Protector of Emigrants registration and e-Protector: fees, offices and steps

Before you leave Pakistan for a job abroad, your employment has to be registered with the Protector of Emigrants. It is often called "getting protector". It is part of the legal way to work abroad, and it gives you life insurance and membership of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation. This guide explains the two ways to register, the documents, the fees and the offices.

Who needs to register

Anyone going abroad for employment must have their foreign service agreement (the job contract) registered with the Protector of Emigrants before leaving. Through an OEP or the OEC, you appear at a Protector office; with e-Protector, direct-employment applicants can apply online without visiting first. This applies to the Saudi, UAE and Qatar work visas and to other jobs abroad.

Leaving to work outside these rules is an offence. It can mean up to 5 years in prison and, since a March 2025 amendment, a fine of up to Rs 1 million.

Two ways to register

1. Through a licensed Overseas Employment Promoter (OEP) or the Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC). The OEP or OEC handles the registration with you. Check the OEP's licence first.
2. Direct employment. If you found the job yourself or through family or friends, you register it yourself. Since January 2024 you can apply online through e-Protector.

Documents

Through an OEP: the BE&OE permission number for the job, your passport and CNIC, the State Life insurance certificate, fee slips, the bank certificate for the OEP's service charge, and the foreign service agreement.

Direct employment: your work visa, passport and CNIC, the contract (or the undertaking BE&OE accepts instead), fee receipts, the State Life insurance certificate, and a no objection certificate if you are ex-military, a government servant or a nurse. Some countries also need a police character certificate or a medical certificate.

Fees

The BE&OE fee table sets these amounts in Pakistani rupees:

Through a licensed OEP: Rs 22,200 in total

• OEP service charge: Rs 15,000. You pay it into a bank, not in cash to the agent. The bank releases it to the OEP only after the Protector confirms that you joined the job, and it is refunded if the job falls through.
• Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) welfare fund: Rs 4,000.
• State Life insurance: Rs 2,500.
• Registration fee: Rs 500.
• OEC fee: Rs 200.

Direct employment: Rs 9,200 in total

• OPF welfare fund: Rs 4,000.
• State Life insurance: Rs 2,500.
• Registration fee: Rs 2,500.
• OEC fee: Rs 200.

BE&OE's fee table does not set different amounts by country, including for Saudi Arabia. The insurance premium covers your life for Rs 1,000,000 for 5 years, and the welfare fund makes you a member of the OPF. Besides its service charge, an OEP may only recover the actual cost of items such as your ticket, medical and visa, against a receipt.

e-Protector for direct employment, step by step

1. Fill in the online form on the BE&OE website (e-Protector online registration (opens in a new tab)): your job and employer, the contract period, your Protector office, CNIC and passport details, education, a photo, and a nominee for the State Life insurance.
2. Upload your work visa, passport (first two pages), CNIC (both sides), contract and undertaking, each up to 1 MB. A police character certificate is required for the UAE and Qatar, and a medical certificate for Qatar.
3. Pay the fees at the National Bank of Pakistan against the voucher, and enter the voucher number and date in the form.
4. Follow your application's progress on BE&OE's "Search Registration Request" page with your CNIC and the Registration Tracking ID you were given.

At the Protector office

Your documents are checked, and you attend an orientation in the Briefing Hall, where a briefing officer explains your health, your legal rights and what to expect. You are given a registration number, a Protector sticker or stamp goes on your passport, and the Protector signs it.

Protector of Emigrants offices

BE&OE lists these offices. Go to the one that covers the district on your CNIC, and check the address with BE&OE before you travel there.

• Rawalpindi: Meridian Mall, 1st floor, Main Murree Road, near the Rehmanabad Metro Bus stop. +92 51 9290439. Also covers Islamabad and Azad Kashmir.
• Islamabad (sub-office): Emigration Tower, 7th floor (Hall A), Plot 10, G-8/1.
• Lahore: 117-G Block, Model Town. +92 42 99333859.
• Karachi: 14-J, Block 6, PECHS, near KFC, Nursery. +92 21 34531941.
• Peshawar: Canal Road, Sikandar Town, opposite Gulbahar Police Station, GT Road. +92 91 9225480.
• Multan: House 338, Naqash Band Colony, Chowk Rasheedabad. +92 61 9330438.
• Sialkot: 1st floor, Kuwaiti Tower, Airport Road, Godhpur. +92 52 9330200.
• Quetta: Bungalow D-12, Railway Housing Society, Joint Road.
• Malakand: 2nd floor, Gul City Center, Totakan Road, Batkhela. +92 932 411483.
• D.G. Khan: House 5-C, Khyaban-e-Sawar, Multan Road.
• Sukkur: Bungalow 200, Block B, Dua Road, near IBA University.

Keep copies of your contract, your Protector registration and every receipt at home and on your phone before you fly.