Kaif was born in Hong Kong to an Indian Kashmiri father,Mohammed Kaif, and an English mother, Suzanne Turquotte, both of whom are British citizens. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Kaif stated once, "my dad, unfortunately, and not out of choice, has had no influence on our upbringing, on our religious or social or moral bearings." Kaif has seven siblings. From Hong Kong, she and her family moved to China, then to Japan. Then from Japan (by boat) to France when she was 8, and also moved to Switzerland, Kraków, Berlin, Belgium, and many other East European countries where she and her family were there for a few months each.Then they moved to Hawaii, and eventually later moved to her mother's home country, England. It is widely speculated that Kaif is from London, when in fact, she only lived there for three years before finally moving to Mumbai.