Overseas Pakistanis who need identity documents on Monday will have to plan around the holiday, after the National Database and Registration Authority said its centres and counters abroad will keep the same hours as the Pakistani mission in each country on Iqbal Day.
The notice, shared by NADRA ahead of the public holiday on 9 November 2026, means there will be no single opening time for its overseas network. A registration centre in London will follow the hours of the Pakistan High Commission there, while one in Dubai will follow the consulate in the United Arab Emirates. Anyone planning a visit will need to check with their local mission first rather than assuming the usual schedule.
The announcement matters most for people who need a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis, known as a NICOP, or another NADRA document, and who were counting on Monday to get it done. NADRA’s helpline, 051-111786100, and its website, nadra.gov.pk, remain the first ports of call for anyone unsure.
Iqbal Day itself is one of the fixed dates on Pakistan’s calendar. It marks the birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the poet and philosopher born in Sialkot on 9 November 1877, whose writings shaped the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent. The federal government confirmed earlier this month that Monday 9 November will be a public holiday across the country, in a notification issued by the Cabinet Division. The Punjab government has declared a holiday in the province, schools in Sindh will stay shut, and the State Bank of Pakistan has said banks will remain closed for the day. For people whose offices keep Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, the holiday turns into three days off in a row, with work resuming on Tuesday 10 November. The holiday was withdrawn in November 2015 and restored in 2022, and this year marks the 149th anniversary of Iqbal’s birth.
For Pakistanis living abroad, the practical question is simpler: will the NADRA counter be open on Monday, and at what time? NADRA’s answer is that the counter follows the mission. That is a sensible arrangement, because the centres sit inside embassies and consulates and share their working day, but it puts the burden on the applicant to confirm. Embassy hours can differ from one country to another, and some missions close entirely for a Pakistani public holiday while others run reduced hours. A person who travels some distance to reach a centre would be wise to telephone ahead or check the mission’s own notice before setting out.
The network they would be visiting is larger than many people realise. NADRA runs ten full registration centres at Pakistani missions abroad, in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford in the United Kingdom, in Riyadh, Jeddah and Madina in Saudi Arabia, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and in Doha in Qatar. Alongside them, twenty-five counters at missions in countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Australia, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and Scotland help Pakistanis file applications for identity documents. Weekend mobile registration drives also run in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, aimed at people who cannot visit during working hours.
The services on offer cover the documents overseas Pakistanis need most. A registration centre can issue a new smart NICOP, renew or modify an existing one, print a duplicate, and issue a Family Registration Certificate. The NICOP is the card that identifies a Pakistani citizen living abroad, and it doubles as a travel document for entering Pakistan without a visa. The government approved a new format for the card in February 2026, a durable polycarbonate card carrying a secure QR code, and a fully digital identity card was introduced in September 2025, giving eligible holders a legally valid digital version through the Pak ID app.
For the millions of Pakistanis working and living outside the country, a valid NICOP is needed to open a bank account back home, to buy or sell property, and to travel without the cost and delay of a visa. Delays at renewal time have caused real difficulty in the past, and the question of expired cards has even been raised in the National Assembly. NADRA has responded by expanding its overseas footprint and pushing more of the process online, but the system still depends on a physical visit for fingerprints and a photograph.
Monday’s notice is a small piece of that larger picture, but it is the kind of detail that catches people out. A public holiday in Pakistan does not automatically close a mission in London or Toronto, and a mission that stays open may still run different hours. The safest course for an overseas Pakistani who needs a document this week is to check the mission’s hours for Monday, and if the visit can wait, to leave it until Tuesday, when the normal schedule returns. Those who cannot wait can start the process on the Pak ID app, where the holiday makes no difference at all.
