How to Get a Succession Certificate from NADRA

NADRA now issues succession certificates without a court case. That is the good news, and it is genuinely a change worth knowing about.

But there is a distinction that costs people months, and almost nobody states it plainly. A succession certificate does not cover land or a house.

Two documents, and asking for the wrong one wastes months

Both come from NADRA, mandated under Section 3 of the respective Succession Laws. But they are different documents for different kinds of estate.

So if what you are inheriting is a plot in your father's name, a succession certificate is not the thing to apply for. If it is the balance in his bank account, it is. Many estates need both.

Work out which you need before you start, because the fee and the fourteen day publication period apply to each.

Four conditions that rule people out

Check these first. Each one stops the application dead, and two of them surprise people.

1. The deceased and every legal heir must be Pakistani citizens.
2. The assets must be located within Pakistan.
3. One legal heir must attend in person at a designated site in Pakistan.
4. In Sindh and Balochistan, the application runs through legal counsel. That is NADRA's own wording, and it applies in those two provinces only.

That fourth point is the one nobody mentions. If the estate is in Karachi or Quetta, this is not a walk-in errand in the way it is elsewhere.

NADRA also validates who the legal heirs are against the Family Registration Certificate, so the FRC record needs to be correct before anything else works. If a family member is missing from it, fix that first.

What it costs

NADRA publishes the fee, so we can give it to you. Read from their page on 16 August 2026.

Processing is stated as 14 days after publication.

Notice that this is a flat tier and not a percentage. On a large estate Rs 20,000 is trivial. On an estate just over the threshold it is a significant share of what is being inherited, and on a small estate the Rs 10,000 charge can be a tenth of the whole thing.

That is not a criticism of the pricing, it is a planning point. If the movable estate is modest, work out whether the certificate costs more than the access it unlocks.

What you will need

The core documents are the death certificate of the deceased and a list of legal heirs with copies of their CNICs.

In practice you will also be establishing the relationships, which is what the Family Registration Certificate does, and identifying the assets themselves.

If the death certificate is the missing piece, that is its own process and it comes first, covered in applying for a death certificate. If a CNIC needs correcting or renewing before it can be used, tracking a NADRA application covers the wait.

Be careful what you declare

NADRA states this directly and we are going to repeat it rather than soften it.

It is the applicant's sole responsibility to provide correct data, and false or forged information may lead to legal proceedings under Section 30 of the NADRA Ordinance 2000.

That matters in a specific situation that comes up constantly in Pakistani inheritance: leaving an heir off the list. Sisters and daughters are the usual omission. Doing that is not a paperwork shortcut, it is a false declaration to a federal authority, and the record is permanent.

This route is also for undisputed estates. If the heirs disagree about who is entitled to what, NADRA is not the venue and a court is.

If you are overseas

Here we have to flag something rather than resolve it.

We tried the succession portal directly and got a clear message: this service is not available outside Pakistan. The site is geo-restricted, which matters more here than on most services, because inheritance so often involves family abroad.

NADRA's own page also says one legal heir must attend in person at a designated site in Pakistan.

Against that, sector reporting describes overseas heirs completing biometric verification through the Pak-ID mobile app or at a Pakistani consulate, without flying home. We could not confirm that on NADRA's own material.

So treat the in-person requirement as the verified position and the overseas route as reported. Confirm with NADRA or the consulate before booking a flight, because that is an expensive thing to get wrong in either direction.

Questions readers are asking

Does a succession certificate cover a house or land?

No. It covers movable assets. Immovable property needs a Letter of Administration, which NADRA also issues.

How much does it cost?

Rs 10,000 where assets are under Rs 100,000, and Rs 20,000 at or above that, rising to Rs 22,000 in Sindh. A duplicate or amended application is Rs 5,000, and a declined application after processing costs Rs 15,000. Read from NADRA's fee schedule on 18 August 2026.

How long does it take?

NADRA states 14 days after publication. Allow longer overall for gathering documents and for the FRC to be correct.

Do I need a lawyer?

In Sindh and Balochistan the application is made through legal counsel. Elsewhere one legal heir attends in person.

Can I apply from abroad?

The online portal is not available outside Pakistan, and NADRA requires an heir to attend in person. Reports describe consulate and app based biometrics, which we could not verify. Confirm before travelling.

What if the heirs disagree?

This route is for undisputed estates. A disputed inheritance goes to court.

What happens if an heir is left off the list?

NADRA warns that false or forged information may lead to legal proceedings under Section 30 of the NADRA Ordinance 2000.