You are making allegations against me. You’re saying that I’m carrying a fake educational certificate,” a lady, her
voice raised, accuses passport officer, Agnelo Fernandes, as she walks into his office. “This verification will take time and I’m not going to waste my time,” she adds arrogantly. Fernandes shuts her up telling her verification is necessary as there is a doubt about the authenticity of her educational certificate. If she has a problem, she can complain to the authorities in Delhi, he tells her. The woman demands he give her the Delhi number. Fernandes brushes her off, telling her to find it on their website. She leaves quietly, failing in her attempt to stall the verification process.
Once educational certificates are suspect, they are reported to the issuing authority which then contacts the school/ college for confirmation. Fernandes has also come across cases where people have brought fake court orders forging
judges’ signatures in criminal cases. As my visit to the Panjim passport office shows, being a passport officer is no cakewalk. And it’s not only about verifying documents and streamlining the process. The authorities here often find themselves in the midst of bitter child custody disputes. There have been cases of separated mothers applying
for passports for her children trying to take them abroad. When the father finds out, he creates a ruckus at the passport office. The mother insists she has been given custody of the child but has no court order to prove this. This results in the child’s passport being kept on hold.
There have also been other cases where the
court has granted custody to one parent, the
mother, for example, and visiting rights to the
father. In this case the mother has the custody
order but needs an NOC from her husband to be
able to take the child with her.
Among the annexures/affidavits single parents
can resort to are Annexure C to be filled for a
passport for a minor child by either parent,
when there has been a separation but no formal
divorce, or by a single parent of the child born
out of wedlock.
Depending on the situation, a single parent
can also resort to Annexure G –Declaration of
parent/guardian if the passport is for a minor
when one parent has not given consent.
In one particular case, a woman married to a
Goan man had a child and subsequently married
an English man. She insisted that the English man’s
name figure as the father on her child’s passport.
When she was told that this couldn’t be done as
only the biological father’s name was allowed, she
created a commotion in the passport office.
Fernandes has come across a large number of
domestic abuse cases in his work. The women
when applying for a passport reissue, ask that
their husband’s name be removed from the new
passport.
“This can’t be done unless there is a separation
order from the court. Unless there is a court
order we can’t do it. Legally they are still married,”
Fernandes explains the law.
Then there are those who handed in a fake
date of birth for their first passport when they
wanted to go abroad. Now that they want to
make a Portuguese passport, they need to correct
the date on their Indian passport. Details on the
Indian passport have to be accurate to proceed
for Portuguese nationality. These applicants want
corrections of their Indian passports just so that
they can surrender it and leave the country.
Pet names bestowed by loved ones stick on
and also find their way into passports creating a
problem when the children want to seek Portuguese
nationality.
Other cases which Fernandes says are peculiar
to Goa include the Portuguese and English
spelling of names like Xakuntala/Shakuntala and
Xam/Shyam. The applicant earlier made a passport
entering her/his name in Portuguese. But their
election card, Adhaar card and other documents
are all in the English version. The problem arises
when they want a reissue.
Procedures are more streamlined and rules
more stringent now and less likely to be abused,
the passport officer says.
He recalls cases of people visiting Catholic cemeteries,
searching for people with ages close to theirs.
Once they obtained the death certificate from the
clerk at the Church they managed to lay their hands
on all family details. They would first apply for an
Indian passport and then a Portuguese one.
Two months ago, a middle aged lady came to
the office with her elderly mother who was well
into her 80s. The daughter didn’t bring the
required documents and began grumbling when
she was asked to come the next day, saying the
nuns wouldn’t grant her mother, who was in an
old age home, permission.
Things at the passport office have changed
for the better and long queues and chaos one
encountered have disappeared. Fernandes says
he has got rid of a number of agents too who
used to hang around outside the office and even
inside the building. A few still exist and fill up
the application online for a hefty fee of Rs 2,000.
Although all appointments are booked online,
there is relief for the challenged, senior citizens
and emergency cases. These are allowed as walkins
from Monday to Friday.
