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

pedido de nacionalidade portuguesa , the littlest 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 year 1510 till 19th December 1961. During
pedido de nacionalidade portuguesa taken to Goa not only their colonial hegemony but additionally 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 have been 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.

For the time being Portugal also resisted India’s forceful liberation of Goa in the United Nations and opposed it in those forums until the 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 increase its citizenship rights to those citizens from Indian Goa, Daman and Diu which were under their occupation also to whosoever sought such citizenship.

Therefore, the Portugal parliament passed a legislation to grant citizenship to Goans who seek such status and formulated an application process for Goan Indians to acquire such citizenship should they desired. Initially the response to this is subtle from Goans and there is a trickle of applicants. However after Portugal became a 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.