The short version
- Yes. You can be Mexican and American at the same time. Mexico's Constitution says no Mexican by birth can lose Mexican nationality, and USA.gov says Americans do not have to choose.
- If your mother or father is Mexican, you are Mexican by birth, even if you were born abroad. You register your birth at a Mexican consulate.
- Without a Mexican parent, the route is naturalisation. It usually takes 5 years of living in Mexico, or 2 years for some people.
- Naturalisation asks you to sign a renunciation of your other nationalities. Being Mexican by birth does not.
Can you have dual citizenship with Mexico and the US?
Yes. Both countries allow it. Mexico's Constitution says no Mexican by birth can be deprived of Mexican nationality, and Mexico's nationality law has a set of rules written for Mexicans by birth who also hold another nationality.
On the US side, USA.gov says you do not have to choose one nationality over the other. It also says a US citizen may naturalise in another country without risking US citizenship.
The Mexican consulate in San Diego says it plainly for Americans: becoming Mexican through your parents does not take away or affect your US nationality. The full US rules, including the rare ways to lose US citizenship, are in dual citizenship for Americans, explained.
What are the ways to become Mexican?
There are two kinds of Mexican nationality: by birth and by naturalisation. Article 30 of the Constitution says who is Mexican by birth. Mexico's nationality law says how long you must live in Mexico before you can naturalise.
| Route | Who it is for | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Mexico | Anyone, whatever the parents' nationality | Nothing more |
| Born abroad to a Mexican parent | Children of a Mexican mother or father | Register at a consulate |
| Born on a Mexican ship or plane | Anyone born on board | Nothing more |
| Naturalisation | Foreign residents | 5 years living in Mexico |
| Shorter naturalisation | A descendant of a Mexican by birth, a parent of a Mexican child, or someone from Latin America or the Iberian Peninsula | 2 years living in Mexico |
| Marriage | The husband or wife of a Mexican | 2 years living together in Mexico |
| Children | Adopted children, and children or grandchildren under 18 in a Mexican's care | 1 year living in Mexico |
The 2-year time also covers people who, in the Foreign Ministry's view, have done notable work that benefits Mexico. We read the Constitution and the nationality law on 18 October 2026.
How do you register as Mexican through a parent?
You register your birth at a Mexican consulate. Article 30 already counts you as Mexican by birth, and the consulate records it. Since May 2021, Article 30 no longer says where your Mexican parent had to be born.
The San Diego consulate's March 2026 sheet lists what to bring:
- Your full birth certificate, the original and 2 copies. Short versions are not accepted.
- Your valid photo ID, with your name as it is on your birth certificate.
- Your parents' birth certificates. At least one parent must prove Mexican nationality.
- Your parents' valid photo ID. A Mexican parent can use a Mexican passport, a consular ID card or a voter card.
- Your parents' marriage certificate, if they married.
You book one appointment for each person. The registration is free and includes your first certified copy of the Mexican birth certificate. Later copies cost USD 20 there. Under Mexico's nationality law, that birth certificate is one of the papers that prove you are Mexican.
The San Diego sheet still describes a parent born in Mexico. If your parent was born abroad, ask your consulate first. More on this route is in how to move to Mexico from the US, and you can test your own family line with the Mexican citizenship by descent checker.
Can you get Mexican citizenship through a grandparent?
Not directly. Article 30 names a Mexican mother or father, not grandparents. But a Mexican grandparent may have made your parent Mexican. If so, the parent route may fit.
If not, a Mexican grandparent opens the shorter path to naturalisation. Mexico's nationality law cuts the time you must live in Mexico from 5 years to 2 for a direct descendant of a Mexican by birth. A grandchild with no other nationality is excused from the 2 years, but an American already has another nationality, so that rule does not fit.
In April 2025 a member of Mexico's Congress proposed adding grandparents to Article 30. That was a proposal, not law. A search of Mexico's official gazette on 18 October 2026 found no change to Article 30 since May 2021.
How does naturalisation in Mexico work?
You live in Mexico legally for the time the law sets, then apply to the Foreign Ministry (SRE) for a naturalisation card. To live there first, you need a resident visa: see how to move to Mexico from the US.
Mexico's nationality law asks you to:
- Apply to the SRE and say you want to become Mexican.
- Show you speak Spanish, know Mexico's history and are part of its culture.
- Show your time in Mexico. Usually the last 5 years, or the shorter times in the table above.
- Sign a renunciation and an oath. The SRE can ask for these only once it has decided to grant your card.
Short trips do not break your time in Mexico, unless they fall in the 2 years before you apply and add up to more than 6 months. The card takes effect the day after it is issued. The law does not list the fee.
Do you have to give up US citizenship to become Mexican?
Not if you are Mexican by birth. Registering at a consulate asks for no renunciation, and San Diego says it does not affect your US nationality.
Naturalisation is different. Mexico's nationality law asks you to sign a written renunciation of any other nationality, and of loyalty to any foreign state, and to promise to obey Mexico's laws. On the US side, USA.gov says a US citizen may naturalise in another country without risking US citizenship.
Mexico also has rules for keeping it. Its Constitution says a naturalised Mexican loses Mexican nationality by:
- Taking another nationality of their own free will.
- Calling themselves a foreigner in an official document.
- Using a foreign passport.
- Living abroad for 5 years in a row.
USA.gov says dual citizens must use a US passport to enter and leave the US. Put these rules side by side, and being Mexican by birth fits with a US passport far more easily than naturalisation does.
Which passport do you use if you are both?
Each country wants its own. Mexico's nationality law says Mexicans by birth must enter and leave Mexico as Mexicans, even if they hold another nationality, and it sets fines for breaking this rule. USA.gov says US citizens must use a US passport to enter and leave the US.
The same law treats you only as Mexican in your legal dealings in Mexico, and when you own property or a stake in a company there. You cannot call on a foreign government to protect you in those matters. The law says anyone who does loses that property to the nation.
Two passports also mean two lists of places you can visit without a visa. Compare where a Mexican passport gets you in with where a US passport gets you in.
Is Mexico changing its dual citizenship rules?
Only for a few top posts, so far. A decree published on 7 October 2026 says the President, state governors and the head of government of Mexico City must not hold another nationality. A candidate who has one must give it up before registering to run.
It applies from the 2028 election process. Mexican nationality certificates issued before the decree stay valid for every other post. The decree also gives Congress 90 days to update the nationality law, so that law may change soon.
If Mexico is one of several places you are weighing, see the easiest countries to move to from the US.