TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goans planning to acquire or renew an existing passport can now do so with the knowledge that the backlog of a year ago is long gone and it is possible to receive the document in twenty four hours if the person has a clear police record or is a minor. This was revealed by the passport officer Agnelo Fernandes during the course of an interaction with the Herald.
Agnelo said the problem faced by the authorities while perusing submitted documents is that many do not come with original documents. “In several cases I have noticed people do not register their births. In some cases names of parents are not correct,” he added.
He said, “We start work at 9 am and on an average we handle approximately around 250-300 cases a day. This of course increases during the holidays when children come and it can even go up to 400”. The office, Agnelo said, had to deal with families with unusual stories every other day. Families, he said, which separated when the couples split up, were a problem. He said, “In many cases the women win custody and the man has visitation rights but sometimes if the woman gets a job in the gulf and wants to take the son then the father will raise objections and go to court which then means we cannot move forward.”
“The opposite was also true with women taking their children out without their ex-partner being aware and the father being left high and dry. He said when a divorce is granted it would be always prudent to get a custody order which would help the individual if he or she was applying for a passport for the children.”
Agnelo said the documentation is rigorous and the checks conducted are thorough and it may be frustrating but these are required. “The government of India has outsourced the entire process to Tata Consultancy Services and there are a couple of officers from the Ministry of External Affairs present at the office,” he informed.
He said the office accepts 25 applications everyday for cancellation of Indian passport. “I do not accept more than that number. Ninety-nine percent of the applications are by those who have acquired a Portuguese passport and the odd one by those with Canadian or Australian passport,” he stated.
