PTA temporary registration for overseas Pakistanis: use your phone tax-free for 120 days per visit

Overseas Pakistanis coming home can now use the PTA temporary registration service to keep a foreign phone working on Pakistani networks for up to 120 days per visit, without paying the FBR taxes that normally apply to an imported handset. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced the facility on Thursday, 29 October, as ARY News reported, and it runs through PTA's automated Temporary Mobile Registration System on the DIRBS portal.

For anyone flying in for a wedding, Eid or a winter holiday, this is the difference between a phone that stops working on a Jazz, Zong, Telenor or Ufone SIM after the grace period and one that works for the whole stay.

Who can use it

• Overseas Pakistanis holding a CNIC or NICOP, with a passport.
• Foreign nationals visiting Pakistan, with a passport.

The exemption is from FBR taxes for the length of the temporary registration only, under FBR's applicable policy. If you want to keep using the phone in Pakistan after you settle here, you will need a permanent registration and the tax that goes with it. Our PTA mobile tax calculator shows what that would cost for your model.

How to register, step by step

1. Open the DIRBS registration portal at dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs and sign up.
2. Choose "Temporary Registration for Overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Nationals".
3. Enter your CNIC or NICOP and your passport details. Foreign nationals enter passport details only.
4. Verify the account by email or SMS, then log in.
5. Enter the phone's IMEI number or numbers (dial *#06# to see them) and say whether it is a single or dual SIM phone.
6. Give a Pakistani mobile number registered in your own name.
7. Pick your mobile network, submit, and confirm with the one-time password (OTP).

PTA says the device is registered once verification succeeds.

What to keep in mind

• 120 days per visit. The clock is tied to each trip to Pakistan, so plan a long stay around it.
• A local SIM in your name. The Pakistani number you give must be registered against your own CNIC. If you are not sure which SIMs are on your CNIC, our guide on how to check SIMs registered on your CNIC explains the 668 SMS check.
• Dual SIM phones have two IMEIs. Enter both, or the second slot may be blocked.
• Use only the official portal. PTA registration is done on dirbs.pta.gov.pk; agents and social media pages offering "tax-free unlock" are not part of this scheme.

Why it matters

Pakistan blocks handsets whose IMEI is not registered with PTA, and the tax on a mid-range or flagship phone can run into tens of thousands of rupees. For the millions of Pakistanis working in the Gulf, the UK and elsewhere who come home for a few weeks or months, a free temporary registration removes the choice between paying that tax for a short trip and carrying a second phone.

If you are bringing a phone to sell or to give as a gift, the temporary route does not apply: that phone needs a full registration with the tax paid.