PANAJI
A quiet reversal is unfolding across Goa’s long-established migration trail to Europe. For years, thousands of Goans renounced their Indian citizenship in favour of Portuguese nationality, drawn by the promise of easy movement across the European Union (EU) and especially the United Kingdom (UK).
That current has partially slowed and not because the aspiration has dimmed, but because the incentives in the UK that once fuelled it have eroded.
Since 2015, roughly 26,000 people in the State have surrendered their Indian passports. But the numbers have dipped sharply: in 2022, only 1,265 people gave up their Indian passport, a massive fall from 2,835 in 2021 and about 3,500 to 4,100 yearly surrenders between 2015 and 2019. The number however does not include those who surrendered their Indian citizenship before the Embassy.
Officials at the Regional Passport Office told The Goan that the total applications for surrender of Indian passports continue without the urgency once associated with it. “Around 10-12 applications a day are received from applicants to surrender Indian citizenship in favour of a Portuguese one,” the official said.
The decisive break, many observers say, came with Brexit. “Portuguese nationality, once a near-guaranteed gateway to the UK labour market, no longer carries the same weight after it exited the EU.
Consultant and catalyst facilitating Portuguese passport acquisition, Duarte Fernandes, said the pathway to full citizenship has lengthened and now it’s a four-year wait that was, until recently, less than a year.
“Regulations for acquiring full citizenship have become more stringent. It now takes at least four years, process that took less than a year till sometime back,” he said.
Travel industry professional Bruno Gomindes however, says that the delay in acquiring citizenship is not due to new restrictions but from slow document verification on the Indian government side.
“The Portuguese authorities routinely seek clarifications for each applicant and process these requests swiftly. However, they said the Indian authorities must respond to these verification requests promptly to ensure applications are completed on time. The major responsibility lies with the Indian government, which needs to expedite the Birth and Marriage verification,” Gomindes, also MD of Travco Holidays Pvt Ltd, added.
Meanwhile, the tougher paperwork, along with the reduced appeal of the UK, has also made fewer Goans interested in switching nationality.
“Those who wanted to relocate to the UK with Portuguese passports have done so in the past. Goa has fewer left who are interested... Plus tougher rules have made it difficult. Instead, Goans now prefer other EU English-speaking countries like Ireland, Holland and Germany,” Fernandes added.
Gomindes said that while the number of people seeking relocation has not fallen -- in fact, it has increased -- students now make up the majority of applicants.
“Whether driven by Brexit or tightened rules introduced by the UK government, the demand for Portuguese citizenship has not fallen. In fact, applications continue to rise, and, unlike earlier, when most applicants came from the working class, a growing number are now students seeking better academic opportunities,” he said, adding that Goan applicants are also looking at shifting to Ireland and other English-speaking countries under the EU through this Portuguese passport.
He further explained that for those relocating to the UK on dependent visas, the fee requirement applies only to spouses and their children, post-Brexit regulations effective from December 30, 2020. “The IHS + Visa fee put together is around Rs 6.5 lakh. The rule does not apply to dependent parents or siblings, as those relationships are recognised from before the cut-off date,” he said.
