OPF Financial Aid: Rs 400,000 for an Overseas Worker's Death, Apply Within One Year

If an overseas Pakistani worker dies or is permanently disabled while working abroad, the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) pays the family a one-time grant. It is Rs 400,000 after a death and Rs 300,000 for a permanent disability. The family must apply within one year, at the OPF head office in Islamabad or a regional office.

We read OPF's financial aid page, its questions page and its contact page on 2 October 2026. OPF financial aid is not automatic. The family has to collect a form in person, attest a stack of papers and submit them in time.

OPF pays Rs 400,000 after a death and Rs 300,000 for disability

OPF's financial aid scheme started in 1980-81. It gives a one-time, non-refundable grant to the families of overseas Pakistanis who die or are permanently disabled while working abroad. The amounts today are Rs 400,000 for a death and Rs 300,000 for a disability.

It is paid first come, first served, and only as funds allow. OPF's page says so plainly. A complete file sent early is the best thing a family can do.

The money is separate from the Rs 25,000 funeral grant, which has a much shorter deadline. It is also separate from any salary, gratuity or death compensation owed by the employer abroad. A family can pursue all three.

The worker must have been an OPF member, and a Protector stamp counts

The deceased or disabled worker must be a registered OPF member. A worker who went abroad through the Protector of Emigrants and paid the welfare fund counts. The stamped passport page or the State Life insurance certificate is accepted as proof.

OPF accepts three kinds of proof of membership:

• An OPF membership card, voluntary or compulsory.
• The passport page with the stamp and signature of the Protector of Emigrants.
• A State Life Insurance certificate attested by the Protector, with its registration number, date and stamp.

So most workers who left on a proper work visa through the Protector of Emigrants are already covered. A worker on a visit visa who found a job later usually is not, unless they joined OPF voluntarily.

OPF also covers a worker who completed protection and paid the welfare fund but died in Pakistan before leaving. And it covers a worker who died or was disabled within one year of returning home.

Apply within one year or the claim is refused

The deadline is one year. For a death or disability abroad, the year starts on the date of the event. For one in Pakistan after return, it starts on the date the worker came back. OPF refuses claims after that.

Some family members cannot claim at all. OPF's list of people who are not eligible is short and strict:

• A widow who has remarried by the time of payment.
• Adult children, over 18.
• Brothers and sisters of the deceased.
• Dependants who are financially sound.
• Anyone with partial or invisible disability, in a disability claim.

If husband and wife were both members, the family gets the aid only once. Tampered papers and a photocopied application form are also grounds for refusal.

Collect the form in person, then attest every paper

Take the deceased's original passports, the host country death certificate and both CNICs to an OPF office. OPF issues the form within an hour. Papers must be attested by a gazetted officer, union council secretary or lumberdar, and affidavits by an oath commissioner or notary.

1. Visit an OPF office with the original passports, the death certificate and the CNICs of the deceased and the applicant.
2. Collect the form. OPF says it is issued within one hour once the papers are seen.
3. Fill every column and attach a recent colour photo, attested.
4. Attach the papers listed below, all attested.
5. Submit at the right office and keep the receipt, which OPF says is issued within one hour.

The papers OPF asks for are:

• Proof of membership: card, Protector stamp page or State Life certificate.
• Copies of all the deceased's passports and their CNIC or NICOP.
• CNICs of the applicants, and B-forms for children under 18.
• An affidavit of the family's monthly income, signed by two witnesses.
• An affidavit from the widow that she has not remarried and stating the number of widows.
• For an unmarried worker, an affidavit from the parents on marital status.
• The death certificate from the host country, or from the union council.
• For disability: a government specialist's certificate and two postcard size photos.

A succession certificate is needed in death cases to name the legal heirs. In Punjab, families can get an affidavit attested by an oath commissioner or a notary.

Submit at the head office or one of six regional offices

Families in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal submit at the OPF head office in Sector G-5/2, Islamabad. Everyone else uses the regional office in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan or Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.

After submission, OPF says a spot check, if needed, takes up to 30 working days. Computerising the case takes another 10 working days. Cheques are then handed out on a schedule set by OPF.

One rule catches families out. If a widow applies and then does not contact OPF for six months to collect the cheque, OPF can cancel it and give the money to another applicant. Keep your phone number current with the office.

Claim the Rs 25,000 funeral grant separately

The funeral grant has its own form and a one month deadline after burial in Pakistan. It needs the air waybill for the body, the host country death certificate and proof of membership. The Rs 400,000 aid does not replace it.

If the body has not yet come home, the free OPF ambulance and the papers airlines need are covered in bringing a body home to Pakistan. Unpaid salary and the employer's death compensation are a separate claim through OPF's dues section, set out in recovering unpaid dues from abroad.

Common questions

How much does OPF pay when an overseas worker dies?

Rs 400,000 as a one-time grant, plus a Rs 25,000 funeral grant if the body was buried in Pakistan and the claim is made within a month.

What is the deadline for OPF financial aid?

One year from the death or disability abroad, or from the date of return if it happened in Pakistan.

Is a Protector stamp enough to prove OPF membership?

Yes. OPF accepts the passport page with the Protector of Emigrants' stamp and signature as proof of membership.

Can a brother or adult son claim the aid?

No. OPF lists brothers, sisters and children over 18 as not eligible.

Can I download the application form?

No. OPF issues the form at its offices after seeing the original papers, and it refuses photocopied forms.

How we verified this

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

Last checked on 2 October 2026. Amounts, eligibility, papers, attestation rules and timelines are from OPF's financial aid page and its questions page. Office phone numbers are from OPF's contact page. OPF does not publish when the amounts were last raised, and we did not call any office.