Portuguese schengen visa for indian national

[Christophe]

This is not the case. Section 9(1) of the Indian Citizenship act provides that any citizen of India who by naturalisation or registration acquires the citizenship of another country shall cease to be a citizen of India.

OK, my mistake. I think I was thinking of people who have double nationality at birth, perhaps even minors... Sorry.

[manueld12]

@wanderer and thirdwave

My dad is goan and has acquired portuguese nationality through that process.. As his son , i had to get all my documents in place and as of now my paperwork has been completed. i havent become a formal citizen of portugal yet (ID and passport are not in my possession)

as of now i am an indian citizen.

[thirdwave]

I was told during one of my trips there that many people who acquired French citizenship under the arrangement were stuck in limbo as they had been rendered illegal in India after becoming French citizens but could not leave because they were unable to afford the plane fare to Paris

Maybe they need to report themselves to the authorities so that they get deported to France?

With remittances often so high, it might make sense for the Indian government to pay for their ticket to France in the hope of getting large amounts through the years sent back to remaining family.

Interesting thought that...

[Dawie]

@wanderer and thirdwave

My dad is goan and has acquired portuguese nationality through that process.. As his son , i had to get all my documents in place and as of now my paperwork has been completed. i havent become a formal citizen of portugal yet (ID and passport are not in my possession)

as of now i am an indian citizen.

You seem to be confused. You do not need to be in possession of ID or a passport to be a citizen, nor does the possession of such documents confer citizenship. In fact you cannot physically receive such documents without first being a citizen.

[gani999]

Maybe he or his dad is a Goan. Which reminds me; it's Goan Chicken tmrw in the canteen. Yummy!

I understand that Goans are allowed to claim Portugese citizenship on the basis of their colonial heritage (a bit like the arrangement between Moldova and Romania). However applicant numbers, which include many bogus ones, have swelled to such an extent in recent years that the waiting list for naturalisation is reportedly around 7-8 years currently.

Not anymore I think.
Only Goaneese people who have Portugeese ancestry to a maximum of two generations back are allowed this.

It is the same rule in Brazil. I have a Brazilian Friend who got a Portugeese passport because his Grandma was Portugeese.

[manueld12]

In goa, basically if you were born before 1961 (that is when goa ceased to be a portuguese colony)..youre entitled to portuguese nationality

and ur right, the waiting times are ridiculous..my dad waited for 8 years before he got his..its taken me 6 years...and i moved to the UK 3 years ago.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I assume you already have citizenship, unless you need to go to Portugal for some required final step of the citizenship process (In the UK you are required to do a formal ceremony when you naturalize).

You could get a passport or id card issued at the portugese embassy in London. Either is enough to then travel throughout europe.

Alternatively you have a right to trvael within Europe, even if you do not have your passport, so long as you can prove otherwise that you are a Portugese citizen. The letter telling you of your new citienship may be enough.

See Directive 2004/38/EC for a description of your (new) rights related to movement with the EU

[manueld12]

i think im going to lisbon to sign the few documents that are left. the reason i chose to do that instead of doing it in london (where i handed my documents) is that the people in the embassy in london are really rude and my dealings with them havent been a pleasant experience

as i mentioned earlier my aunts friend is a solicitor who has been helping me so far told me that he will be able to get everything sorted in lisbon and it would hurt to travel there

[Christophe]

In that case, the easiest thing by far, in purely practical terms, would be for you to get a Schengen visa in your Indian passport and to travel to Lisbon on that. I know, I know: there are lots of ands, ifs, ors, and buts, but that would surely be the simplest. The only issue then is the timing — whether you can get the visa to go at the time you want to go. But you'll be able to get it to go at some time in the fairly near future. You can obviously travel back to the UK using your Portuguese passport.

