How to Renew an Expired Pakistani Driving Licence From Abroad as an Overseas Pakistani

Short answer: An overseas Pakistani can renew an expired Pakistani driving licence without flying home if it expired no more than three years ago. Punjab and Islamabad licences are renewed online, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa licence goes through a Pakistani consulate, and the new card is collected by a nominee in Pakistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published these steps on its own site.

We read two pages on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on 12 October 2026 and the Punjab DLIMS home page on the same day. The longer notice is a press release dated 30 April 2024 from the Consulate General of Pakistan in Montreal. It is two years old, so check each portal before you act. We did not renew a licence ourselves.

Who can use this renewal route

The notice is for overseas Pakistanis who hold an expired licence whose expiry is not more than three years old. If your licence expired earlier than that, the notice gives no route, and you may need to take the full process again. Ask the licensing authority in your province.

Three issuing authorities are named: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and the Islamabad Capital Territory. A shorter Foreign Ministry page repeats Punjab and Islamabad and adds that people from other provinces should contact their own licensing authority. So Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir holders have no route on these pages.

The papers you need to prepare

The notice lists six items: a recent photograph, a scan of your CNIC, a scan of the expired licence, proof of your stay abroad, a medical fitness certificate and an authority letter for a nominee in Pakistan. Prepare them as clear scans before you open any portal.

The nominee matters most. The licence is dispatched to the overseas holder through a representative in Pakistan, not posted abroad. Pick a relative or friend you trust, and write the authority letter in your own name and theirs.

Proof of stay abroad is not defined on the page. A residence permit, a work contract or a stamped passport page are the kinds of paper people usually offer, but ask the consulate which one it accepts. Do not guess.

How to renew a Punjab licence from abroad

Punjab uses the DLIMS portal, which now runs through the Dastak platform. The DLIMS home page lists Renew and Duplicate tabs and describes the same chain for every request: create an account, fill the form, generate a PSID, pay, wait for approval and wait for dispatch.

1. Open dlims.punjab.gov.pk by typing the address yourself.
2. Create an account and log in.
3. Choose the Renew tab and fill in the form with your licence details.
4. Upload the photograph, CNIC scan, expired licence scan and medical certificate.
5. Generate the PSID, which is a payment number, and pay the government fee from your bank.
6. Wait for approval, then ask your nominee to collect the licence when it is dispatched.

The DLIMS page says fees are 500 rupees for each category, such as bike or car, but that line appears next to new applications. It does not give a renewal fee, so we do not state one. See our guide to renewing a driving licence online in Punjab for the fee table we last confirmed.

Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follow different steps

For an Islamabad licence, the notice points to the Islamabad Traffic Police online portal. Our guide to the Islamabad driving licence describes the portal and its fees. The portal address has changed over time, so use the link on the Islamabad Police site rather than a saved bookmark.

For a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa licence, the notice says to hand your documents to the consulate in person, and the consulate forwards them to the authorities in Pakistan. That notice came from the Montreal consulate. Other missions may handle it differently, so ask yours. Our guide to the KP driving licence covers the home side.

If you only want to drive abroad and not renew, you may need an international permit instead. Read our guide to the international driving permit.

What to do if the portal rejects you

The notice does not describe rejections. On any portal like this, a mismatched name or number, an unreadable scan or an expired CNIC are the usual causes. Fix the document first, then reapply. Do not pay a second PSID for the same request until the first one is closed.

If your CNIC or NICOP has expired, renew it before you upload a scan of it. Our guide to applying for NICOP online explains how overseas Pakistanis do it. Keep every receipt and the PSID number, because they are your proof if the nominee is turned away.

Common questions

Can I renew my licence from abroad if it expired five years ago?

The notice only covers licences that expired not more than three years ago. For older licences, ask the licensing authority in your province what you must do.

Will the licence be posted to my address abroad?

No. The notice says it is dispatched through a nominee in Pakistan. You must name that person in an authority letter.

Do I need to visit Pakistan for the driving test?

The notice does not mention a test. It describes a document based process, with online forms or papers handed to a consulate. Confirm with the licensing authority if you hold a licence from a province not named in the notice.

Is there a fee?

The notice says government fees apply, paid through a PSID online or through the nominee in Pakistan. It gives no amount, so ask the portal before you pay.

Does a Sindh licence qualify?

The notice does not name Sindh. The Foreign Ministry page says people from other provinces should contact the respective licensing authority.

Is this notice still current?

We cannot confirm that. The consulate press release is dated 30 April 2024, and we found no newer version. Check the portal or your consulate before you collect papers.

How we verified this

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

We read the Foreign Ministry pages on renewal of driving licences at mofa.gov.pk and the DLIMS home page at dlims.punjab.gov.pk on 12 October 2026. We could not read a renewal fee on any of them, and the consulate notice dates from April 2024. Portal addresses and rules can change.