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Guide

My child was taken to Pakistan
and is being kept there

A child taken by one parent to Pakistan, or not brought back after a holiday, is one of the hardest situations a parent abroad can face. Two countries are involved and each has its own court. This page is about the Pakistani side: which court, what it can order, and what an advocate does at once.

Where this applies This page covers a child who is in Pakistan and a parent who is not. What the courts in the country you live in can do is a separate matter, and a parent usually needs an advocate there as well. The two advocates should talk to each other.

Stuffed toys on the floor of a child’s room in soft light
Photograph: cottonbro studio

What this is about

In Pakistan a case about a child belongs to the guardian court for the place where the child is. That court decides who has custody and who may see the child, and it can order a child produced before it. What it looks at is the welfare of the child, and it hears both parents. An order from a court abroad is not automatically an order in Pakistan, but it is a paper the Pakistani court will read.

Speed matters more here than in any other family matter. The longer a child has been in one place, the more the court will weigh that. An advocate in the right city, with a power of attorney and the papers, can file within days.

What has to be in place

What has to be clear at once.

  1. Where in Pakistan the child is, as exactly as possible, because that decides the court.

  2. What papers exist: the marriage, the child’s birth, any order from a court abroad.

  3. What you are asking for: the child returned, custody, or the right to see the child.

Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.

The documents you will be asked for

The papers an advocate needs first.

  • The child’s birth certificate and passport details.
  • The nikah nama, and the divorce papers if the marriage has ended.
  • Any order from a court abroad, attested.
  • Your identity document and a power of attorney for the advocate.

How an advocate helps from where you are

What an advocate does.

  • Files in the guardian court for the place where the child is, and asks for the child to be produced.
  • Puts the child’s welfare to the court in the way the court expects to hear it.
  • Asks for orders that stop the child being moved again while the case runs.
  • Works with your advocate abroad, so that the two cases do not contradict each other.

What to ask before you agree

  • Can you file this week, and what do you need from me tonight?
  • Can the court order the child produced, and stop the child being moved again?
  • Will you work with my advocate where I live?
  • What do you need from me, and by when?
  • What is your fee, and what is not included in it?

More in After the divorce, and the children

Next in this group I have been told to get a paper, but not from where Two names come up when a Pakistani divorce has to count somewhere else: the union council and NADRA. They hold different things. Read this next

Also relevant

All of After the divorce, and the children on one page

Words you will meet

guardian court
The court in Pakistan that decides custody and visits.
custody
Who the child lives with, decided by the court on the child’s welfare.
production
An order that a child be brought before the court.

Sources

Official pages read on 11 September 2026. The page says only what these say, and what an advocate does; nothing specific to your case.

Checked

11 September 2026

Pakistan. Sources listed at the end of the page.

Find an advocate who handles this

The register shows who acts on a power of attorney, who has filed from abroad, and in which city.