PANAJI
With no access to birth registration records maintained in Portugal, election officials in Goa are relying solely on passports to verify whether voters hold Portuguese nationality.
Chief Electoral Officer, Goa, Sanjay Goel confirmed, stating the arrangement is “as of now.”
“At present, we rely on passports to determine a person’s foreign nationality. In cases involving Portuguese nationality, we do not have access to birth registration records, so the passport remains the only basis for verification," he told The Goan.
The Passport Office has stated that Portuguese nationality is determined by registration of birth.
State authorities have already acknowledged that neither the Goa government nor the Ministry of External Affairs has access to Portuguese civil records, including Bilhete de Identidade or Assento de Nascimento which record birth registration in Portugal.
As a result, officials said the current system depends largely on voluntary disclosure by individuals who may have acquired foreign nationality. “We currently have no mechanism to identify foreign or Portuguese nationality unless an individual voluntarily declares it. The situation is as of now... The rest depends on self-declaration," Goel said.
He added that penal action including imprisonment and/or fine would follow in cases where individuals conceal their foreign nationality or submit false information.
Asked whether a more robust verification mechanism could be introduced in the future, Goel said the matter would require legal examination. “Nothing can be said now because we have to take legal opinion ... at what stage it is needed, which institute or organisation would be involved to ensure and share data collection...” he said.
As per the data received by the election office, about 30,000 people in Goa have surrendered their Indian passports since 2014 after acquiring Portuguese nationality. All such cases are being verified as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
The CEO Office, Goa had already set January 15 as the deadline for Goans who have acquired Portuguese or any other foreign nationality to apply for deletion of their names from the draft electoral rolls. The notice, issued under the SIR of Electoral Rolls 2026, asked affected individuals to submit Form 7 by the deadline including claims and objections.
Election officials have said the exercise is to ensure a transparent and error-free electoral roll ahead of the revision process.
