Goan-Born Shane Pereira Granted Indian Citizenship After 43 Years
On Tuesday, Goa’s Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, handed over the Indian citizenship certificate to Shane Sebastian Pereira at the Secretariat. The certificate confirms Pereira as an Indian citizen under section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and states that he fulfilled the requirements of section 5(1)(c). His citizenship is effective from the date he entered India.
Shane Pereira was born on August 4, 1981, in Karachi, Pakistan, and comes from a family originally from Demello Vaddo in Anjuna, North Goa. His family moved back to Goa shortly after his birth. Four months later, he was living in his ancestral village in Goa, but it took him 43 years to officially become an Indian citizen.
In 2012, Pereira married Maria Gloria Fernandes, an Indian citizen. Despite living in Goa since infancy, he spent years on a visit visa, renewing it annually at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). Pereira said, “I studied and lived here. I married an Indian and heard that marrying an Indian could help fast-track citizenship. I applied, but it took a long time. In 2019, I learned about the CAA but wasn’t sure if it was implemented. Recently, I read in the news about another Pakistani, Joseph Pereira, who got Indian citizenship, so I applied through the same route.”
CM Pramod Sawant noted that Shane is the second Goan to receive Indian citizenship under this process. He added, “Many others have applied, and their applications are being processed. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for their leadership in implementing this legislation that brings justice.”
