Portuguese Citizenship For Goans

Goans Born In Goa Prior To 18th December 1961

Those who were born in Goa before the 18th of December 1961, will need to provide the following information to gain Portuguese citizenship:

• A birth certificate and a marriage certificate, if it is an application that has been issued by Conservatória do Registo Civil de Goa, Damão, Diu e Dadrá e Nagar Avelí
• If the application is submitted in Goa, then a valid Indian Passport or a valid identity certificate that has an attached photograph that has been issued by Mamlatdar or Sarpanch. Some other identity cards could include a ration card, driving licence, or a voter ID card.
• Legal ID documentation, such as a current passport.
• A certificate of residency with a photograph and full address.
• A certificate of residency that indicated residency between the dates of January 1974 and December 1975.

Goans Born In Goa Post 1961

Those who wish to apply for nationality but were born after 1961 will be required to prove that their parents were born in Goa and married in Goa before 1961. Therefore, they will need to provide the following to apply:

• Parents’ birth certificates, parents’ marriage certificates, and death certificates of any deceased parents, all of which should have been issued by Conservatória do Registo Civil de Goa, Damão, Diu e Dadrá e Nagar Avelí.
• A certificate of residency with a photograph and full address.
• A Certificate of Residency that indicates the individual’s residency between January 1974 and December 1975. Should the individual not have been residing in ex-Portuguese territories in Africa, they will not qualify for application.
• Legal ID documents such as a current passport. Should the applicant be submitting their application in Goa, then a valid Indian Passport or ID certificate with a photograph attached and issued by Mamlatdar or Sarpanch. Additional ID cards could include ration cards, a driver’s licence, or a voter ID card.

Overview

1. The first step to applying for a Portuguese passport as a Goan is to collect the main documents and get them apostilled and notarized so that they will be recognised as valid documents by the Portuguese authorities.
2. Gather all the documents needed. Many of these will be old documents from the Portuguese administration, as well as the marriage certificate of the applicant’s parents and the birth record of this, the parents as well.
3. The application should then be delivered to the Central Registry. Applicants can submit directly or get a lawyer to represent them. Using a lawyer can help as it ensures that the application is submitted correctly and can be followed up within a faster period.
4. Once the application is submitted, it will be analysed by the competent Portuguese government sector. In some cases, they may request additional documents.
5. Once citizenship is granted, the applicant then gains the relevant birth certification, and using this the applicant can then apply for a citizen card and Portuguese passport.

Tracking Passport Application Status

Once the applicant has applied for a Portuguese passport, the next step that they will face is to check their passport application status. This can be traced easily online.

To check the status of a Portuguese passport application, visit the Portuguese Consulate General in Goa website. Go to the left sidebar, and there should be a link titled ‘application status. Click on this, and a small window will appear. Enter the processing number here and search.

This should show the current status of the application.