There is a lot of buzz around diaspora voting for 13th Bangladesh parliamentary elections, for which polling is scheduled on February 12, 2026. Facilitating the exercise of voting rights by overseas Pakistanis has been a key issue in Pakistani elections as well. However, some basic areas concerning overseas voting, such as exact number of Pakistanis living abroad, and verification of legally-qualified overseas voters, continue to lack definitive answers.

In this context, FAFEN reviewed official migration data and the Elections Act, 2017 to assess available evidence on the size of the overseas Pakistani population and the legal framework governing overseas voter eligibility.

How many Pakistanis live abroad?

Annual statistics of emigrants registered with the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOE) indicate that over 14.2 million Pakistanis left the country for work between 1981 and 2025. Among these emigrants, Punjab accounts for the largest share with more than 70 lakh registered emigrants, and is followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (36 lakh), by Sindh (13 lakh), Azad Jammu Kashmir (eight lakh), and Balochistan (one lakh), and Federal (one lakh).

Country-wise emigrants data shows that Saudi Arabia hosts the highest number of overseas Pakistanis, with over 530,000 registered emigrants, while Tunisia records the lowest number, with only three registered individuals. In 2025, around 0.7 million Pakistanis were registered as overseas emigrants.

However, these figures do not represent the actual number of Pakistanis currently residing abroad. Emigrant registration primarily captures overseas employment flows and does not include persons leaving Pakistan on non-work visas, including students, dependents, businesspersons, and long-term residents.

Records maintained by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan’s diplomatic missions, and BEOE serve distinct administrative purposes. They are not integrated into a unified database, limiting their usefulness for accurately identifying and verifying overseas voters.

Who qualifies as an overseas voter and what are the verification challenges?

Under Section 94(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, an overseas Pakistani is defined as a citizen of Pakistan under the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, or a holder of a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), who is working or residing abroad, permanently or temporarily, for a period of not less than six months. NADRA allows NICOP applications from the following:

  • Pakistani emigrants, i.e., those holding foreign employment agreements, and their non-resident dependents;
  • Pakistani immigrants, i.e., those who hold a resident visa, permit, or equivalent status from another country; and
  • Dual national Pakistanis, holding citizenship of countries with which Pakistan maintains dual nationality arrangements.

While the legal definition appears clear, verification of citizens eligible for overseas voting presents operational complexities. Section 94(2) ties eligibility to a minimum six-month stay abroad. Determining compliance with this requirement would require verification of travel history records, maintained by the Immigration Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency.

Thus, verification of overseas voter eligibility would require coordination between the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and government agencies responsible for immigration data. Any large-scale overseas voting framework would therefore involve government officials in processes directly linked to the preparation and verification of electoral rolls.

Under Pakistan’s constitutional framework, the preparation and maintenance of electoral rolls fall squarely within the exclusive domain of the ECP. The involvement of external executive bodies in voter verification may have implications regarding data control, oversight, and the perceived sanctity of electoral rolls. Ensuring that such coordination does not dilute the ECP’s authority or independence remains critical in designing any credible overseas voting mechanism.