Bringing a Laptop or Phone Into Pakistan: Customs Allowance and 60-Day PTA Rule

A laptop you are using yourself comes into Pakistan free of customs duty on every trip. Your phone is the catch: it must be registered on PTA's DIRBS system, with its duty and taxes paid, within 60 days of arrival, or it stops working. A second, new laptop or camera may need to be declared at the red channel.

We read FBR's customs travel pages, its baggage rules brochure and the Customs General Order that sets the phone registration rules on 28 September 2026. FBR's duty free allowance page still links a brochure dated January 2008. The brochure itself says the law prevails over it, so treat the figures below as FBR's published guide, not the last word.

Your own laptop comes in duty free, your phone is taxed through DIRBS

FBR's baggage rules list "items of personal use" that every passenger may bring on each entry without duty. The list includes a "laptop computer and its accessories in use of the passenger", a wrist watch and a mobile phone. The phone entry dates from 2008. Since DIRBS started in 2018, a phone brought from abroad pays its duty and taxes when you register it.

The words "in use" matter. A laptop you work on every day, with its charger and mouse, is personal use. Two sealed laptops in boxes are not. Customs treats goods brought for sale as "commercial quantity", and FBR says those are released only after a fine of 30% of their value on top of normal duty and taxes.

How long you were abroad changes your allowance

A Pakistani returning after 7 days or less gets only the personal use items. After 8 days or more, the first visit in a calendar year also allows one still camera, one video camera and other goods worth up to US$500. Husband and wife each get a separate allowance.

The US$500 covers things that are not personal use, such as a new tablet, a boxed laptop or a gaming console. It excludes large appliances like televisions, fridges and air conditioners, which have their own fixed duty. The allowance applies once a year, on your first visit, so a second trip in the same year brings only the personal use items.

FBR's guide also says goods must come from the country where you lived before arriving. Unaccompanied baggage must reach Pakistan within 60 days of your arrival to count.

Foreign nationals and tourists

Visitors who are not Pakistani get personal use items, one still camera, one video camera, one desktop computer in place of a laptop, professional tools up to US$500 and other goods up to US$100. They can also get temporary release of work equipment such as cameras and computers, endorsed on the passport, as long as it leaves Pakistan with them.

Choose the red channel if you carry anything dutiable

At the airport there are two exits. The green channel is for passengers with nothing to declare. The red channel is for anyone carrying goods above their allowance or restricted goods. Walking through green with dutiable goods risks prosecution, a penalty and confiscation.

1. Before landing, add up what you bought abroad that is not in your own use.
2. If it is more than your allowance, or you are unsure, go to the red channel.
3. Show the items and receipts to the customs officer and answer honestly.
4. Pay the duty and taxes that are assessed, and keep the receipt.
5. If you have nothing extra, use the green channel, but expect random bag scans.

Keep your receipts. A receipt shows value, and value decides whether you are inside the US$500. FBR's guide warns that false information, including false receipts, can lead to confiscation.

Taking a laptop out and bringing it back

If you fly out with an expensive laptop or camera, you can bring it back duty free as a re-import. FBR advises getting an export certificate or an endorsement on your passport when you leave, with a description of the item. Without it, duty-free re-import is not allowed.

Register your phone on DIRBS within 60 days of arrival

Customs may wave your phone through, but the phone network will not. A phone bought abroad must be registered on PTA's DIRBS system and its tax paid within 60 days of your arrival. After 60 days, you pay the duty and taxes plus a fine.

The rules are in FBR's Customs General Order 01 of 2019, as amended in 2024. DIRBS, the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System, has run since 1 December 2018 and blocks phones that are not compliant.

1. Open dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs, visit a mobile operator's franchise, or dial *8484# from a phone with a local SIM.
2. Enter your passport number, CNIC number and the phone's IMEI number.
3. The system gives you a PSID, which is a payment slip number.
4. Pay it by online banking, ATM, mobile banking or at a bank branch.
5. Once payment is confirmed, the phone is white-listed and works on any Pakistani SIM.

Before you pay, check the IMEI number so you know the phone is not already registered. The tax itself depends on the phone's value, and registering on a passport within the 60 days usually costs less than on a CNIC. The PTA tax on an iPhone 18 Pro shows how large that bill can be for a new flagship. FBR now allows PTA tax instalments in law, but DIRBS could not take them when we last checked.

The same rules cover a tablet or laptop with a SIM slot, because the order applies to any device "with SIM/IMEI functionality". A laptop without a SIM never needs DIRBS.

Short visits by overseas Pakistanis

Overseas Pakistanis and foreigners on short visits can use a temporary registration for one handset. The phone is paired with a SIM issued in their own name and checked against FIA arrival records. After 120 days the IMEI is blacklisted, and a new visit needs a new application.

Phone tax may change, the 60-day rule does not

There has been talk of cutting PTA tax on mobile phones, but a proposal is not a notified rate. Pay what DIRBS shows on the day. Waiting for a cut can push you past 60 days, and the fine then outweighs any saving.

The laptop rules are older and have not moved as often. Bring one laptop in your own use, keep receipts for anything new, and use the red channel when in doubt.

Common questions

Is there customs duty on a laptop brought to Pakistan?

No, if it is a laptop in your own use. FBR's guide lists it as a personal use item, duty free on every entry. A second, new laptop counts against the US$500 allowance.

How many mobile phones can I bring to Pakistan?

FBR's guides set no fixed number. Each phone you want to use on a Pakistani SIM must be registered on DIRBS with its own duty and taxes paid, and a batch of phones for sale counts as commercial quantity.

What happens if I do not register my phone within 60 days?

You can still register it, but you pay the duty and taxes plus a prescribed fine. Until then the phone will not work on Pakistani networks.

Can I bring a new camera from abroad duty free?

Yes, one still camera and one video camera, on your first visit in a calendar year, if you stayed abroad 8 days or more.

Do I need to declare an iPad at the airport?

A tablet you already use is personal use in practice. A new boxed tablet falls in the US$500 allowance. If that allowance is used up, declare it at the red channel.

Does a laptop need PTA registration?

Only if it has a SIM slot and IMEI number. An ordinary laptop without a SIM does not go through DIRBS.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 28 September 2026. The personal use list, the allowances for stays of 7 days or less and 8 days or more, the US$500 and camera allowances, the separate allowance for spouses, the 60-day rule for unaccompanied baggage, the 30% commercial quantity fine, the green and red channel rules, re-import and the allowance for foreign nationals are read in FBR's duty free allowance page and the Baggage Rules brochure it links, Brochure 014 of January 2008, which says the law prevails over it. We could not find a newer consolidated version on FBR's website. The 60-day DIRBS registration, *8484#, the PSID payment, the fine after 60 days, the SIM and IMEI scope and the 120-day temporary registration are read in Customs General Order 01 of 2019 as amended by CGO 01 of 2024, linked from FBR's Mobile Devices Regularization page, which also gives the DIRBS start date of 1 December 2018. We did not register a phone ourselves.