Who qualifies
- Mexican by birthA Mexican mother or fatherYou’re Mexican by birth wherever you were born. Your birth just needs registering with a Mexican consulate.
- Since 2021A Mexican grandparentBefore 2021, children born abroad to a Mexican parent who was also born abroad weren’t Mexican by birth. Now they are. So if your parent was born abroad to a Mexican, your parent can register, and then you can register through them. The change took effect on May 18, 2021.
- Check firstA parent or grandparent who became American or Canadian before March 20, 1998They need a declaration of Mexican nationality by birth from the Foreign Ministry before the family can register through them. Mexicans who naturalized after that date never lost Mexican nationality. For children born in between, ask the consulate.
How to register
- Book an appointmentWith the Mexican consulate covering where you live. Some use the online MiConsulado system, others ask you to email your documents first.
- Gather the documentsProof of your Mexican parent’s nationality, your full (long-form) birth certificate, ID for you and your parents, and your parents’ marriage certificate if they’re married. If your birth certificate is from a different country to the consulate’s, it needs an apostille and a Spanish translation. Some consulates ask for an apostille anyway, so check their list.
- Attend with your parents, or alone if you’re an adultFor children, both parents normally attend. Adults can usually go alone, but if your parents weren’t married when you were born, your father may need to attend or sign a power of attorney. If your father has died and there’s no qualifying marriage certificate, the consulate can’t register you: it has to be done at a civil registry in Mexico.
- Get your Mexican birth certificateRegistration and your first certified copy are free. Extra copies cost about US$20 each (2026). It’s usually done on the day, once the consulate has checked your documents.
- Apply for a Mexican passportUsing your new Mexican birth certificate, often at the same consulate.
If your parent was born abroad, they register first, then you register through them.
What a Mexican passport gives you
The right to live and work in Mexico with no visa or residence permit, and to own property as a Mexican national, including in the border and coastal strips where foreigners can’t hold land directly. In Mexico, dual nationals must identify as Mexican to Mexican officials. Mexico isn’t in the EU, so it doesn’t give you rights in Europe.
Military service
By law, Mexican men aged 18 to 40 must register for national military service (and get a “cartilla”), even if they live abroad. Consulates handle registration.
Living there
A Mexican passport gives you the right to live and work in Mexico without a visa or residence permit.
Not eligible? The long way round
If descent doesn’t work for you, you can still become a citizen by living in Mexico and applying to naturalize. It takes longer, but it’s open to anyone who meets the conditions.
A shortcut for descendants of Mexicans and Latin Americans
If you’re a direct descendant of a Mexican by birth, or from a Latin American country, Spain or Portugal, the wait is 2 years.
- Time living there first
- 5 years’ residence.
- Language and tests
- Exams in Spanish, and in Mexican history and culture.
- Keep your current passport?
- Mexico asks naturalized citizens to renounce their other nationality, though whether that has any effect depends on your other country.
- Main ways to get residence
- Temporary and permanent residence, usually by showing enough income or savings, plus family and work routes.
General information, not immigration advice. Residence rules change often, so check the official source before you plan a move. Sources: Mexican Foreign Ministry (SRE): naturalisation by residence (in Spanish); Nationality Law, article 20 (copy in Spanish, secondary source).
Sources
- Mexican consulate in the UK: birth registration (in Spanish)
- Mexican consulate in Dallas: birth registration for dual nationality (in Spanish)
- Constitution of Mexico, articles 30 and 37 (in Spanish)
- The 2021 reform of article 30, published 17 May 2021 (in Spanish)
- Mexican consulate in Las Vegas: civil registry leaflet 2026, fees (in Spanish)
- Mexican consulate in Boston: military service card (in Spanish)
- Foreign Ministry: declaration of Mexican nationality by birth (in Spanish)
- Mexican consulate in Salt Lake City: dual nationality (in Spanish)