State Bank of Pakistan rules for paying for treatment abroad, 2026
Reviewed by the Reserve Meds clinical operations team · Last reviewed 2026-05-17
What the SBP rules say
Payments abroad for medical treatment are made under the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign exchange rules, through an authorised dealer bank (a Pakistani bank licensed to deal in foreign exchange), not directly with SBP. Under SBP FE Circular No. 8 of 2015, authorised dealers may remit foreign exchange for a resident's treatment abroad up to the limit set in the circular, and the money is sent directly to the foreign hospital's account.
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These rules can change, so check the current instructions with your bank before you send money.
Who applies
Under the SBP circular, the application form is completed by the patient, a close relative, or a sponsor. Banks usually also ask for the patient's identity document (CNIC, or B-Form for a child) and proof of the relationship.
Documents
1. The SBP application form (Appendix V-68), which your bank provides and the patient, relative or sponsor completes.
2. A copy of the CNIC of the person sending the money (and the patient's identity document where it applies).
3. The foreign hospital's invoice or estimate.
4. Your own declaration of the amount of foreign exchange needed for the treatment.
5. The receiving bank details (SWIFT/BIC, account, name, address).
6. An explanation of the source of funds if the bank asks for it.
7. For amounts above the limit, extra documents that support the medical need.
The limit and approval above it
The SBP circular sets a limit for payments abroad for medical treatment. For a larger amount, the authorised dealer sends the case, with the reasons and supporting documents, to SBP's Foreign Exchange Operations Department for approval.
For a Reserve Meds case, the payment method and the payee are set out clearly in your written quote, which you receive before you commit. When a medicine is imported, payment can also be arranged through the registered importer; your quote explains this too.
Authorised dealers
Pakistani commercial banks with a foreign exchange licence are called authorised dealers. Most patients use the bank they already have an account with.
Timing
How long the bank takes depends on the bank and on how complete the documents are. We give you a written timeline estimate for your case before you commit.
It helps to start preparing the payment at the same time as the DRAP application, so the two run side by side rather than one after the other.
Frequently asked
Can the payment be made in several parts? This depends on your bank and the current SBP rules. Please check with your bank.
What if my bank is not familiar with this process? Reserve Meds provides an explanatory letter describing the named-patient import route, the DRAP permission status and Reserve Meds' role.
Is tax charged on this payment? Tax follows the current FBR and SBP instructions. Please check with your bank.
Reserve Meds is a digital health company. Medicines are supplied through a US-licensed pharmaceutical wholesale partner. We are not a pharmacy, not the prescriber, and not the manufacturer. Cash-pay. Export-only (US to overseas). Composite case examples. Not medical advice.
Reviewed by the Reserve Meds clinical operations team. Last reviewed: 2026-05-17.
Regulatory framework and the SBP medical remittance pathway in Pakistan, 2026
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) is the federal regulatory authority that governs medicine registration, manufacturing, and import in Pakistan. The official regulator portal is at www.dra.gov.pk; the locally registered medicines list is at www.dra.gov.pk/registered-drugs. The DRAP-administered One-Stop Industrial and Entrepreneur Services (OIES) portal handles the named-patient and personal-import application stream for reference-authority-approved medicines that are not yet held on the locally registered list at the time the case opens.
The qualifying conditions are stable across the recent regulatory cycle. The medicine must be approved by a recognised reference authority (US Food and Drug Administration or European Medicines Agency qualifies). No locally available alternative is clinically equivalent for the specific patient indication. The treating physician of record takes documented clinical responsibility. Chain of custody is preserved end to end from the source country (the US under Drug Supply Chain Security Act handling for Reserve Meds cases) through international transit to the named dispensing facility. The application is filed by the treating physician and the receiving institutional pharmacy through OIES; Reserve Meds provides the upstream sourcing, chain-of-custody documentation, and international shipping that the institutional pharmacy then attaches to its OIES file.
