When it comes to obtaining Mexican citizenship, the required documents, procedures, and deadlines are usually mentioned. But after its registration there is also responsibility. Title V of the Mexican Citizenship Law (Ley de Nacionalidad) describes in detail what specific actions of a Mexican citizen may result in fines.
The set of fines may surprise those who are accustomed to perceiving citizenship as a purely formal sign. But if you are a Mexican citizen, you are not «temporarily» become a foreigner for the convenience of passing border control at Mexican airports or to solve migration problems.
1. Presenting yourself as a foreigner when entering or leaving Mexico
This is the most common violation. Any citizen of Mexico, regardless of the basis of acquisition of citizenship (by birth or by naturalization), is obliged to identify himself only as Mexican to the Mexican state. If a Mexican, when entering or leaving Mexico, uses a passport from another country, posing as a foreigner, he will be fined.
The amount of the fine is — equivalent to 300 — 500 minimum wages (83,640 — 139,400 MXN as of 2025). The minimum wage unit is often used in many official documents in Mexico to calculate various taxes, duties, fees and penalties and is indexed annually.
Here we would like to make one remark. Quite often, parents who give birth to a child in Mexico receive only a passport of their citizenship for the child, but do not receive a Mexican passport, and then take the child out of Mexico as a foreigner. This — a direct violation of the Mexican Nationality Law because the child — Mexican citizen by birth, even if he did not obtain a passport to travel abroad. Another thing is that the migration service at the airport does not always have the right to determine that the child — Mexican, since there is no record of his Mexican passport in the migration database. By taking a child out of Mexico as a foreigner, parents expose themselves to the risk of fines.
2. A fictitious marriage to obtain Mexican citizenship
If a person marries solely for the purpose of obtaining Mexican citizenship, this carries one of the highest penalties: the equivalent of 500 to 2,000 minimum wages (139,400 — 557,600 MXN).
The peculiarity of this norm is that both participants in a fictitious marriage bear responsibility:
- a foreign national who marries for the purpose of acquiring Mexican citizenship,
- Mexican spouse, if he is aware of this purpose and knowingly participates in a fictitious marriage.
We are talking specifically about marriage for the sole purpose of obtaining citizenship. The law does not require proof of registration of money or other benefit — an intention aimed at circumventing the legal stages of obtaining citizenship is sufficient. If a couple has the right to confirm their life together, there are children, a provable relationship — this does not fall under the article. That is why the migration service conducts interviews with spouses and conducts on-site checks — to confirm that the marriage is not fictitious.
Although a fine is an administrative sanction, it may be accompanied by:
- migration consequences for a foreigner, up to the cancellation of residence and naturalization,
- disciplinary or criminal audits if false documentation is found.
3. Concealing or misrepresenting information in citizenship proceedings
When a person submits documents to confirm Mexican citizenship, its restoration or execution of consular acts, he must provide correct information.
For false information — fine from 100 to 500 minimum wages (27,880 — 139,400 MXN).
This also includes actions during or after the stages of naturalization:
- concealment of «the fact of an official charge or criminal prosecution or similar persecution abroad»,
- «dishonest conduct in conducting proceedings with the aim of misleading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs»,
- hiding the fact that a person has several foreign citizenships,
- after acquiring citizenship, the person refuses to recognize the Mexican authorities or acts against them,
- public denial of Mexican citizenship despite naturalization.
4. Use of invalid, forged or canceled papers related to citizenship
We are talking about situations where a person, in particular, tries to use a birth certificate that has been declared invalid, or provides a false document to prove his citizenship.
Fine: from 200 to 800 minimum wages (55,760 — 223,040 MXN).
In some cases, criminal liability is also provided for this violation.
5. Other administrative violations
This is the most ambiguous clause in the fines section of the Citizenship Law, since it can include any «other» violation of the Law not specified above.
The amount of the fine is — up to 1000 minimum wages (up to MXN 278,800).
Examples of situations that may fall under this rule:
- failure to comply with formal deadlines for filing mandatory notifications related to citizenship,
- refusal to comply with the request of the competent authority to provide documentation within the framework of the stages, if this is expressly provided by law,
- violation of the norms for storing or using civil status acts related to confirmation of citizenship,
- obstruction of administrative checks or consular actions.
This is not a fine «for anything». This is a fine for any administrative violation of the Citizenship Law or its Regulations. In other words, this norm was created to close all the “gray areas” that are formally considered a violation, but are not described in detail in the Law.