Panaji: Nearly 26,000 Goans surrendered their Indian passports in Goa in the last one decade and applied for a "new visa/exit permit", Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.

Sawant provided the information in a written reply tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question from Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao during the ongoing monsoon session.

"As per information provided by Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), total 25,939 people surrendered their Indian passports in the state of Goa between January 1, 2014 and March 31, 2024," the CM said.

In 2014, 2,037 persons applied for "new visa/exit services" upon surrendering their Indian passports and this number shot up to 4,121 in 2016, before reducing to 3,623 in 2017 and 2,958 in 2019, as per the data submitted in House.

In 2021, the number reduced further to 954, before increasing to 2,094 in 2023, the CM stated. 

The statement comes in the wake of the Union govt’s clarification over a revocation order issued by the regional passport officer to Goans who acquired Portuguese nationality to obtain their overseas citizenship of India (OCI) cards. 

Portugal offers its citizenship to anyone who was a Portuguese citizen in Goa prior to 1961, and two generations of their descendants. Thousands of Goans have taken advantage of this provision and secured the Portuguese passport, which enables them to work anywhere in the European Union. This passport is also considered the world's fifth-most powerful passport as per the Henley Passport Index for 2023. 

The citizenship issue revolves around the question whether a Goan who has registered their birth in Portugal ceases to be an Indian citizen. As per Portuguese law, once a person's birth is registered in Lisbon, he or she becomes a Portuguese citizen (irrespective of whether the person has a Portuguese passport) but as per Indian law, specifically Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, any Indian national who voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country ceases to be a citizen of India.

(with inputs from agencies)