The Portuguese passport has certainly opened a door of great chance of Goans who have been queuing up since the last handful of decades to secure for themselves, not really a Portuguese passport, but a ticket to Portugal and thereby to Europe in search of a better standard of living.

pedido de nacionalidade portuguesa , the tiniest state of independent India was ruled not by the British as was the case with the others of India, but by the Portuguese who held sway over this land from the entire year 1510 till 19th December 1961. During this time period the Portuguese brought to Goa not merely their colonial hegemony but also their religion, their culture, their language, their cuisine, their lifestyle and essentially made Goa an extension of Portugal.

When Goans attained liberation in 1961 there were many Goans who were desirous of holding back their Portuguese citizenship which became redundant after the acquisition of Goa by the Indian army. All Goans automatically were deemed to be Indians and the ones Goans who sought Portuguese citizenship had to flee to Portugal and reside there thereby forsaking their properties along with other attachments in Goa.

In the meantime Portugal also resisted India’s forceful liberation of Goa in the US and opposed it in those forums before year 1975 when Portugal acceded and accepted that Goa was a fundamental element of India. However since Goa was liberated by India, it was thought fit by Portugal to extend its citizenship rights to those citizens from Indian Goa, Daman and Diu that have been under their occupation also to whosoever sought such citizenship.

As such, the Portugal parliament passed a legislation to grant citizenship to Goans who would seek such status and formulated an application process for Goan Indians to obtain such citizenship if they desired. Initially the response to this was subtle from Goans and there is a trickle of applicants. However after Portugal became part of europe suddenly Goan eyes and hopes brightened up. Thus the queues at the Portugal embassy in New Delhi began in the nineties. Soon Portugal exposed its consulate in Goa and the queues simply increased and shifted to the Goan capital of Panjim at the Portuguese consulate where people from Goa Daman and Diu flocked in good sized quantities with certificates and documents to satisfy the requirements in search of a Portuguese passport and a ticket to Europe.