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LEGALTICA GUIDE

How to become a Mexican citizen: through a parent, a grandparent or naturalization

If one of your parents is Mexican you are already Mexican by birth, wherever you and they were born, and you only need to register it; Mexico allows you to keep your other nationality. If not, you can naturalize after five years of legal residence in Mexico, or two if you are married to a Mexican, have Mexican children, descend from a Mexican or come from Latin America, Spain or Portugal, by passing exams on Spanish, history and culture, renouncing your other nationality before Mexico and paying MXN 9,502.01 in 2026.

The rest of Legaltica is in Spanish.

Legaltica editorial team
12 FIRMS
8 OFFICIAL SOURCES

THE GUIDE · FULL READ

Which route fits you

01 Your mother or father is Mexican, by birth or by naturalization before you were born you are Mexican by birth. Register your birth.
02 Your grandparent was Mexican but your parent never registered register your parent first, then yourself; if that isn’t possible, naturalize after two years of residence.
03 You are married to a Mexican and live together in Mexico naturalization after two years of married life in Mexico.
04 You have a Mexican child by birth naturalization after two years of residence.
05 You are from Latin America, Spain or Portugal naturalization after two years of residence.
06 Anyone else with legal residence in Mexico naturalization after five years.

Mexican by birth through a parent: dual citizenship

Under art. 30-A of the Constitution, anyone born in Mexico is Mexican by birth, and so is anyone born abroad to a Mexican mother or father. Since the reform of 17 May 2021 it no longer matters whether that parent was born in Mexico or abroad, so nationality passes down every generation as long as each link is registered. Children born abroad to a parent who was already a naturalized Mexican at the time of the birth are also Mexican by birth.

You don’t apply for nationality: you register your birth with the Mexican civil registry, usually at a Mexican consulate or by recording your foreign birth certificate in a civil registry office in Mexico (inserción). Expect to need your foreign birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Spanish, and proof of your parent’s Mexican nationality (their Mexican birth certificate, nationality certificate or naturalization letter); each consulate publishes its exact list.

Nationality by birth can’t be taken away (Constitution art. 37-A) and Mexico doesn’t ask you to give up your other nationality. Two practical rules: you must enter and leave Mexico as a Mexican, with your Mexican passport (Nationality Law art. 12), and in Mexico you are treated only as Mexican in legal acts (art. 13).

Immigration and nationality lawyers in Mexico who speak English

Tell a firm about your case in English: they receive your message and your phone number, and you see theirs straight away. It’s free and you’re not committing to anything. Languages are taken from each firm’s profile. Firms marked “Registered with Legaltica” manage their own profile.

  1. Registered with Legaltica

    CITY
    Ciudad de México
    LANGUAGES
    ES · EN · FR · ZH

    Migralaw - Abogados Migratorios en México

    4.6 · 151 Google Speaks English

    MIGRALAW es una firma de abogados migratorios con sede en la colonia Granada (Av. Ejército Nacional 769, Piso 2) en Ciudad de México y presencia en Polanco, Condesa, Santa Fe, Pedregal y sedes en Monterrey, Guadalajara y Cancún. Sus áreas principales son trámites de visas, regularización migratoria y naturalización; además disponen de servicios para empresas y modalidades MigraDigital/MigraVIP. Las oficinas …

  2. Registered with Legaltica

    CITY
    Xalapa-Enríquez
    LANGUAGES
    ES · EN

    Velarde & Caicero Asociados S.A.S. DE C.V.

    5.0 · 7 Google Speaks English

    Velarde & Caicero Asociados S.A.S. DE C.V. es una firma legal con sede en la colonia Modelo de Xalapa (C. Cándido Aguilar 73) especializada en protección integral de derechos humanos: restitución de derechos de niñas, niños y adolescentes (NNA), protección jurídica de personas adultas mayores, derecho familiar, laboral, civil, mercantil y sucesorio.

