Portugal wants tighter norms for citizenship
Portuguese authorities have claimed that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to test the authenticity of Indian documents.
They, therefore, are recommending tighter nationality laws for applicants from Goa, Daman and Diu, Portugal’s former colonies.
According to reports in the Portuguese media, citing security concerns, the authorities in the Schengen-member country said they were worried that Portugal was turning into a gateway for illegal immigration into the European Union.
Goans entitled to Portuguese nationality have to first prove they were born in Goa before the December 19, 1961, Liberation when Goa, Daman and Diu were still part of “Portuguese India.”
A cumbersome process then requires an applicant to register his claim before Portugal’s Central Registry in Lisbon.
Some genuine applicants have spent decades trying to cut through the Portuguese red tape with little success, while some others did manage to circumvent the system quite easily.
A judicial ombudsman reviewing thousands of appeals from Goan applicants in a paper chase at the Lisbon Registry has now recommended that the Justice Ministry tighten rules for Indian applicants because of the “serious problem” of verifying documents from India, the newspaper “Correio do Minho” said.
The Portuguese Consulate in Goa and the Central Registry have handled several cases of fraud and impersonation, but have no powers to act in them, it said.
Over 80,000 Indians are said to be living in Portugal, a large number of them came there from the former African colonies as well.
Recent Portuguese nationality seekers have been looking to pastures beyond Portugal, though.
A huge number of Portuguese passport-holders from Goa have made it to the United Kingdom in the recent past, with some 8,000 Goans now resident in the industrial town of Swindon alone where they are employed in the car and chicken factories.
Church services are held in Konkani for the Goan community here .
DH News Service
