Exclusive: In Goa, a peculiar issue during SIR — Portuguese passport holders

“I am directed to request you to kindly provide this office at the earliest the details of those persons who have acquired passport of a foreign country and hence have ceased to be citizens of India,” the communique said.

Over the last few decades, many in Goa have been transcribing their births in the Central Registry in Lisbon and acquiring Portuguese citizenship to avail employment and educational opportunities overseas since a Portuguese passport provides the holder visa-free entry to several countries, including the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Portugal offers those born in Goa before December 19, 1961 — the day Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule — and two future generations the option of registering as Portuguese citizens.

According to government estimates, a total of 26,612 Indian passports were surrendered between 2015 and 2025 by people who obtained Portuguese citizenship in Goa. As per data shared in the Goa Legislative Assembly earlier this year, 10,129 Indian passports have been surrendered in the past five years by persons who acquired Portuguese citizenship.

In a press conference on Sunday, Sanjay Goel, Chief Electoral Officer of Goa, acknowledged the issue. On whether some voters, who have acquired Portuguese citizenship in Goa, have been included in the draft electoral roll, Goel said, “It is very clear who is eligible to be a voter. If someone has acquired a Portuguese passport, he/she ceases to be a citizen of India and is not supposed to be in the list. But this is based on self-declaration. Till someone declares… we do not have a mechanism whereby if someone surrenders their Indian passport, we will get an intimation about it.”

The officer said that if anyone declares information during the SIR that is found to be incorrect, then they can be prosecuted under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

An official from the FRRO office confirmed that the CEO’s office has sought information regarding people acquiring foreign nationality, adding that the reply is yet to be furnished.

As of Thursday, over 11.75 lakh enumeration forms, amounting to 99.21% of the total 11.85 lakh existing electors, have been collected and digitised in Goa. At least 96,000 have been identified as “absent, shifted, dead or duplicate”, officials said, adding that these 96,000 voters will be deleted from the draft electoral roll.

The Election Commission on Sunday extended the deadline for electors to submit enumeration forms in the ongoing SIR in nine states and three Union Territories from December 4 to December 11, pushing the electoral roll publication date from February 7 to February 14 next year.