  3. Registered with Legaltica

    CITY
    Boca del Río
    LANGUAGES
    ES · CA · GL · EU · EN · FR · DE · IT · PT · AR · ZH · RU · RO · PL · UK · NL · SV · JA · HI

    Abogado Alfredo Liceaga

    5.0 · 9 Google Speaks English

    Quien necesita un abogado familiar, sucesorio, penal o constitucional en Boca del Río encontrará al abogado Alfredo Liceaga en el Fraccionamiento Costa de Oro. Atiende asuntos de divorcio, guarda y custodia, pensiones alimenticias, juicios sucesorios, defensa penal y amparos. Atiende de lunes a viernes 24 horas; sus clientes lo valoran con 5.0 sobre 5 en 23 reseñas. Es egresado de …

Through a grandparent

Mexican law has no direct grandparent route to nationality by birth. What it does have is a chain: if your parent is the child of a Mexican, your parent is Mexican by birth even if never registered. Register your parent’s birth first, then yours. If your parent has died, or the chain can’t be documented, two alternatives remain: the descendant of a Mexican by birth can naturalize after two years of residence (Nationality Law art. 20-I-a), and grandchildren of a Mexican by birth can get permanent residency directly (Migration Regulation art. 141-I-e). Grandchildren with no other nationality can even be exempted from the residence requirement.

Naturalization: how long you need to live in Mexico

5 years the general rule, immediately before the application (Nationality Law art. 20).
2 years if you descend in a direct line from a Mexican by birth, have Mexican children by birth, are from a Latin American country or from the Iberian Peninsula, or have made an outstanding contribution to Mexico in the government’s judgement.
2 years for spouses of Mexicans, who must have lived together in the marital home in Mexico during those two years. The marriage must be at least two years old and the Mexican spouse declares in person that you live together (Nationality Regulation art. 18).
1 year for adopted children and minors up to the second degree of descent under the parental authority of Mexicans, without interruption.

Absences don’t break residence unless, in the two years before you apply, they add up to more than six months (art. 21). Residence is proven only with temporary or permanent resident cards (Nationality Regulation art. 14).

Worked example: a US citizen who became a temporary resident in March 2022 and a permanent resident in March 2026 can apply in March 2027 under the five-year rule, provided their trips abroad between March 2025 and March 2027 add up to six months or less. A Colombian or a Spaniard with the same cards could apply in March 2024.

Requirements and documents checklist

  • Being of age and in full exercise of your civil rights, with a signed application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
  • Your valid resident card covering the residence period, still valid for at least six months after you apply and showing your CURP.
  • A certified copy of your foreign birth certificate, apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish by a perito traductor authorised by a Mexican state court (Nationality Regulation art. 7).
  • Your valid passport.
  • A signed statement listing each departure from and entry into Mexico during the qualifying period.
  • Certificates of no criminal record from the federal and local authorities where you live.
  • Two identical recent colour passport photos (4.5 x 3.5 cm), white background, no glasses, head uncovered.
  • The fee receipt: MXN 9,502.01 in 2026 (about USD 506), under art. 26-II of the Federal Duties Law.
  • For the two-year routes, the proof of the tie: your Mexican child’s or ancestor’s Mexican birth certificate, or the marriage certificate (or its recording in the Mexican civil registry) and your spouse’s ID and proof of nationality.

The exams

You must show that you speak Spanish, know Mexican history and are integrated into the national culture, by passing exams based on the content approved by the SRE’s Instituto Matías Romero (Nationality Regulation art. 15). Refugees, minors and people over 60 only need to show that they speak Spanish.

How long it takes

  1. Incomplete file: the SRE must tell you within 20 working days, and you have two months to fix it (four if you applied at a consulate or a regional office). Otherwise it is treated as withdrawn.
  2. The SRE sends the file to the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) within 15 working days, and SEGOB has up to 45 working days to give its opinion.
  3. Once it has that opinion, the SRE must decide within 90 calendar days.
  4. If the decision is favourable you sign the renunciation and the oath in writing, and the certificate takes effect the day after it is issued.

With a complete file, the legal maximums add up to roughly seven months after filing, plus the time to sit the exams. These are maximum times in the regulation; the SRE doesn’t publish average processing times.

Renouncing your other nationality

Before the naturalization certificate (carta de naturalización) is issued you must renounce in writing your foreign nationality and any allegiance to a foreign State, and declare adherence to Mexican law (Nationality Law arts. 17 and 19). The SRE can only ask for this once it has decided to grant you nationality. Whether your own country treats that declaration as a loss of its nationality depends on its law: check it before you apply.

Mexican nationality by naturalization can be lost, unlike nationality by birth: under art. 37-B of the Constitution, by voluntarily acquiring another nationality, presenting yourself as a foreigner in a public document, using a foreign passport, accepting titles of nobility, or living abroad for five continuous years. If you naturalized through marriage, you keep the nationality after a divorce, unless the marriage is annulled through your fault (Nationality Law art. 22).

