Can Overseas Pakistani Wife File Divorce Case in Pakistan?
- Yes, an overseas Pakistani wife can file a divorce case in Pakistan. To file a case, either she needs to visit Pakistan and then hire a lawyer, or she can also hire a lawyer while being abroad.
- If she is not currently in Pakistan and she wants to file a case of Khula in Pakistan, As per the Pakistani law of khula she has to hire the services of a family lawyer through a Special Power of Attorney.
- Not only can an overseas Pakistani wife file a case of divorce in Pakistan, but a foreign woman who is married to a Pakistani male and whose marriage is registered in Pakistan can also file a case of Khula in Pakistan.
How Can an Overseas Wife Hire a Lawyer?
- An overseas wife who needs to file a case of divorce in Pakistan can find a family lawyer in Pakistan, discuss her family issue with him, and provide him with all the necessary details and documents.
- Once she pays the fees to the lawyer, the lawyer will send her a Special Power of Attorney, which she needs to get attested from the Pakistani embassy and send the original back to the lawyer.
- This Special Power of Attorney will be proof that the overseas female who wants to file the case has properly hired the legal services of a lawyer.
Representation in Absence
Once a lawyer is hired by a female living abroad through a Special Power of Attorney, this gives the right to the lawyer to represent the client in her absence in the Family Court.
- For legal representation before the court, the lawyer needs to be hired through a Special Power of Attorney attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate in the country where the female is residing.
Power of Attorney Attested by Pakistani Embassy
To file a case, the Special Power of Attorney is required to be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate in the country where the female is currently residing.
- Any document from abroad which is to be used in Pakistan needs to be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate. Without the attestation, this Power of Attorney will not be valid and the case cannot be filed.
Not only should this document be attested by the Pakistani embassy or consulate in the country where the female is residing, but once the original document is received by the family lawyer, he will also get this document attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan.
Only then can the lawyer legally represent her overseas client in the Pakistani court.
Authorities of the Lawyer
- The authority of the lawyer is derived from the Special Power of Attorney. The lawyer exercises only those rights which the client has explicitly written in the Special Power of Attorney.
The lawyer can also be given more rights than what is required by the Family Court to process the case. For example, the lawyer can also be given the right to obtain the divorce certificate after the Khula decree, and he can also be given the right to get the documents attested from the Pakistani embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Divorce Certificate from overseas wife
- The overseas female who has initiated the divorce case in Pakistan, once she receives the Khula decree from the Family Court, will still not be entitled to do the next marriage because the Khula decree is just a single divorce.
- After the Khula decree, she will have to wait for 90 days, which is also called the iddat period, and after the expiry of the iddat period, she will be issued the divorce certificate, which is the sole and final document as proof that she is now divorced.
Next Marriage
- The next marriage by an overseas wife cannot be done on the basis of the Khula decree. Even after the Khula decree, she will need the divorce certificate.
Once the divorce certificate in Pakistan is issued to the overseas wife, she can do her next marriage. She can also avail the services of court marriage in Pakistan if she is in Pakistan. If she is still residing abroad, she can avail the services of online Nikah in Pakistan.