The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has officially launched a fully online degree attestation system, effective from May 1, 2026, marking a significant step in the digitisation of one of the country’s most heavily utilised public services. Under the new system, applicants will no longer need to visit HEC offices in person. Instead, they can submit requests for degree verification and attestation through an online portal. Officials said the initiative has been launched to make the process faster, more transparent, and more convenient for students and graduates across Pakistan. The digital platform will help reduce long queues, repeated office visits, and administrative delays that were previously common in the manual system.
Under the new system, applicants can complete the entire attestation process remotely, reducing the need for multiple visits and long waiting times. Officials say the initiative will save time for applicants, lower travel and processing costs, improve accessibility nationwide, and shift the process from physical to digital. Previously, individuals were required to appear physically at HEC offices for degree attestation. With thousands of applications processed each year, the manual system often led to delays and inconvenience. The burden fell particularly heavily on applicants living outside Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta, the five cities where HEC maintains regional centres, effectively disadvantaging graduates in smaller cities and rural areas who had to travel significant distances simply to submit documents.
The May 1 online portal launch is a precursor to a broader and more technologically advanced system currently under development. HEC is set to introduce a blockchain-powered digital degree attestation system by June 30, 2026, through a platform that will allow online applications and tracking, and will initially link HEC with 25 universities and the Foreign Office’s Attestation Directorate. As part of the implementation, HEC has signed an agreement with CMPak and its joint venture partner Wibbow Technologies to develop the platform. For students and graduates, the change means no in-person visits, faster processing, and easier sharing of verified credentials, especially for those living outside major cities or applying from abroad. The blockchain component will add tamper-proof verification to degree records, addressing longstanding concerns about credential fraud and making it easier for international employers and academic institutions to authenticate Pakistani qualifications without relying on manual correspondence with HEC. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis require degree attestation for employment, immigration, and overseas study applications, making the shift to a reliable digital system one of the most practically impactful public sector digitisation steps undertaken in recent years.
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