistan manually. This UAE launch represents that same underlying model reaching full operational status in this specific country, following a comparable digital land record service already introduced for Pakistanis in the United Kingdom.
A Fard functions as Punjab's official record establishing land ownership, and is typically a foundational document required before any property transaction, verification, or dispute resolution involving a specific parcel of land can proceed. Making this document directly obtainable through a diplomatic mission removes what has historically been one of the more basic, yet logistically burdensome, requirements standing between an overseas Pakistani and any formal action involving their Punjab property.
The Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works has directed NAB to investigate alleged annexation of Shamilaat and forest land in FGEHA Sky Gardens, also known as Green Enclave-II in Bhara Kahu, raising fresh concerns over the scheme’s unresolved land status
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed provinces and territories to survey properties that can qualify for financing under the Apna Ghar Scheme, with Islamabad selected as the pilot city for a new mortgage-eligible plot identification system.
The Federal Cabinet has approved the National Housing Policy 2025 and its Action Plan, introducing a new national framework focused on vertical housing, zoning compliance, energy efficiency, affordable housing finance and katchi abadi resettlement.
Punjab has prepared an Urban Water Management Plan targeting treatment of up to 930 million gallons of wastewater and surface water daily by 2029, while increasing the share of usable surface water in cities from 6% to 27% to reduce reliance on groundwater.
Both missions have confirmed active issuance of Fards, demonstrating the service is genuinely operational rather than merely announced, though the specific scope of transactions this facility can fully handle, whether it extends to complete property transfers and mutations remotely, or is currently limited to document issuance and verification, has not been fully detailed. Given the earlier, broader plan's stated ambition to eventually cover the US, Saudi Arabia, and UK alongside the UAE, it remains to be confirmed whether this level of full operational service has similarly been achieved across all of those originally planned locations.
Easier, direct access to official Punjab ownership records reduces overseas Pakistanis' reliance on local intermediaries, family members, or informal agents to handle routine land documentation, a meaningful reduction in both cost and the verification risk that comes with delegating sensitive property matters to a third party. Overseas Pakistanis in the UAE with property interests in Punjab should treat this service as a direct, formal channel for obtaining a Fard and verifying ownership status, and should contact the Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General in Dubai to confirm the specific documentation and process required for their own situation before pursuing any property transaction remotely.
Both missions have confirmed active issuance of Fards, demonstrating the service is genuinely operational rather than merely announced, though the specific scope of transactions this facility can fully handle, whether it extends to complete property transfers and mutations remotely, or is currently limited to document issuance and verification, has not been fully detailed. Given the earlier, broader plan's stated ambition to eventually cover the US, Saudi Arabia, and UK alongside the UAE, it remains to be confirmed whether this level of full operational service has similarly been achieved across all of those originally planned locations.
Easier, direct access to official Punjab ownership records reduces overseas Pakistanis' reliance on local intermediaries, family members, or informal agents to handle routine land documentation, a meaningful reduction in both cost and the verification risk that comes with delegating sensitive property matters to a third party. Overseas Pakistanis in the UAE with property interests in Punjab should treat this service as a direct, formal channel for obtaining a Fard and verifying ownership status, and should contact the Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General in Dubai to confirm the specific documentation and process required for their own situation before pursuing any property transaction remotely.
