Goans in UK Denied OCI Cards Despite High Court Order; GFG Appeals to NRI Commissioner, Goa CM

Goans for Goa (GFG) has appealed to the NRI Commissioner, Nar endra Sawaikar, and the Home Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant, to intervene in the matter of several Goans in the United Kingdom being denied Overseas Citizen ship of India (OCI) cards despite a High Court or der permitting the use of a Revocation Certificate in lieu of a Surrender Certifi cate. According to GFG Presi dent Kennedy Afonso, cer tain Indian Missions in the UK continue to reject OCI applications of Goans who have acquired Portuguese nationality, citing a lack of clear instructions or proce dural guidelines from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “This issue appears to be confined to the UK, as mis sions in other countries continue to issue OCI cards without difficulty when the Revocation Certificate is submitted,” Afonso stated. The NGO pointed out that after GFG raised the matter earlier this year, the MEA had issued a memo randum on April 4, clear ly stating in clause 3 that the Revocation Certificate would be accepted as an alternative document for applicants from erstwhile Portuguese territories — Goa, Daman, and Diu — who had obtained Portu guese nationality by law. However, the MEA sub sequently issued a cor rigendum on April 30, putting clause 3 under reconsideration. The sit uation was clarified again on May 6, when the High Court of Bombay at Goa directed that the April 4 memorandum be imple mented, confirming that the Revocation Certificate was sufficient for OCI ap plications. Despite this, the UK Mis sion has reportedly contin ued to withhold processing of such applications. GFG believes this is due to the MEA not issuing updated instructions to the UK mis sion following the court order. GFG has now urged the NRI Commissioner to take up the issue with the MEA and ensure that a fresh memorandum is sent to the UK mission directing them to process all pend ing OCI applications based on the Revocation Certifi cate, as per the High Court order.