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Goans having dual citizenship may lose easy access to European countries claims report

The issue of dual citizenship is getting more complicated by the day and now all the Goans who have Portuguese ties will be having the
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The issue of dual citizenship is getting more complicated by the day and now all the Goans who have Portuguese ties will be having the chances of losing the easy access to Europe if they want to maintain their Indian citizenship. That means in future to have seamless access to Europe the Goans with dual citizenship will have to give up their Indian citizenship. Please read the complete report here.

[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] Based on the news published by Daily Mail Goans with Portuguese ties could lose easy access to Europe if they want to keep Indian citizenship. Due to the new developments that have taken place in Indian government policies, the Goans who have enjoyed the long seamless access to all the European countries with the help of their Portuguese passport will be not able to enjoy that privilege any longer.

Read: Portuguese Nationality issue – Goans registered in Portugal are likely to lose their Indian citizenship

As per the reports, the Goans will have to give up their “Bill of Identity” issued to them by the Portuguese government to have seamless access to Europe. The “Bill of Identity” granted by Portuguese gives the privileged to Goans to maintain their Indian Citizenship while enjoying the Portuguese nationality.

As per the normal practice, the Goans used to travel to Portugal with the help of Indian Passport and thereafter with the help of “Bill of Identity” they used to travel across the European countries without the need of a visa. Now the Goans will have to forego their “Bill of Identity” to be able to travel to European countries. This way they will get easy access to European countries but they will no longer remain the Indian citizens.

This issue was raised by the former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar in the parliament where he informed that more than four hundred thousand Goans have Portuguese nationality. Parrikar asked the Centre to look into the matter as around four lakh Goans had registered their names in Portugal’s Central Registry of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, which gave them the Bill of Identity.

Read: Portuguese Passport holders will lose citizenship but Goans with birth registered in Lisbon are safe: CM

Following to the Parrikar’s revelations, the government formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by the additional secretary in the home ministry of India Mr. B K Prasad who recommended the issue of dual citizenship should be decided as per the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 and Citizenship rules 2009. It has recommended setting up a designated authority to examine each case, as per Indian laws.

Based on that the Indian Home Ministry has issued the notification that, those who wants to retain their Indian citizenship will have to give up their Portuguese “Bill of Identity”  “They will have a choice of either relinquishing their Portuguese identity or hold on to Indian passports,” said a home ministry official. As per Portuguese law, those who register their names in the Central Registry are given rights to purchase property in the country.

Read: How 3,000 Indians managed to enter UK with fake papers making use of immigration loopholes

“Many people are ignorant and became victims as they were lured by the option of having a document from Portugal that allowed them easy access to Europe without a visa,” said a home ministry official. Several public servants, including MLAs and MPs, in Goa, have registered their names in the Central Registry of Portugal, which they claim was not done by them, or was done without their knowledge.

The Indian government has made one thing clear that those who have enquired the Portuguese passport automatically becomes the Portuguese nationals and cease to be an Indian citizen. This sends the clear message to all those Goans who holds the “Bill of Identity” to give up the same to retain their Indian citizenship or to retain their “Bill of Identity” to have easy access to European countries and give up their Indian Citizenship. Do you have anything say on this? Please go ahead and write down our comments and suggestions.

Source: DAILY MAIL

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