Moving to Pakistan from Australia

Australian passport holders need an e-visa or eTA before a visit to Pakistan, but living there takes a residence permit. The self-funded residency routes we track start at an investment of about $50k, and our residency index rates Pakistan 55/100 for Australian citizens (possible, with conditions). We estimate €1,850 a month for a couple living centrally in Multan and €1,945 in Lahore. Pakistan is in our low to medium tax tier. Check the official requirements before you apply.

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Short stays
e-Visa / eTA
Australian passport
Residency
55/100
Possible, with conditions, our index
Tax tier
Low to medium
Moderate personal income tax
Est. cost for two
From €1,850/mo
Multan, our estimate

Living there long term

Our residency index: 55/100, possible, with conditions. It is our own rating of how realistic long-term residency in Pakistan is for Australian citizens, based on the routes Pakistan publishes. Long-term residency runs almost entirely through capital or relationships, namely the new investor-focused Long Term Residency scheme, the legacy investor/business visa, employment sponsorship, or marriage to a Pakistani citizen; there is no passive-income or skilled-points pathway.

The cheapest self-funded routes we track:

  • Investment: about $50k (Pakistan Foreigners (Long Term Residency) Order 2025 LTR scheme, minimum USD 50,000 invested through authorized banking channels within one year of approval (figure is USD-denominated at source); as of June 2026)

Check the official requirements before you apply: amounts, conditions and exchange rates change, and what a couple needs can differ from a single applicant's threshold.

For short visits, Australian passport holders need an e-visa or eTA before a visit, according to the passport-index dataset. Short-stay entry covers visits; living there takes a residence permit.

Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).

Where in Pakistan to start

Ranked by our match model for a typical couple who both hold Australian passports, using the preset answers of our best places to live list. Your own answers would change the order. We pick the cities, up to five, by how often English Wikipedia readers looked them up over the past year. Cities in regions of Pakistan under a US State Department "Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory (checked 13 October 2026) are left out.

  1. 1. Islamabad

    56% match
    Est. cost
    €1,882/mo
    Avg temp
    22°C
    Safety index
    45/100

  2. 2. Lahore

    53% match
    Est. cost
    €1,945/mo
    Avg temp
    24°C
    Safety index
    45/100

  3. 3. Faisalabad

    52% match
    Est. cost
    €1,880/mo
    Avg temp
    24°C
    Safety index
    45/100

  4. 4. Multan

    48% match
    Est. cost
    €1,850/mo
    Avg temp
    25°C
    Safety index
    45/100

  5. 5. Karachi

    46% match
    Est. cost
    €1,939/mo
    Avg temp
    26°C
    Safety index
    45/100

Cost of living for two

Our estimate for a couple living centrally runs from €1,850 a month in Multan to €1,945 in Lahore. For comparison, we estimate €4,094 a month in Melbourne. Use these figures to compare places rather than to set a budget.

Source: our cost model: a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026). An estimate, not a survey of current prices.

Taxes

Pakistan is in our low to medium tax tier (moderate personal income tax); Australia is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax). Tiers describe each country's own income tax. They do not cover tax you may still owe in Australia after you leave, or the treaty between the two countries, so check both with a tax adviser before you move.

Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.

Compare cities in Pakistan

Lists with cities in Pakistan

Moving to Pakistan from elsewhere

Every country and origin we cover

How we built this page

Every figure here comes from the datasets behind our city and country pages:

  • Short-stay entry: the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT license), which records the entry rule for short visits on each passport.
  • Residency index, routes and thresholds: the OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
  • City ranking: our match model, the one behind the quiz, run with a typical couple's preset answers and both partners holding Australian passports. It ranks up to five of the country's best-known cities: of the cities in our quiz (100,000 people or more, capitals and a few towns movers seek out, such as Faro), the five most read about on English Wikipedia over the past year. It folds suburbs into their main city and leaves out countries with a residency index under 40 and areas under a US State Department Level 4 advisory, as our best-cities lists do.
  • Costs: our cost model, a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026).
  • Tax tiers: three coarse bands we assign by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation.