Before you start

A job offer from a company registered in Pakistan, with its incorporation and tax documents
Board of Investment recommendation, where the employer is a registered foreign-investment enterprise
A passport valid well beyond the intended stay
Or, for anyone of Pakistani descent, documentary proof of that descent

Step-by-step

1
Test your POC and NICOP eligibility first
POC is for foreign nationals of Pakistani origin — former citizens, descendants, foreign spouses — and gives visa-free entry, indefinite stay, exemption from foreigners' registration, property and banking rights and eligibility for employment. NICOP is for people who are still Pakistani citizens. Either removes the visa problem entirely. Resolve this before an employer opens a file.
OnlineWho: YouBefore anything else
2
Have the employer lodge the work visa through NADRA's portal
The application runs through visa.nadra.gov.pk with the sponsor letter, incorporation certificate and tax registration. The entry visa is short — DGI&P publishes up to three months — and the real stay comes from what follows.
Via employerWho: Your employer6–10 weeks before travel
3
Keep the Form-C issued at arrival
The FIA's guidance is that you give details of your visit to the immigration officer on arrival and receive a copy of Form-C. Keep it filed. It underpins any subsequent registration step and is far easier to retain than to replace.
In personWho: YouOn arrival
4
Check whether your nationality has to register with the police
Under the Registration of Foreigners Rules 1966 the police registration and residential permit requirement applies to nationals of India and Somalia and to anyone immigration directs. Most nationalities are exempt. Confirm at the counter rather than assuming — the answer depends on your passport, not on the city.
In personWho: You
5
Start the extension two to three months before expiry
Extensions are lodged online but processed by DGI&P, and the security clearance sits here rather than only on the first grant. The Lahore Regional Passport Office is also empowered to grant a one-year extension on business visas against business documents, which is a useful and under-known local fact.
OnlineWho: You and your employerFrom 2–3 months before expiry
6
Check NOC requirements before any travel toward the frontier
A Ministry of Interior No Objection Certificate is still required for designated restricted and prohibited areas. From Lahore this mostly bites on travel north into Gilgit-Baltistan's high-altitude zones or west toward the Afghan frontier. It is a planning step, not an obstacle to ordinary life.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the Pakistani visa
Employer sponsor letter, incorporation certificate and tax registration
Form-C from arrival
For POC or NICOP: a parent's CNIC, a former Pakistani passport, or a family registration certificate
Board of Investment recommendation, where applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

The Regional Passport Office in Lahore can extend a business visa for a year — you do not have to go to Islamabad.

The Ministry of Interior's policy empowers Regional Passport Offices at Islamabad and the provincial capitals to grant a one-year extension on business visas against business documentation. For a consultant or founder based in Lahore this turns what people assume is a federal-capital errand into a local one. It is genuinely under-known, and it is one of the few pieces of Pakistani immigration administration that is decentralised in a useful way.

Source: Ministry of Interior

The POC is the answer for a large share of people moving to Lahore specifically.

Punjab is where most of the British, Canadian and Gulf Pakistani diaspora originates, which means the proportion of people arriving in Lahore with a Pakistani parent or grandparent is high. NADRA's stated POC rights — indefinite stay, exemption from police and foreigners' registration reporting, property purchase anywhere in Pakistan, bank accounts and eligibility for employment — make the work visa question moot. Employers routinely start visa files for people who did not need one.

Source: NADRA

NICOP and POC do different things and the difference turns on citizenship, not on where you live.

NICOP is issued to Pakistani citizens residing abroad and supports a Pakistani passport and voter registration. POC is issued to foreign nationals of Pakistani origin and does neither. If you renounced Pakistani citizenship to naturalise somewhere that forbids dual nationality, NICOP is closed and POC is the route back. Applying for the wrong one costs weeks and a non-refundable fee, and the two names are used interchangeably by people who should know better.

Source: NADRA

There is no ladder, which changes the logic of staying.

Pakistan has no points system, no qualifying residence period and nothing that converts into permanent residence. Ten years of renewed work visas leaves you where one year does. That removes the usual incentive to stay continuously or to tolerate a poor job to protect a clock — decisions here can be made on their merits rather than on immigration arithmetic, which is a genuine if unglamorous advantage.

Source: DGI&P

Common mistakes to avoid

Opening a work visa file when a POC application would have ended the problem.
Confusing NICOP and POC and applying for the one your citizenship status excludes.
Leaving the extension to the last fortnight when a security clearance sits on it.
Travelling to Islamabad for a business visa extension a Lahore Regional Passport Office could grant.
Assuming a foreigner registration duty that mostly does not apply — or assuming it never does.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.