Transfer of Residence to Pakistan (2026): Moving Back for Good With Your Household Goods and Car

After ten years in Riyadh, or twenty in Birmingham, many families decide it is time to go home. The flat is packed. The kids' school is sorted. Then come the customs questions. Can we bring the sofa? The fridge? The car?

Pakistan's answer is called Transfer of Residence, or TR. It gives people who are moving back for good a bigger allowance than a normal visitor. But there are really two TR systems, with different tests. One is for your household goods. The other is for your car. This guide takes them one at a time.

Do you qualify? Household goods vs car

One trap stands out. A wife or grown-up child who did not work abroad can still be part of the family move for household goods. But Appendix-E says non-earning family members are not eligible to import a vehicle. The car should be in the name of the person who earned abroad.

Short visits home during your time abroad

Most people flew home for Eid or a wedding during those years. Rule 13 deals with this. If your family has not used TR in the last two years:

• Short visits to Pakistan of up to two months in total may be condoned by an Assistant Collector of Customs.
• If the visits add up to more than two months, an Additional Collector may condone them, up to a total of four months, if you give good reasons.

Rule 13(2) also helps people forced to come back early, before 2 years were up. It names reasons such as privilege leave, the needs of the job, an early recall by the employer, ill health or a death in the family. If you have not used any concession under the Baggage Rules in the last two years, the same two-month and four-month limits apply to the short stay.

Both are the officer's choice ("may"). They are not automatic. Bring proof: your passport stamps, a letter from your employer, or medical papers.

What you can bring duty-free under TR

Rule 4A gives TR passengers everything a normal first-visit passenger gets (Rules 3A and 3B), plus:

• Old and used household goods your family used abroad: furniture, fixtures, crockery, cutlery, kitchen utensils, rugs, carpets, household linen, bedding and blankets.
• Professional tools and equipment up to US$5,000 in value. A normal visitor gets only US$500.
• Used medical equipment, if you are a doctor registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and it was in your use. You need an inspection certificate from an internationally recognised agency in the exporting country saying it is free from bacteria and harmful material.
• A non-prohibited bore weapon, but only for members of the armed forces, customs, police or another law enforcement agency. For everyone else, Rule 16 bans arms and ammunition as baggage.

The word that matters is "used". Rule 4A talks about goods "generally used by a family during stay abroad". New items still in boxes are a different story. And anything in "commercial quantity", meaning goods for trade, loses every allowance (Rule 15(a)).

The seven big appliances: 50% of the duty

Normal visitors pay full duty and taxes on these seven items (Rule 3B(viii)). Under TR you can bring one of each on payment of 50% of the total duty and taxes notified for the Baggage Rules (Rule 4A(iii)):

We do not quote rupee amounts. We could not confirm which notified duty figures Customs uses for these items today (see the last section). Ask your clearing agent for a figure on the day.

Husband and wife moving together

Rule 8 says that when a husband and wife are travelling together, their TR allowances under Rule 4A can be clubbed together or counted separately, whichever suits them. Rule 8 mentions only Rule 4A.

The deadlines that catch people out

1. Ship from where you lived. Living in Qatar but shipping from Dubai? Rule 15(b) says the allowances are lost.
2. Book it within 15 days of landing. This matters if the goods arrive late. An Assistant Collector may condone a late arrival of up to 60 days, but only if the goods were booked abroad within 15 days of your arrival (Rule 13(3)).
3. Arrive within 60 days. Goods that do not reach Pakistan within 60 days of your arrival get no allowances (Rule 15(c)), unless the late arrival is condoned.
4. Duty-free shop within 60 days. TR passengers can buy up to US$1,000 in total at a Pakistani duty-free shop within 60 days of arrival, not counting the seven appliances (Rule 4B). See our duty-free shop guide.

How the cargo itself is booked, declared and cleared is covered step by step in our unaccompanied baggage guide.

Bringing your car under Transfer of Residence

A car is not baggage. Section 2(bbb) of the Customs Act says baggage does not include motor vehicles. So the household allowances above do not cover it. Since S.R.O. 61(I)/2026 (15 January 2026) removed the Personal Baggage scheme, TR and Gift are the only two routes left. Here are the TR conditions in Appendix-E:

• 850 days abroad in the past three years (was 700 before 2026).
• 850-day gap. You cannot have imported, gifted or received a vehicle in the "last three years", which Appendix-E defines as 850 days from the filing of the Goods Declaration for the last import.
• Age. Cars no more than 3 years old. Other vehicles (bus, van, truck, pick-up, 4x4) no more than 5 years; the 5-year limit does not apply to used bullet-proof vehicles. Age runs from 1 January of the year after manufacture to the shipment date on the bill of lading.
• Same country. The vehicle must come from the country where you live abroad. This condition applies to TR only, not Gift.
• Duty from foreign exchange. Duty and taxes must be paid out of foreign exchange, backed by a bank encashment certificate. The money must come from your own account abroad, into your account in Pakistan (or your family's, if yours does not exist or is not working). A shortfall caused by a falling rupee or a duty rise after the money arrives may be paid locally.
• No selling for one year from the date of import.
• Standards. The safety and environmental standards notified by the Ministry of Industries and Production or the Engineering Development Board for commercial used-car imports also apply.

