Naturalisation and citizenship in Mexico

HI Bhavna,
                       You need to have lived in Mexico legally for five years. You will be given a verbal Spanish language test, when you turn in your paperwork. If you are under sixty you will also be given a Mexican history test at the same time. You will need two police reports, one from your local state police and one from the federal police in Mexico city.
The basic forms you will need you can get online from relaciones exteriores.
You will also need originals and two copies of your passport, all pages, and two copies of your immigration card. Two copies of your birth certificate, apostilled, and officially translated. You will need two copies of your curb paper and two of your comprobante of your house. Two passport sized photos.
Mexico accepts dual citizenship from most countries. You do not have to give yours up.
The benefits of having citizenship for us is to safeguard ourselves  our property and business from any future change in policy towards expats, also having two passports is never a bad idea. Take care,
                                               Andy

teoaztec wrote:

HI Bhavna,
                       You need to have lived in Mexico legally for five years. You will be given a verbal Spanish language test, when you turn in your paperwork. If you are under sixty you will also be given a Mexican history test at the same time. You will need two police reports, one from your local state police and one from the federal police in Mexico city.
The basic forms you will need you can get online from relaciones exteriores.
You will also need originals and two copies of your passport, all pages, and two copies of your immigration card. Two copies of your birth certificate, apostilled, and officially translated. You will need two copies of your curb paper and two of your comprobante of your house. Two passport sized photos.
Mexico accepts dual citizenship from most countries. You do not have to give yours up.
The benefits of having citizenship for us is to safeguard ourselves  our property and business from any future change in policy towards expats, also having two passports is never a bad idea. Take care,
                                               Andy

Andy, most, if not all of that has changed over the last 6 or more years. The main thing they look at is can you afford to live independently in Mexico, they probably also run a background check but you are not part of that.. The greater your income the more likely you will quickly get a permanent visa.

I know of no one who was given a Spanish language test, let alone a Mexican history test. I am also unaware of anyone having to provide police reports State or Federal. 2 years ago I had to provide many Passport copies, had to provide required photos, proof of residency, and the required fee and paperwork. No request for anything else including birth certificates. It has probably changed again since I became permanent.

So I would advise all to check with the consulate in your country or state.

I think you are talking about permanent residency i am talking about citizenship. What i printed is acurate as of up to last month, because my wife and I did it. I did however fail to mention that if they accept your paperwork you will have to pay the fee.4,700 pesos, and they keep your original birth certificate. Once again this is for citizenship, otherwise called natraluzation here. The info also only applies to those who do not have a mexican spouse.

teoaztec--they kept your birth certificate!!!! That's shocking. I always get my original papers back, and they always want originals for everything. They may keep them for a while, but they have to give them back. I have been a citizen since 2007, but although I studied for the history test, I didn't have to take it or the language test. I think it's like everything else official--depends on where you apply. I began the application in Cancun, but completed it in Xalapa. I immediately applied for and received my "Credential para Votar", which is very handy identification, and it does impress officials.

You have a confusing typo I'd like to correct: Part of the paperwork you need is your CURP.

Okay, then the question would be what would be the advantage over having a permanent residency, other than voting that is. ?

Yes they were very clear about keeping the original birth certificate . when we asked him about the language test he told us we had already passed. My wife is bilingual and i am fluent  we were of course speaking to him in spanish.and as a joke he said if we wanted to take the history test we could. we did this in Leon as we were told that they are way more friendly there than in Queretaro. Do not know if this is realy true but the guy was super nice and we were in and out within half an hour.

I know that in the States a permanent resident visa can be revoked,for example if you leave the country for over six months.Maybe Mexico is the same,im not sure,maybe worth looking into for anybody planning to leave for a prolonged period of time.

stinkyboy1 wrote:

I know that in the States a permanent resident visa can be revoked,for example if you leave the country for over six months.Maybe Mexico is the same,im not sure,maybe worth looking into for anybody planning to leave for a prolonged period of time.

I was told by the rental agent who was British, that she had to go back and forth if she wished to keep her Permanent status in Mexico. She would go back to England for a month or two then return. I think she said she had to come back every 3 months. I can't validate that as yet, but I will keep my eyes open.

She no longer lives in this area.

travellight wrote:

stinkyboy1 wrote:

I know that in the States a permanent resident visa can be revoked,for example if you leave the country for over six months.Maybe Mexico is the same,im not sure,maybe worth looking into for anybody planning to leave for a prolonged period of time.

I was told by the rental agent who was British, that she had to go back and forth if she wished to keep her Permanent status in Mexico. She would go back to England for a month or two then return. I think she said she had to come back every 3 months. I can't validate that as yet, but I will keep my eyes open.

She no longer lives in this area.

Hi to all, I am not sure but I did read something on the time spent in and out of Mexico once you have the permanent residency visa but after an hour research couldn't find it again.

If I recall proprely the calculation is over a 3 or 5 year period must be in Mexico 50% of the time plus 1 day, once again not sure.

Since my wife and I are in the process to become permanent residents, I will ask both the mexican consulate in Montreal and INM in Nayarit, Mexico.

But if any expat knows the awnser please let us know.

Adios, GyC.

Good plan Mexicogc,

I know I saw something in the past, but like you, I could not find it. You will be taliking to the people who would know. Yes, I could make a special trip in to ask, but standing in lines is an over rated fun pastime.

