Before you start

Legal residence in Pakistan
An International Driving Permit for the first months, alongside your national licence
A learner permit before a full Punjab licence
A vehicle with a cooling system you have actually had checked before summer

Step-by-step

1
Try the Metrobus corridor before committing to a car
The line runs the length of the northern city, calling at BZU and past the main hospital and commercial areas, mostly on elevated structure. If your home and work are both near it, a car becomes an occasional expense rather than a daily one. Fares are flat and small, though Punjab has revised mass-transit fares more than once — check the current figure at a station rather than assuming.
Mobile appWho: YouMonth 1
2
Drive on an International Driving Permit while you decide
An IDP issued in your home country alongside your national licence is the accepted document for driving in Pakistan as a visitor. It is a bridge rather than a destination — it does not convert into a Pakistani licence.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival
3
Apply for the learner permit on DLIMS
Punjab's DLIMS 2.0 sits inside the Dastak one-window platform: create an account, submit the application, generate a PSID payment token, pay through ePay, track the application on a dashboard and print the learner licence. Learner, regular and international licence services all run through the same app.
OnlineWho: You
4
Confirm what identity document a foreign national may use
DLIMS is designed around the CNIC. A POC or NICOP holder is fine; a foreign national on a work visa should ask the district licensing branch what the in-person route is rather than assuming the online process applies. This is a systems assumption rather than a legal bar, but it will stop you at the first screen.
In personWho: You
5
Prepare the vehicle for the heat before May, not during it
Multan runs above 45°C for weeks. Have the cooling system, battery, tyres and air conditioning checked before the season, keep water in the car, and never leave anyone or any animal in a parked vehicle even briefly. Breakdowns in June on the M-5 with no shade are the specific local risk, and mobile coverage between towns is not guaranteed.
In personWho: YouBy April
6
Learn the two motorways — they are the reason Multan is where it is
The M-4 runs north to Faisalabad and on toward Lahore and Islamabad; the M-5 runs south to Sukkur and toward Karachi. They meet here, which makes almost every intercity journey a motorway journey and puts the whole country within a day's drive. Winter smog closes them, so check advisories from November.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

National licence from your home country
International Driving Permit, for the visitor period
Passport with valid visa, or CNIC/NICOP/POC
Proof of a Multan address
Medical certificate, for some categories

Things most newcomers don’t know

Multan has the only segregated transit corridor between Lahore and Karachi, and it is genuinely usable.

The Metrobus covers about 18.5 km and 21 stations on a dedicated corridor from Bahauddin Zakariya University to Chowk Kumaharan, most of the stations elevated, run by the Punjab Masstransit Authority. Faisalabad, half again as large, had no public transport at all until an electric bus service started in September 2025, and those buses share the road with everyone else. For a foreign resident that changes the housing calculation: an address on the northern corridor lets you live here without driving daily, which in a city with these summers is worth more than the rent difference.

Source: Punjab Masstransit Authority

Heat is the driving hazard here, and it is a different category of risk from Lahore's traffic.

Multan sits in one of the hottest inhabited belts in South Asia and runs above 45°C for extended periods. A cooling-system failure on the M-5 in June, with no shade and patchy mobile coverage, is a genuine emergency rather than a delay. Local practice — water in the car, pre-season servicing, never travelling in the middle of the day if it can be avoided, and never leaving anyone in a parked vehicle — exists for good reasons and is worth adopting on arrival rather than after the first bad afternoon.

Source: community-reported

Punjab's licensing moved inside the Dastak platform, and most published guidance predates it.

DLIMS 2.0 is now an integrated component of the Government of Punjab's Dastak one-window platform, running form submission, verification, ePay payment against a generated PSID token and card tracking in one flow, with learner, regular and international licence services in the same app. Older walkthroughs describe a standalone site and a different payment route. Start from the current portal rather than a blog post.

Source: Punjab DLIMS

Licensing is provincial, and a Punjab licence stays Punjab's.

Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal capital run four separate systems with four portals. The licence is valid for driving nationwide, but renewals and records follow the issuing province. Moving from Multan to Peshawar means keeping the licence and changing the administrative relationship, which surprises people who assume a national register.

Source: Provincial licensing authorities

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a car before testing whether the Metrobus corridor covers your actual commute.
Starting a DLIMS application as a foreign national and stalling at the CNIC field.
Following a walkthrough written before DLIMS moved into the Dastak platform.
Driving the M-5 in June without a serviced cooling system and water in the car.
Planning winter intercity drives without checking smog advisories.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.