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Published: Sept 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD, September 19, 2026: A three-member inquiry committee has been constituted to examine alleged irregularities in the Foreign Office’s apostille and document-attestation system, including the role of courier services, following media reports of a Rs12 billion illegal collection network.
The development came two days after the Foreign Office rejected reports of a Rs12 billion attestation inquiry as unverified and baseless, saying it had no information or record of the reported investigation.
The new inquiry brings the reported collection allegations into an existing audit trail at the Foreign Office. The Auditor General of Pakistan’s 2024-25 audit records Rs63.421 billion irregularities in the Foreign Office financial submissions.
اپوسٹیل اور دستاویزات کی تصدیق کے نظام سے متعلق میڈیا رپورٹ کا نوٹس لیتے ہوئے وزارت خارجہ کے دستاویزات کی تصدیقی نظام کی تحقیقات کیلئے تین رکنی انکوائری کمیٹی قائم کر دی*
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) September 18, 2026
کمیٹی کے کنوینر سیکریٹری پٹرولیم حامد یعقوب شیخ ہیں جبکہ سیکریٹری قانون راجہ نعیم اکبر اور سپیشل سیکریٹری… pic.twitter.com/Y6MuSfWun6
The audit record also contains findings directly linked to consular and document-attestation services. These include Rs336.614 million in collections that auditors found unauthorized and Rs181.190 million in irregular cash collections and deposits involving consular services, including attestation.
The Burden Behind Document Attestation
The allegations have emerged around a public service that has long carried an administrative burden for applicants. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), in its research on degree attestation, described bureaucratic hurdles, paperwork, queues, repeated payments and travel costs faced by applicants. Its broader research on administrative “sludge” identifies complicated applications, duplicative paperwork, waiting, and attestations or verifications among the burdens citizens can face when dealing with public institutions.
PIDE has also argued in its work on deregulation that paper-based requirements and official permissions can make government processes time-consuming and open venues for bribes.
Parliamentary committees were also raising concerns over the attestation process before the current allegation surfaced.
In December 2025, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee raised concerns over thousands of students queuing outside the Foreign Office for document attestation, while senators alleged billions of rupees in corruption. The committee decided to examine the issue jointly with the Senate committees on Interior and Overseas Pakistanis.
In January 2026, the committee was told that the Foreign Office received thousands of documents daily and had generated approximately Rs2 billion from apostille attestation during the previous year. The committee directed that the entire attestation process be digitized and human intervention minimized to prevent malpractice.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Government Assurances separately described the degree-attestation system as cumbersome and financially burdensome in February 2026. HEC told the committee that a blockchain-based system was being developed, initially linking HEC with 25 universities and the Foreign Office’s Attestation Directorate.
What The Audit Found
The audit record moves the issue from the general burden of obtaining documents to specific questions about how consular money was authorized, collected, recorded and deposited.
One audit paragraph concerns Rs336.614 million in unauthorized collection of consular fees at five Pakistani missions — The Hague, Birmingham, Lisbon, Paris and London.
The auditors said the missions collected fees for services including document attestation, powers of attorney, and registration of marriage and birth certificates without the relevant notifications establishing the applicable rates with Finance Division concurrence.
The audit said management failed to produce rules authorizing collection of fees for the different consular services and concluded that the collections were neither authorized nor authenticated. The matter was reported to management in January 2025, but the report said no response had been received and no DAC meeting had been convened by the time it was finalized.
A second audit paragraph concerns Rs181.190 million in irregular collection and deposit of receipts in cash at the Embassy of Pakistan in Paris during 2023-24.
The money included passport fees and consular services including attestation. The auditors found that cash was collected instead of using non-cash modes, prescribed receipts were not issued, a cash book was not maintained and the money was deposited after a delay.
The AGP recommended a fact-finding inquiry to determine responsibility for the unauthorized cash collection, delayed deposit, failure to issue prescribed receipts and failure to maintain the cash book.
What “Held Under Observation” Means
The Rs63.421 billion covers a much wider range of audit cases than document attestation. The AGP says its audit identified cases involving financial indiscipline, poor internal controls and violations of prescribed rules and regulations. It selected serious cases for inclusion in the report, with Rs63.421 billion held under observation across its two volumes.
“Held under observation” means the transactions or cases remained subject to the audit process because auditors had raised objections or identified matters requiring departmental response and consideration through the prescribed mechanism. Such objections remain open until the department provides the relevant record or documentation required for their settlement through the prescribed process.
The report separately records MOFA-specific audit observations amounting to Rs3.545 billion, including categories covering fraud, embezzlement and misappropriation, human resources, procurement and management of commercial bank accounts.
The AGP also reported Rs3.869 billion in recoveries identified by audit, of which Rs6.037 million had been recovered and verified by the time the report was finalized.
The Attestation System Goes Digital
The audit findings come as the Foreign Office says it has been rapidly digitizing document attestation. The ministry says 17,000 to 18,000 documents are processed daily at its headquarters and four camp offices. It has introduced online procedures, QR codes, digital powers of attorney, courier arrangements and electronic payment facilities.
The Senate was told in January that the Foreign Office generated approximately Rs2 billion from apostille attestation during the previous year. The ministry later said document-related services generated Rs3.4 billion over the preceding two years.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is a public guidance portal online for registration and payment for apostille applications, while ordinary attestation operates under separate requirements involving prescribed revenue stamps.
The Audit Trail Reaches Parliament
The Public Accounts Committee’s official record shows that its Sept. 7, 2026 meeting was scheduled specifically for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The agenda covered the Appropriation Accounts for 2023-24, the Audit Report for 2024-25 and any special, performance, forensic or other audit reports for that year. The PAC notice also required a maximum of 25 highlighted audit paragraphs in order of the highest amount involved, together with audit paragraphs recommended for settlement by the Departmental Accounts Committee.
The scheduled meeting, however, was cancelled after the Foreign Secretary, the ministry’s principal accounting officer, did not attend.
The newly constituted inquiry committee has been given two weeks to submit its findings and recommendations. Under its terms of reference, it will examine alleged misuse or irregularities in the apostille and document-attestation system, the role of courier services and possible involvement of Foreign Office officials, while having access to relevant records and material held by the ministry.
