Goa CM Pramod Sawant on Wednesday presented the state’s first Citizenship Amendment Act certificate to Joseph Francis A Pereira, who was in Pakistan. He is the first Goan to receive the citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing an accelerated pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived in India by 2014.
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Joseph Francis A Pereira, hails from Cansaulim, South Goa and he and his parents were born in Goa. Joseph is married to Martha Pereira who is also a Goan.
Joseph went to Pakistan and stayed in Karachi to do his higher studies. He was asked to become a Pakistani Citizen. Thereafter he returned and settled in Goa but had a Pakistani citizenship. He applied to the government under the CAA and became an Indian Citizen on Wednesday, August 28, 2024.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed happiness that Joseph had become an Indian Citizen under the CAA and called on all such persons to apply under the CAA and claim their Indian Citizenship.
