As a result of Portugal citizenship law, Goans become British

This is one of the numerous ironies of a post-colonial civilization: Portugal was the initial country from the west to have portions of India colonized – from 1510 in Goa – and the last to depart in 1961. However, presently a lot of Goans are seeking for Portuguese passports and in Britain they end up.

According to the nationality laws of Portugal, anyone born in Goa prior to its being liberated from the European country’s rule on 19th of December 1961 has the right to claim citizenship of Portugal once their births have been registered in Lisbon. Citizenship can also be claimed by their next three generations.

In recent time, there has been impatience in Goa to give up Indian passports, have births registered in Portugal, acquire from that country nationality and passports, and relocate to Britain.

In Swindon, an ordinary industrial town in Wiltshire the ceremonial country, it does not take much time to come across places where Goans are predominantly resident.
A Goa-origin civil servant Jaime Barreto stated that they possess Portuguese passports but did not have much to do with the nation. A lot of them have never been to Portugal, however they make use of its nationality to emigrate to Britain and in Cranford, Hayes, and Swindon are the places they end up in.

In the last decade, almost 12,000 of similar Goans of working-class age have relocated to Swindon, leading to a change in its demography while causing some tension. They become EU citizens because of their Portuguese passports, and have the right to work and live anywhere in the union, in addition to access to state benefits running into thousands of pounds from the local payers of tax.