Bilawal launches digital service for overseas Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday rolled out the Digital Power of Attorney (POA) Service as a platform providing global overseas Pakistanis with an efficient digital solution to the process POA without physical appearance at respective embassies/consulates.

The ceremony was held at the Foreign Office, Islamabad. The foreign secretary, the chairman Nadra, the foreign office spokesperson and senior officials were present.

The Nadra has designed, developed and implemented a web-based solution to the digital issue PAO. More than nine million overseas Pakistanis can avail this facility from the comfort of their homes, eliminating the need and cost of travel to a Pakistani mission. This will particularly benefit those overseas Pakistanis who live at a distance from an embassy or consulate. The innovative solution for the digital PoA, created by the Nadra, utilizes state-of-the-art Pak-ID Online Biometric Verification Services. During the process, the applicant(s) (also known as executor(s)) along with two witnesses will scan and upload their paper-based biometrics, which are verified through the national database in real time. The Nadra has enabled a Video Interview Module in the application that will allow the consular officer at a Pakistani Mission to conduct online interview of the executor(s), witnesses, and notarize their consent to execute the PoA. The solution includes features to upload scanned documents, pictures and also allows the consular officer to conduct real time verification from the Nadra. The features meet the global benchmarks of e-KYC compliance.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) first launched the pilot phase of the POA at US-UK based 10 Pakistani Missions in November 2021 that received a substantial response from overseas Pakistanis across the world.

Bilawal said it gave him pleasure to launch the Digital Power of Attorney Service that would benefit Pakistanis overseas. This would be of great aid to “our missions abroad that are underfunded and burdened”. He said Tariq Malik made significant contributions to the digitization process. “In his first tenure, the initiative of electronic CNICs was taken, which facilitated disbursement of funds to the underprivileged women of Pakistan through the Benazir Income Support Programme,” he said and hoped that this facility currently being provided to overseas Pakistanis would be extended to those in the country.

He said the technology was the future and “we can improve our governance and enhance transparency through utilising it”. “We would like to collaborate further to bring other services online. It is a matter of great pride that countries like Nigeria are following Pakistan’s model and expertise for their institutions,” he said.

Malik said identification was one of the key manifestations of the explosive spread of digital technology. He said the Nadra was now helping government institutions capitalize on this digital transformation by taking performative action based on “our analysis of human connections”. He said Pakistanis globally would now be able to exercise their right to give representative authority digitally and with unprecedented certainty about their identity in both physical and the virtual realms. “116 Pakistani Missions have been trained as per the service requirements for an efficient delivery to the Pakistani diaspora,” he said, adding that the authority continued to provide 24/7 facilitation to the users through its call centre and Pak-ID Live Chat services.

It is pertinent to mention here that more than 8,000 applicants have processed PoA applications from just two countries in the past 16 months and the highest numbers of applications received are from Pakistani Missions in London, New York and Houston respectively. Approximately 1.5 million overseas Pakistanis have accessed the PoA website.