Voting Rights for Overseas Pakistanis – Valid NICOP is mandatory
Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was signed by the President of Pakistan and become a Law. As per law, Pakistani residing abroad or Foreign Citizens of Pakistan origin having valid National Identity Card for overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) are eligible to vote in the upcoming election.
Due to the current political situation in Pakistan, there is a possibility of an earlier election anytime soon. To take a part in the election and vote to support a favorite political party, it is mandatory to have a valid NICOP.
As per current policy, all Pakistani residing abroad or Foreign Nationals of Pakistan Origin and their foreign-born children are eligible to apply for NICOP. Pakistan has a dual nationality agreement with 32 countries.
Reference to some reports, in up to 186 out of the 272 constituencies in the National Assembly, Overseas votes will play a vital role and potentially change the output, if votes are cast in large numbers, it has great political significance.
As per 2018 election data, in almost 50 seat margin of victory is less than 5000 votes. Around 90 sets had less than 10,000 margins. As per NADRA data around 186 constituencies out of 272 of the National Assembly, overseas votes are more the margin of victory, and Election Commission of Pakistan data shows 169 out of 272 constituencies.
As per some calculations from 2018 election data, PTI can get additional 12 seats with 19,356 votes and 21 seats with 76,036 votes which will give PTI a simple majority of 137 seats out of 272 seats in 2018.
On the other side, PML-N and PPP could add additional 5 seats NA-140, NA-239, NA-114, NA-60, NA-131 combine with additional 2,493 votes and eligible overseas votes in these constituencies adds up to 170,476.
In addition to voting rights, NICOP will offer significant benefits to the Overseas Pakistanis and their family members born or residing abroad.
NICOP holders having foreign spouses (married to foreign women) are eligible to apply for Pakistan Origin Card for their spouse. POC allows holders visa-free entry to Pakistan, swift entry and exit process while visiting Pakistan, indefinite stay in Pakistan, eligibility to work, open account, sell and purchase properties, register mobile sim, etc.
NICOP holders are also eligible to apply for NICOP for their foreign-born children ensuring that the motherland remains tightly integrated and they will have all rights as Pakistan-born citizens like visa-free entry, indefinite stay, eligibility to work, open account, buy and sell property, operate a business, etc.
Many Pakistan nationals move to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland and other countries before NADRA launched the Computerized National Identity Card known as CNIC. They can apply to get the CNIC using their Manual NIC and Passport.
It is important to know that for Pakistani residing abroad it is mandatory to have a valid CNIC/NICOP to renew their Pakistan Passport. NICOP is also mandatory to open a Roshan Digital Account that offers upto 7% markup on US$ account and offers many other benefits including Car and Home Financing on special subsidies rates.
At DocumentationNow.com, we help Pakistan Nationals or Foreign citizens of Pakistan origin to get the Computerized National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis. If you have any issues with documents or missing documents, we can help you to get the NICOP, POC for Foreign Spouses, renew Pakistan Passport, Family Registration Certificate, etc.
We are facilitating the complete process and you will get you documents directly from NADRA at your doorstep. We have experienced team to guide you at any point of time to avoid any kind of delay or rejection.
NICOP APPLICATION / RENEWAL PROCESS STEP BY STEP
Feel free to Call/WAP +1-346-374-6434 or email us on info@documentationnow.com
We used some static data from an article published on https://www.dawn.com/news/1677343
