I lived in Kuwait for eight years and left the country last year in July. My wife and daughter lived with me but when I returned to Pakistan in July 2014 my family came with me then my wife left for Kuwait with my daughter without informing me. I am a Pakistani and despite all my efforts my wife has not let me speak to my daughter since one year. My wife is a school teacher. My daughter is eight years old ...can you help me to bring my doll back for me. I am in Pakistan and as I have spent over six months out of Kuwait I can’t get back into the country.

Name withheld Answer: From your question we understand that you are still married ...but only separated for reasons best known to you. Having said that, neither the Kuwait laws nor that of Pakistan can keep you away from your daughter. There are many ways to get your child back to Pakistan but we would like to make it clear that we can only advice you, not help you get your child back.

First of all you must contact your embassy in Kuwait and ask them to pursue the matter. You have also not told us on whose sponsorship is your wife but from your letter we are sure that at least the child is on your sponsorship.

If the child is on your sponsorship, all you have to do is go to the Kuwait Interior Ministry website http://www.moi.gov.kw/portal/ven glish/ and ask the child’s residence be cancelled as your residence has already been cancelled. Once the residence is cancelled, the child will be deported back to Pakistan. (While we are bound to give you all your legal options, we would advise against taking such an extreme step as it could affect your child).

According to the law, the residence of all those who are on your sponsorship must be cancelled once yours is cancelled. Your wife can’t sponsor the child unless you are divorced. Even if you had been divorced, even then you can’t be stopped from talking to your daughter or meeting her. If all this doesn’t work out, you can ask someone to file a case in the Kuwait courts on your behalf and also file a similar case in a Pakistani court.

If you, however, are divorced or your wife has filed divorce proceedings please let us know your religion and if you are a Muslim whether you are a Sunni or a Shia. We need answers to these questions because custody rights, though common in most Muslim countries, vary according to the sect of a person.