Overview

• Brenden Valentine Crasto, a Pakistan-born Roman Catholic living in Anjuna since 2006, received his Indian citizenship certificate in Porvorim on August 25.
• Chief Minister Pramod Sawant presented the document at Mantralaya, describing it as the third citizenship granted in Goa under the CAA.
• Crasto married Goa resident Merilyn Fernandes in 2014 and said the decision ends a long wait for legal status.
• His application was processed under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which apply to non-Muslim migrants who entered India before December 31, 2014.
• Sawant said one more CAA application in Goa is pending, following earlier approvals including the state's first in August 2024.