Portuguese passport documentation process for Goans

In my earlier post I had mentioned about the documentation required to apply for the Portuguese passport for Goans. Here I will dwell in detail on the points to be noted while pursuing the documents.

The documents required for Goans born before 1961 is explained here. Also the documentation required for Goans born after 1961 is enlisted here.

For those born before 1961 the first item in the list is the Indian passport. To make the Indian passport, you will have to go to the passport office which is located at Panjim at Patto centre. Buy a 10 Rs form and fill up all the details or take help from the special help counter in the passport office. Don't go to touts standing outside the Passport office building, as the people inside are paid by the government of India to help you. You should get your Indian passport within a month after completing formalities such as Police verification etc.

(1) Indian Passport
To make the Indian passport you will obviously need your birth certificate as one of the most important documents. Make sure that your name is correct on your birth certificate. Else make the necessary correction in your birth certificate right now. Whatever mistakes occur in your passport are going to give you problems at the Portuguese consulate or Portuguese authorities.So when you get your passport verify that all details match with your birth certificate. If there is an error, rush to the passport office immediately and get it corrected.

Also if you are a married female, don't get carried away by your sense of love for your husband to borrow his surname for yourself. Atleast dont do it for the Passport. According to Portuguese law, your maiden surname is your surname. Thats final. Husbands surname does not automatically become your surname as far as the Portuguese civil law infers it. So if your maiden surname before marriage was Sequeira and your husbands surname is Mascarenhas, your surname still remains as Sequeira.And that is how it  has to be seen on your Indian passport

(2)Police Clearance Certificate
Next document required on the list, is the Police clearance certificate. This certificate is to be obtained from the police head office in Panjim. An application costs Rs 100 and has to be submitted after duly filling it along with 2 photographs. The process takes over 4-5 days as the Panjim Police refer to your local police station to verify your antecedents and once you appear at your local police station they will send a report to Panjim. The Panjim office subsequently issues the certificate which has your photograph pasted on it.

(3) Birth certificate Teor
Next is the job to obtain copy of the Birth "Teor". The "teor" is the original record of the birth or marriage recorded in writing .For the Birth "Teor", you need to go to your civil registrars office and apply for the same. The Birth "teor" costs only Rs 10 and is normally available within 2-3 days provided your "teor" exists in the birth register. Unfortunately most birth and marriage Teors have been destroyed due to mishandling by the sub-registrar's offices in Goa and also due to the transportation to and back from the Archives of Panjim. If you dont get your birth "Teor" in the civil registrars office, the next option that the office places before you is to get your birth teor from your local Church records. Once you get that Teor, they will endorse it and give it as their own ratified document.

(4) Residence Certificate
The residential certificate is to be applied with the talathi at your mamlatdars office or at your Panchayat depending on your current residence.Two passport sized photographs are required to be submitted along with the application. The talathi is expected to verify your residence and then issue the certificate. the procedure takes around 3-4 days.

(5) Additional proof of residence
For the document of additional proof of residence it is best to provide a document among the first three options of school/college/employment or church. The first three are preferable since it is a more reliable proof whereas the Church document is available without much avenues of verification.

(6) Original Document
The last document to be submitted in original is the original document of Portuguese era. The type and nature of that document is explained here. Try your best to search for this document in every way possible. Most often such a document will be found at your place of employment in the Portuguese era. Even if you feel it may be a remote chance, you should make attempts to try and locate some record or the other.The Portuguese consulate in Goa does not accept an application without the original document. So this is the most important part of your process if you are submitting the application in Goa.

For those born after 1961, in addition to the above documents, you need to furnish copies of Assento de nascimento of the parent registered in Portugal, his/her original Bilhete identidade ( only for verification and not to submit ), birth certificate of the parent not registered in the Conservatoria in Portugal and Death certificate of the deceased parent(s)

Translations
Once you get all the documents you must ensure that they are all readable in Portuguese. Normally all documents before 1961 are available in Portuguese. After 1961 gradually English had set in and therefore if you have the English documents,  you need to translate them into Portuguese and attach the translation to each English document.The only document that you do not need to translate is the Indian passport document. It is just to be furnished in its English version.

For translation services, there are several people available in every nook and corner of Goa and a visit to your civil registrars office will give you many such leads. If not. try going to a Notary's office  anywhere in Goa to get contacts of Portuguese to English translators. Normally advocates and Notaries in Goa have the maximum contacts of such people.

Attestations
After translations you need to attest the documents . First with the Notary, next  the Collector and lastly with the Under Secretary - home department. While there are several Notaries available everywhere, try locating someone who has the lowest fees. The fees to attest a English document range from 50-70 Rs while a Portuguese document attestation may cost you around 90-120 Rs. There are several Notaries in this range of fees which are available both in Panjim and Margao. there is no point paying exorbitantly for notarising your documents as all Notaries in Goa are acceptable to the consulate.

After notarising, you need to make an application to the collectors office listing your documents and get the documents attested with the collector. the process may take a day or two depending on the availability of the collector. The fees here are Rs 100 per document.

For the Under secretary's office, you need to go to Porvorim at the secretariat and locate the home department where again you need to make an application similar to the one at the collectors office and submit your documents for attestation here. Each document attestation costs is Rs 100. After attestation, which takes around a day or two, you are ready.

On your appointed date, go to the consulate in Panjim with all your documents and take a token number. You may have to wait for half a day sitting in the consulate untill your number is called out. Once you are called you will first have to attest the documents and then the  documents will be accepted for nationality process.Attestation of each document currently costs Rs 719 and is under constant revision.

Good Luck to all Goans