[manueld12]

thats actually my second dilemma

say i go on my indian passport with a visa and stuff..after getting all my portuguese documents , it would invalidate my indian passport..so if i do get into the country with my EU passport, wouldnt they be expecting me to be back in the country on the indian passport . the EU passport wont have any details of my travel.

im really confused and anxious abt this whole thing to end

[Christophe]

thats actually my second dilemma

say i go on my indian passport with a visa and stuff..after getting all my portuguese documents , it would invalidate my indian passport..so if i do get into the country with my EU passport, wouldnt they be expecting me to be back in the country on the indian passport . the EU passport wont have any details of my travel.

im really confused and anxious abt this whole thing to end

That as such won't be a problem.

A citizen of an EU country has the right to travel in the EU. In any case, the passports of EU countries are not stamped when entering or leaving EU countries (whether the country is part of the Schengen area, like Portugal, or outside the Schengen area, like the UK).

So this concern is not worth worrying about - it's not even an issue.

[manueld12]

but wouldnt they be 'searching' for me (me on the indian passport) after i havent 'returned' to the UK ?

i mean i would have returned as an EU citizen but wouldnt they keep tabs on people who leave with visas and expect them to return back? i dont know if im making any sense

[Christophe]

but wouldnt they be 'searching' for me (me on the indian passport) after i havent 'returned' to the UK ?

i mean i would have returned as an EU citizen but wouldnt they keep tabs on people who leave with visas and expect them to return back? i dont know if im making any sense

They might. But they wouldn't find you. If you're really worried, you could exit Portugal on your Indian passport, but the problem with that is that the Indian passport will incontrovertibly not be a valid travel document then (it probably isn't now, if we want to be picky, I know...). I really wouldn't worry about it: as a Portuguese citizen, even if questions were ever asked (which I think is vanishingly unlikely), you have not broken any Portuguese laws or EU regulations by using your Portuguese passport from the moment you had possession of it.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

You assume they are organized enough to count the visa people in and count them out. Schengen zone my get that organized in 400 years, but now it is not. Often you leave without any exist stamp in a passport. You are Portuguese citizen and have the right to visit and reside to any member state without hassle.

Christophe – are you 100% sure that the passport becomes instantly invalid and the person instantly looses Indian citizenship? Is there a process to this, or is it instantaneous and fully automatic?

[Christophe]

Christophe – are you 100% sure that the passport becomes instantly invalid and the person instantly looses Indian citizenship? Is there a process to this, or is it instantaneous and fully automatic?

I'm pretty sure it's automatic. The question is when it happens. Based on Dawie's earlier post, it seems it happens on acquisition of the other citizenship, although I had thought it occurred on applying for (or possibly acquiring) another passport — that might be the case for children with dual nationality, however.

[thirdwave]

Christophe – are you 100% sure that the passport becomes instantly invalid and the person instantly looses Indian citizenship? Is there a process to this, or is it instantaneous and fully automatic?

I'm pretty sure it's automatic. The question is when it happens. Based on Dawie's earlier post, it seems it happens on acquisition of the other citizenship, although I had thought it occurred on applying for (or possibly acquiring) another passport — that might be the case for children with dual nationality, however.

Indian nationality law states that any Indian national who assumes the citizenship of another country would lose their Indian citizenship automatically, regardless of are in posession of another passport or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law

In practice, there is no way they can tell whether an Indian national has acquired a different nationality or not (unless the individual tells the Indian authorities themselves). I recently travelled abroad on my Indian passport and wasn`t asked any questions on return.There is no reason why the OP should encounter any problems if he left the UK on an Indian passport and returned on a Portugese one..

[JAJ]

Indian nationality law states that any Indian national who assumes the citizenship of another country would lose their Indian citizenship automatically, regardless of are in posession of another passport or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law

Except that anyone who is dual Indian/other at birth doesn't lose Indian citizenship until either:

- they acquire a foreign passport; or
- they acquire the nationality of a third country

[BMWK1200S]

Hi Manual,
I just want to know if are still holding the Indian passport.. If yes how do you travel to India?