The government having appointed two district collectors in order to arbitrate on the dual citizenship issue without any terms of reference or guidelines has cast a long shadow of uncertainty on those who have processed Portuguese nationality. On the one hand, such an exercise earlier did not attract even a single person who was ready to divulge his or her processing of Portuguese nationality. Thus this time also, we have to wait and watch if any one falls into this trap which might have far ranging consequences for others.
The entire Portuguese nationality processing encompasses four stages and even dead either parent of a son or daughter can be registered in Portugal. The four stages are: Assento de Nascimento (Birth Registration), Assento de Casamento (Marriage Registration), Bilhete de Identidade or Cartao de Cidadao and the final stage Portuguese passport. A conservative estimate means that at least one lakh people in Goa have registered their Births (Assento de Nascimento).
However as per the present standard procedure, those having obtained the Assento de Nascimento, Assento de Casamento and the Bilhete de Identidade or Cartao de Cidadao, continue to be Indian citizens and have the right to keep their Indian passports. Only those who have obtained the Portuguese passport have surrendered their Indian Passports and therefore have sworn an affidavit, while applying for visa/permit to travel abroad in the Foreigner’s Registration Office stating that they are Portuguese nationals and have deleted their names from the ration cards and electoral rolls and thus have relinquished Indian nationality. Thus only Portuguese passport holders as of now do not have Indian passports. In the standard procedure, those having the Bilhete de Identidade or the Cartao de Cidadao are per se still Indian nationals and can vote in India and have Indian passports too.
It is to be noted that a Billhete de Identidade or Cartao de Cidadao allows the possessor to travel to the 28 European Union countries freely without having to obtain separate visas in each of the EU countries. Now it is a known fact that many Goans who were born before liberation that is before 19th December, 1961 merely applied for the Assento de Nascimento (either parent), Assento de Casamento, some of them but not all the Bilhete de Identidade or Cartao de Cidadao so as to make way for their progeny to apply for Portuguese passport and thus they are not active Portuguese nationality holders but only facilitators.
In such cases it would be recommended that these passive Assento de Nascimento holders be made to swear an affidavit that they have no intention of seeking Portuguese nationality and thus be given Indian citizenship. The Cartao holders should be made to swear an affidavit that they will not renew the Cartao de Cidadao and thus be allowed to revert to Indian citizenship by expiry of the Bilhete or the Cartao. This logic will become only applicable if Portuguese nationality holders decide to subject themselves to scrutiny since Portuguese Conservatoria dos Registos Centrais are not bound to disclose their names.
