A memorandum dated November 30, 2022, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has led to the revocation of passport of more than 100 people from Goa in the past few months. These individuals, who were seemingly unaware of the memorandum, have been accused of suppressing material information as they went to surrender their passport after acquiring Portuguese citizenship.
As a result, these individuals have not been able to apply for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) — an immigration status authorising a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and work in India for an indefinite period. The issue has caused anxiety among Goans whose passports have been revoked, and some are compelled to apply for visas to stay in their ‘land of origin’.
Earlier in April, two of the affected people filed petitions in the High Court of Bombay at Goa. Both of them have denied suppressing material information and said they had renewed their Indian passports after transcribing their births in Portugal — a prerequisite to apply for the Portuguese Citizenship card and the Portuguese passport.
Advertisem*nt
According to Portuguese law, Portugal offers those born in Goa before December 19, 1961 – the day Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule – and two future generations the option of registering as Portuguese citizens.
Since a Portuguese passport provides the holder visa-free entry to several countries, including the UK and the EU, many in Goa in the last few decades have been transcribing their births in the Central Registry in Lisbon and acquiring Portuguese citizenship to avail employment and educational opportunities available overseas.
Here is a look at the issue.
But first, what does the 2022 memorandum say?
The memorandum is in connection to the “surrender of Indian passport on account of acquisition of foreign nationality by an erstwhile Indian citizen”.
It essentially divides the cases of issuing passport surrender certificates into various categories.
Advertisem*nt
One such category has led to the revocation of passports of some Goans under section 10 (3) (b) of the Passport Act of 1967. It states: “A person who gets Indian passports issued/reissued by suppressing material information about his/her having obtained foreign nationality irrespective of the fact that the passport holder has used it for travel or not.”
So, what is the issue?
One of the petitioners, a 56-year-old born in Goa’s Vasco Da Gama, transcribed his birth in Lisbon in January 2022 and obtained the Portuguese Citizenship card in November 2023. He was holding an Indian passport issued in 2010, which expired in 2020.
When he sought to obtain a Portuguese passport from the Portuguese consulate at Goa, he was informed by the consulate that he is a person of Indian origin and hence needs to produce a copy of a valid Indian passport to be issued a Portuguese passport to him.
The petitioner claimed that he renewed his Indian passport “for this sole reason” and he was issued an Indian passport in May 2023. The petitioner subsequently obtained his Portuguese passport from the Portuguese Consulate in October 2023.
Advertisem*nt
A month later, when he sought to surrender his Indian passport and applied for a surrender certificate so he could get an OCI, he received a letter from the passport office, which said that he acquired an Indian passport after acquiring Portuguese citizenship in January 2022.
The letter cited the memorandum and asked the petitioner to explain the circ*mstances under which he “suppressed material information” on his passport application, about having acquired foreign nationality and obtaining an Indian passport. Without the surrender certificate, the petitioner now cannot apply for an OCI card and has moved the court for relief. And therein lies the problem for a majority of Goans.
Also in Explained | Goa Liberation Day: Why India waited for 14 years after independence to move troops to Goa
Before the ‘office memorandum’ of MEA, the passport issuing authorities were imposing a penalty when someone surrendered their Indian passport and issued the surrender certificate. This pecuniary penalty list has become null and void after a 2020 judgment of the High Court of Kerala, which held that the passport authorities do not have the power to impose penalties for violation of provisions under the Passports Act, but can only launch a prosecution.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kennedy Afonso, convener, of Goans for Goa — a group of people which has been raising the issue — said: “The reason for revoking the passport being given is that the individual suppressed material information… that he was already a citizen of Portugal at the time of renewing his Indian passport.”
Advertisem*nt
Just by transcribing their births in Portugal, people don’t become citizens of Portugal as it sometimes takes years to get the citizenship card, Afonso argued.
“If the OCI option did not exist, a majority of people in Goa would not apply for Portuguese citizenship. Our families are in Goa. The privileges under OCI allow Goans to conduct business in Goa and hold ancestral land and properties and also to have a cultural connection with their land of birth. Due to this impasse over revocation, Goans are being denied OCI,” Afonso said.
According to Portuguese law, Portugal recognises people who have voluntarily applied to register their birth in Portugal as having acquired Portuguese citizenship and the ‘Assento de Nascimento’ (registration of birth) is considered the first step towards acquiring Portuguese nationality and part of ‘integration’.
How many people have been affected?
In response to a question raised by South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha during the Lok Sabha session in February, the MEA said in the last three years, regional passport office (RPO) in Panaji received more than 2,000 applications for surrender of Indian passports, consequent upon acquisition of Portuguese nationality. Out of these, 114 passports have been revoked by the RPO.
Advertisem*nt
According to Afonso, lakhs of people in Goa have registered or transcribed their births in Portugal, but have not received Portugese citizenship.
In March, Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, however, said that more than 40,000 Goans have registered their births in Lisbon.
Also in Explained | What is Goa’s new beach shack policy, what concerns it raises
How has the state government responded?
The issue was raised by Goa BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavde in Parliament in December 2023, urging the MEA to reconsider the decision of revoking Indian passports based on registration of their births in Portugal.
Advertisem*nt
CM Sawant has also urged the Centre to grant amnesty to Goans to cancel their Portuguese identity cards, so they can retain their Indian citizenship.
“The sole intention of these people was to secure a chance of getting their children Portuguese passports and the benefits that come with it,” he said.
