Studying in Pakistan

What a year costs

Tuition. There is no national fee for foreign students. Public universities charge foreign students under their own schedules, often in US dollars; Quaid-i-Azam University, for example, says foreign students pay "fee/dues approved from time to time", while refugees registered with NADRA and students on reserved foreign seats pay local rates. Ask the university for its current schedule in writing.

Living costs. No official monthly budget for students is published. Costs in Islamabad and Lahore are higher than in smaller university cities; university hostels are the cheapest option where foreign students are admitted to them.

The visa

1. Admission. Have your previous qualifications evaluated for equivalence (by the IBCC for school certificates and the HEC for degrees, as universities such as Quaid-i-Azam University explain), apply to the university, and receive an admission letter.

2. HEC NOC. The university's international office sends the HEC your admission letter, the Student Information Sheet and a copy of your passport. The HEC says it needs five working days from a complete application, and that it "will not entertain any NOC application submitted by the foreign students personally". The HEC then informs the Ministry of Interior.

3. Student visa. Apply online on the NADRA e-visa portal. According to the Embassy of Pakistan in Copenhagen, you upload your passport, a photo, the admission certificate or bona fide letter, the NOC (from the HEC or, depending on your programme, another ministry) and a sponsorship letter or bank statement. A student visa is issued for up to two years. The fee depends on your nationality and is shown when you apply.

Working while you study

The official student visa pages we checked list no right to work, and we found no published rule allowing part-time jobs. Plan to fund the whole course without earnings.

After you graduate

We found no post-study work visa. A student visa covers your course; to work afterwards you need a separate work visa sponsored by an employer, normally applied for from home.

Language

University teaching is mostly in English. Urdu is the national language and Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and others are widely spoken; Urdu helps a great deal in daily life.

When to apply

Each university sets its own intakes and deadlines. Leave time for qualification equivalence, the HEC NOC (at least five working days once the university submits) and the e-visa.

What to watch out for

Only your university can request the NOC. Anyone offering to "get your NOC" for a fee is not part of the official process.

Get equivalence first. Without IBCC or HEC equivalence your admission may not be confirmed.

Medical and dental admissions for foreign students have their own schemes and quotas; check the official announcement for your year.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change. Check the official source before you rely on any figure. No national tuition figure for foreign students, visa fee table or living-cost budget was published in a form we could verify.