What is the advantage of this card?
Can it be used instead of getting a visa for Pakistan?
Why don't you just get a Pakistani Identity Card so you don't have to go through the whole trouble of getting a visa? Actually, is this NICOP the same thing?
NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) issues 3 types of cards:
- If you are Pakistani national with a permanent address in Pakistan (has to be applied from within Pakistan):
Computerized National Identity Card
Basically just the normal “shanakhti card”, which now has to be computerized.
- If your are Pakistani national and want to apply for your ID card from abroad:
National Identity Card for overseas Pakistani (NICOP)
Among other cards, NADRA Ordinance envisages issuance of cards to Pakistani workers/emigrants and citizens /resident abroad and Pakistanis holding dual nationality who have got themselves registered under the NADRA Ordinance. This card is known as the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP). On account of its utility, it is an identification document usable in place of NIC whenever required. However NICOP is more than just an identification document. Source
- If you are not Pakistani national, but have proof of your Pakistani origin:
Pakistan Origin Card (POC)
A person shall be an eligible foreigner of Pakistan origin or eligible for Pakistan Origin Card if he is a foreigner; and he had been a citizen of Pakistan at any time during his life.
Among other cards, NADRA Ordinance envisages issuance of cards to foreigners of Pakistani origin who have got themselves registered under the NADRA Ordinance. This card is called the Pakistan Origin Card. On account of its utility, it is an identification document usable in place of NIC whenever required. However POC is more than just an identification document. Source
The first two cards are for Pakistani nationals anyway, so obviously they don’t need a visa for Pakistan. The third one (POC) also allows you to travel to Pakistan without a visa.