How overseas Pakistanis buy property with a Roshan Digital Account

01What an RDA gives you

The Roshan Digital Account is a State Bank backed account that a non-resident Pakistani or a Pakistan-origin person can open remotely with a participating bank. It gives you a clean, documented channel to send money into Pakistan and buy property, invest, or hold savings, all fully repatriable within the account rules. The key benefit for buyers is a traceable money trail, which matters for both tax and future resale.

02Open the account remotely

• Pick a participating bank. Most large Pakistani banks offer RDA.
• Apply online with your CNIC or NICOP, a proof of Pakistan origin, and proof of overseas residence or work.
• Choose account currency. You can typically hold PKR and foreign currency versions.
• Verification usually takes a few working days. No branch visit is required.

03Fund it through banking channels only

The entire point is that the money arrives as a formal remittance. Send funds from your overseas account into the RDA. Avoid hundi or informal transfers, they break the paper trail and can create tax and legal questions later. When you later sell, a clean inward-remittance record supports repatriation of the proceeds.

04Decide how you will hold the property

You are abroad, so someone acts on the ground. Two common routes:

• A registered power of attorney to a trusted family member, attested by the Pakistani mission in your country and then verified in Pakistan. Keep the powers narrow and specific to the transaction.
• Buying in a project that supports remote booking and digital transfer, common with larger developers.

A power of attorney is powerful and easy to misuse. Limit it to the specific plot or unit, set an expiry, and revoke it once the transaction closes.

05Watch the tax status angle

Overseas Pakistanis on the Active Taxpayer List generally pay the lower filer rates on property tax. Some banks and FBR facilitation allow non-resident buyers to be treated at filer rates on purchase through the RDA route even without a full local tax history. Advance tax under section 236K applies on purchase, indicative filer rate around 3 percent of notified value on lower slabs, higher above. Confirm your filer status and the exact rate before you transfer, verify current.

06Typical price ranges to plan around

For budgeting from abroad, a 2-bed apartment in a good city project runs roughly PKR 1.5 to 4 crore, a 10-marla house in a settled society roughly PKR 3 to 8 crore, and a 1-kanal DHA plot roughly PKR 4 to 12 crore. These are indicative asking ranges and vary by city and phase.

07Where people get stuck

• Attestation delays on the power of attorney. Start this early, it is the slowest step.
• Sending money outside the RDA, then struggling to prove the source later.
• Trusting a distant relative with a broad, open-ended attorney. Keep it tight.
• Assuming filer status is automatic. Check the Active Taxpayer List before you pay.