There was also a minimum annual income to be verified by them Every Year for five years.
Rules have definitely changed over the years so the best advice is to find out what are your Local requirements for compliance.
It has become a bit more complicated.  Your information from a consulate or an expat with documentation in the past is not a good enough resource as Application of rules can change state by state and city by city depending on who you are dealing with and the pressure they are under.  Good luck and remember,  be Patient and Courteous.

I have been in Mexico 8 years and haven't decided whether I want dual citizenship or not.
All my income is from US Social Security and private annuities.  I'm not sure if citizenship won't cost me more in taxes.  I'd to vote and be able to take a vocal part in politics.  I wouldn't have to check out with immigration or check back in when crossing borders by land.  I don't own a business or real property.so there's no benefit I'd be eligible for as a citizen.

I:ll be interested in reading what others have to say.

We live in MX year round and my husband has a permanent status, I still have temporary (I was late renewing one year). We had been on track for citizenship, but it's possible we don't make enough money. A friend who owns two properties was told her taxable income was not enough, to gain citizenship, so she went back to visa status, which is cheaper than residency status even with the cost of going up to the border to renew her visa every six months. We're in our 70s, so we're not likely to gain a significant increase in income.

My understanding was if you had gained permanent resident status, now 4 years?, one more year of residence is all that's required.  That is a total of 5 years continuous residence between temporary and permanent.

No income requirement needs to be met.

I haven't applied yet because I don't see any advantage for me.

gudgrief wrote:

I have been in Mexico 8 years and haven't decided whether I want dual citizenship or not.
All my income is from US Social Security and private annuities.  I'm not sure if citizenship won't cost me more in taxes.  I'd to vote and be able to take a vocal part in politics.  I wouldn't have to check out with immigration or check back in when crossing borders by land.  I don't own a business or real property.so there's no benefit I'd be eligible for as a citizen.

I:ll be interested in reading what others have to say.

Hi to all, my wife and I are in the process to become permanent residents. We checked out all the PROS & CONS.
We are Canadians, we will have the non resident for tax purpose in Canada and Canada has a fiscal treaty with Mexico to avoid double taxation.
All our revenues are from Canada  (pensions, social security and interest), being a non-resident we have a choice based on the fiscal treatie/convention (standard 15% taxation rate on all revenues or file a manual tax return as a non-resident thus reducing our rates to 10% or less)
We have spoken to the RFC ombudsman and RFC help line, if all your revenues are from Canada benefits, have all banking in Canada and you don't work in Mexico, don't own proprety, don't have mexican citizenship you don't have to register at RFC.

As far as banking is concerned, I, personnaly, am not sure if we could have without any question asked by RFC or the mexican bank. So we will still use our ATM and credit cards from Canada TD. We could also use WorldRemit process.

So we have decided that we will become permanent residents of Mexico, non-residents of Canada, never asked the mexican citizenship and buy IMSS health service. Visits in Canada will be less than 2 months a year. Finally, if ever we return full time to Canada, 3 months waiting period for medicare is the only concerns but it's not in a near future.

Adios and hope this could be usefull to others, GyC. .

Last I checked if you're 60 or over, they forego the history test and the interview in Spanish is the only language test given.

Five years residency here unless you're married to a Mexican citizen. In that case, only 2.5 years is required. At least that was the case when I became a citizen in 2005. It might have been changed since then, but I doubt it.

Gufgrief: I've been a Mexican citizen for 12 years. It has no effect whatsoever on taxes here.

I've lived in Mexico since 1968, my wife is a Mexican citizen. I was Naturalized about 7 years ago. There is an advantage, I can now do anything a Mexican citizen can do (legally). And theres no more running to immigration every year and going throuh paperwork. I did have to sign a paper saying I renounced any other nationalities, Its a technicality , don't worry about it. The thing is if you break a law and get arrested and start whining that you're an American citizen they will bring that paper up and say no you arent.
I had to go through all the paperwork for 5 years ...make it 6 because when you hit the 5 year mark they said your last immigration paperwork cant be more than 6 months old so they will nail you for another year.  I had more problems with apostilles from the States... you have to get them from the state where you were born and with me it was Georgia, after about 20 phone calls in which they acted like I was a terrorist, I kept going up the chain of command until I finally found someone with a brain and got an apostillada birth certificate.
My wife had to write a letter to Mexican immigration each year saying she promised not to divorce me.
Yes, I had to get 2 background checks, State & Federal... very easy. they arent interested in your time in the states just criminal activity in Mexico.  I had to get a CURP card and a tax card RFC. They asked me what I would do to support my self. I said: Translator... they said I had to go to the University or Harmon Hall English School to take a TOEFL test to prove I could speak English... I did and I passed with flying colors. Anyway, I took a course with SECTUR (Tourism) and became an accredited tourguide. My wife was an English teacher at a Federal High School so through her as a Spouse I managed to enroll in ISSSTE (Teachers Social Security) and get 100% Mexican "Medicare".
Just keep fighting the red tape and you'll get there. I did everything without private lawyers, the lawyers in Immigration in Tlaxcala were very friendly and helpful with advice as to what I needed to do.

Thanks Andy, appreciate you taking the time to write this.

You think she had to come back every quarter of the year or do you have to spend a certain amount of time in the country aggregated across the year?

Does anyone know if parents are given residency/citizenship if their children are born in mexico?