Common reasons for refusal, and how to avoid them

  • Absences of more than six months in total in the two years before applying: count every trip from your passport stamps before filing.
  • A resident card that expires less than six months after you apply.
  • Foreign certificates without apostille, or translated outside Mexico instead of by a court-authorised perito traductor.
  • Names or dates that don’t match between your birth certificate, passport and resident card.
  • Using the two-year marriage route without two years of living together in Mexico, or with a marriage younger than two years.
  • Criminal proceedings: the application is suspended while you are prosecuted in Mexico or abroad, and refused if you are serving a sentence for an intentional crime (Nationality Law arts. 24 and 25).
  • False or altered documents: the procedure is cancelled at any stage (Nationality Regulation art. 9).

If you are refused

The SRE must give reasons for a refusal, including when it relies on its discretion that naturalization isn’t appropriate (Nationality Law art. 25-III). You can file an administrative appeal (recurso de revisión) within 15 working days of notification, or take the decision to the Federal Administrative Court within 30 working days. If the problem was a missing requirement, a new, complete application is often faster.

When you should talk to a nationality lawyer

Registering a birth through a Mexican parent is usually simple. These are the cases where a lawyer saves you a refusal or years of waiting:

A chain through a grandparent or a parent who never registered: documents from several countries and generations must match.

Long periods abroad: one miscounted trip resets the residence period.

Documents with discrepancies in names or dates, or certificates from countries that don’t use the apostille.

A criminal record or open proceedings in any country: they suspend or block the application.

Your other nationality is at stake: understanding what the written renunciation means in your country before you sign it.

A refusal from the SRE: 15 working days to appeal, 30 to go to court.

The firms below handle nationality cases and say they speak English.

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Frequently asked questions

If your mother or father is Mexican, you are Mexican by birth. Register your birth at a Mexican consulate or record your foreign birth certificate in a Mexican civil registry, with the certificate apostilled and translated and proof of your parent’s nationality. Mexico doesn’t ask you to give up your other nationality.

Indirectly. Your parent, as the child of a Mexican, is Mexican by birth; once your parent is registered, you can register too. Otherwise, as a descendant of a Mexican by birth you can naturalize after two years of residence in Mexico.

Five as a general rule; two if you are married to a Mexican and live together in Mexico, have Mexican children by birth, descend from a Mexican by birth or are from Latin America, Spain or Portugal; one for adopted children and certain minors.

Yes, by naturalization after two years of living together in the marital home in Mexico, with a marriage at least two years old and your Mexican spouse declaring in person that you live together. You also need the exams and the other general requirements.

Yes: exams on Spanish, Mexican history and culture, based on content from the SRE’s Instituto Matías Romero. Refugees, minors and people over 60 only need to show they speak Spanish.

With a complete file, the regulation sets maximum times that add up to around seven months: 15 working days to send the file to SEGOB, 45 for its opinion and 90 calendar days for the decision.

If you are Mexican by birth, Mexico doesn’t ask you to give it up, but you must use your Mexican passport to enter and leave Mexico. If you naturalize, Mexico requires a written renunciation and the Constitution says a naturalized Mexican loses the nationality by using a foreign passport. What the renunciation means for your US citizenship is a question of US law: get advice before you apply.

The naturalization certificate costs MXN 9,502.01 in 2026, about USD 506. A certificate of Mexican nationality for dual nationals by birth costs MXN 2,472.65. Translations, apostilles and criminal record certificates are extra.

Yes, for naturalization. For registering a birth through a Mexican parent, there is no language requirement.

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), in Mexico City or at its offices in the states. The regulation also refers to applications started at consulates.

Official sources

Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, arts. 30 y 37 (última reforma DOF 07-10-2026) Cámara de Diputados · checked
Ley de Nacionalidad, arts. 12, 13, 16, 17 y 19-29 Cámara de Diputados · checked
Reglamento de la Ley de Nacionalidad, arts. 5, 7, 9, 12 y 14-21 Cámara de Diputados · checked
Reglamento de la Ley de Migración, art. 141 Cámara de Diputados · checked
Ley Federal de Derechos, art. 26 (cantidades actualizadas por la RMF, DOF 28-12-2025) Cámara de Diputados · checked
Ley Federal de Procedimiento Administrativo, arts. 83 y 85 Cámara de Diputados · checked
Ley Federal de Procedimiento Contencioso Administrativo, art. 13 Cámara de Diputados · checked
Euro foreign exchange reference rates, 23-10-2026 European Central Bank · checked

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and amounts change: check the official sources below or ask a lawyer about your own situation.