Example (made-up): a car made in 2023 starts counting on 1 January 2024. If it is shipped on 15 November 2026, it is under 3 years old and inside the limit. If the ship leaves in February 2027, it is over 3 years old and cannot come in under TR.

Example (made-up): you lived in Abu Dhabi for the whole three years before moving, apart from two months of visits home. That is roughly 1,030 days abroad, well over 850. Someone who spent most of the last year back in Pakistan may fall short.

Papers for a TR car

The Goods Declaration is filed under section 79 of the Customs Act with (clause 4(3)):

• The purchase receipt.
• An attested copy of your passport or Pakistan Origin Card. Customs may ask to see the original at clearance.
• The bill of lading, dated not later than 120 days from your arrival.

Keep the bank encashment certificate and proof of your days abroad with these.

Other vehicles under TR

• Motorcycle or scooter: allowed on TR, but then you have no entitlement to import a vehicle as well. The same conditions apply (clause 3(7)).
• Tractors and farm machines: agricultural tractors, bulldozers, laser land levellers and combine harvesters are allowed under TR on the same conditions as vehicles (clause 3(8)).

TR car or Gift car?

The Gift route is explained in full in our car gift scheme guide. For what changed in January 2026, see Personal Baggage car scheme abolished.

What TR does not cover

• Mobile phones. There is no duty-free phone allowance. It was removed in 2019. Read bringing a phone to Pakistan.
• FERC credit on a car. The FERC duty credit (Rule 5) can be used on unaccompanied baggage and duty-free shops, but never on vehicles.
• Banned goods. Arms and ammunition (except as above), obscene items, goods that break intellectual property rights (fakes), alcoholic drinks and other goods banned under customs law cannot come as baggage (Rule 16). See the prohibited items list.
• Cash and gold. Never pack them in cargo boxes. Carry and declare them. See cash limits and gold rules.

A simple moving plan

1. Three months before: count your days abroad and list your short visits home. Find the date of any earlier car import.
2. Before you sell up: decide if the car is worth it. Check its age against the likely shipping date, and get a duty estimate from a licensed customs agent.
3. Keep your foreign bank account open until the car duty is paid, because the money must come from your own account abroad.
4. Make a packing list with values, and make and model for electronics. Mark the seven appliances.
5. Book the cargo from your country of residence, within 15 days of landing at the latest.
6. At the airport: use the red channel if you carry anything to declare. Our arrival guide explains it.
7. After arrival: track the cargo. It should land within 60 days. Use your US$1,000 duty-free shop allowance within 60 days too.
8. Sort your money: if you have a Roshan Digital Account, read what happens when you move back for good.

Special cases

• Foreign nationals. Rule 2(d) says TR also covers a foreign national coming to Pakistan for at least two years. But Rule 4 is written for Pakistani nationals, and Rule 6 lists separate allowances for foreigners.
• Death abroad. Personal and household goods imported by the next of kin of a Pakistani national who died abroad are exempt from all customs duty and taxes (Rule 9). A vehicle imported under TR by an overseas Pakistani is released to the legal heirs if he or she dies (Appendix-E clause 3(9)).
• Car brought in wrongly. Appendix-E clause 6 may allow re-export. FBR may also allow re-export if you cannot pay the duty, as long as no rule was broken at import. Stolen cars, tampered chassis or forged papers mean confiscation and no re-export.

What we could not confirm

• The 50% appliance amount. Rule 4A(iii) says 50% of the duty and taxes "notified for these rules". S.R.O. 682(I)/2006 set fixed baggage duty amounts in 2006. We could not confirm whether Customs still uses those figures or current tariff rates.
• How the 2 years are counted. The rules do not say whether short visits break the 2 years, or which proof Customs wants. Rule 13 condonation is at the officer's choice.
• First visit of the year. Rule 18 says all duty-free allowances apply only on the first visit in a year. We could not confirm how this is applied if you already visited Pakistan earlier in the year you move back.
• The 120-day bill of lading rule. The clause text is cut short in the official consolidated copy. It is not clear how it applies to a car shipped well before you fly.
• Car duty, standards and "car vs other vehicle". We do not quote duty. We did not find the current MOIP/EDB standards notice. Whether a given SUV counts as a car (3 years) or another vehicle (5 years) is for Customs to decide.
• "Past three years" and "non-earning". Appendix-E does not say which date the three years count back from, or how Customs checks that someone earned abroad.
• Later changes. We read the Import Policy Order as consolidated up to S.R.O. 704(I)/2026. News reports on the later S.R.O.s 1085 and 1207 of 2026 mention no vehicle changes, but we did not read them in full. Our Import Policy Order copy is hosted by CustomsPK, not the ministry; the 2026 car changes match the gazette text of S.R.O. 61(I)/2026. FBR's own copy of the Baggage Rules does not show later amendments, so we also used an amended consolidated copy.

Related: Pakistan baggage rules 2026 · Car import 2026: Gift and Transfer of Residence · Unaccompanied baggage · Car gift scheme