Tertiary centres and clinical coordination in Pakistan
Pakistan's tertiary centres carry the haematology, oncology, neurology, metabolic, infectious-disease, and rare-disease specialist staffing and the institutional pharmacy and import-license operations that the named-patient pathway requires. For high-complexity therapies that need specialised infusion infrastructure, baseline organ-function workup, or post-treatment monitoring, the case is routinely referred to one of these centres from the outset.
For oral, subcutaneous, and standard in-clinic infusion therapies that can be administered in Pakistan once imported, the tertiary centres dispense and monitor under their institutional pharmacy operations. Medicines are supplied through a US-licensed pharmaceutical wholesale partner under Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) chain-of-custody documentation, and Reserve Meds coordinates international shipment to the named dispensing facility and re-supply aligned to the dosing schedule. For therapies that require US-certified treatment center administration (some cell, gene, and complex biologics fall in this bucket), the practical access pathway shifts to patient travel; the Pakistan tertiary team continues to handle upstream referral package assembly and the long-term follow-up after the patient returns home.
Pakistan quotes and payer posture for SBP medical remittance, 2026
Reserve Meds issues a written, itemised custom quote once the treating physician's documentation is in. Medicine price: quote on request. You get a written quote for your case before you commit. Logistics, international shipment, chain-of-custody documentation, cold-chain handling where applicable, Reserve Meds coordination, and any patient and caregiver travel and accommodation are itemised separately on every quote.
Payer posture in Pakistan for the SBP medical remittance pathway is overwhelmingly cash-pay. The relevant federal scheme is Sehat Sahulat Program (provincial) and out-of-pocket spending dominates specialty cases; the portal is at sehat.gov.pk. Public coverage generally does not extend to non-locally-registered specialty named-patient cases. Private health insurance plans review case-by-case on a pre-authorisation basis when the documentation package is strong, but cash-pay should be assumed as the default at intake.
Access barriers in the SBP medical remittance pathway and how Reserve Meds clears them
The five barriers that most often delay a SBP medical remittance case in Pakistan are: (1) Regulatory documentation completeness. The DRAP OIES named-patient application package requires a specific bundle (physician clinical rationale letter, prescription with full strength and quantity, patient identifier, chain-of-custody plan, evidence of reference-authority approval, and confirmation that no locally available alternative is clinically equivalent). Reserve Meds provides physician-facing templates aligned to the format the reviewers expect. (2) US-side sourcing and DSCSA chain-of-custody. We coordinate with US-licensed pharmaceutical wholesale partners under the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act, logging every transfer point through to international shipment.
(3) Clinical eligibility documentation. The treating consultant at the prescribing tertiary centre defines eligibility against the FDA labelled indication and the relevant clinical-practice guideline; Reserve Meds does not adjudicate the clinical decision. (4) Family logistics. Patient and caregiver travel where applicable, accommodation near the treatment center where applicable, in-country transport, translator support where needed, and post-treatment data flow back to the treating Pakistan physician are coordinated as a single arc rather than as fragmented vendor handoffs. (5) Funding and remittance mechanics. Cash-pay is the default.
The Reserve Meds operating posture across the five barriers is the same in every Pakistan case: we resolve the operational, regulatory, sourcing, and logistics work; the treating physician of record holds the clinical authority; the family holds the funding and the final go/no-go.
Recent regulatory and access news for the SBP medical remittance pathway in Pakistan, 2026
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) portal at www.dra.gov.pk and the locally registered medicines list at www.dra.gov.pk/registered-drugs are the authoritative source for the current Pakistan listing status of any specific medicine; the snapshot date governs. The FDA Drug Safety Communications feed at fda.gov drug-safety-communications and the FDA Drug Shortages list at accessdata.fda.gov drugshortages are the authoritative sources for any active safety advisory or supply-side shortage signal over the most recent 12-month window. The State Bank of Pakistan medical-remittance framework guidance at sbp.org.pk epd governs outward remittance for treatment abroad. Reserve Meds refreshes this snapshot per case at intake; the snapshot date governs.