Our readers know that in most cases the period from acquiring a residence permit to applying for Mexican citizenship is 5 years. And only in a few cases is it shorter — 2 years. These cases include the birth of a child in Mexico, marriage to a Mexican citizen, or citizenship of Spain and a number of Latin American countries.
If you already have a Mexican resident card obtained on any other basis, then after the birth of a child or marriage, you can reduce the time before applying for citizenship to two years.
According to Mexico's naturalization legislation, the starting point for the naturalization procedure based on the birth of a child is the date of receipt of the resident card for the first time. If you already had a resident card, and 2 years have passed since it was issued, and then you gave birth to a child, then you have the opportunity to begin the naturalization procedure immediately after the birth of the child. If less than 2 years have passed since the date of receipt of the card, wait until these 2 years have passed and then begin the naturalization procedure. It doesn’t matter what kind of card you have, temporary or permanent resident.
Determining the period before naturalization for marriage to a Mexican citizen is a little more complicated. On the one hand, naturalization legislation specifies that you and your spouse must have been married for 2 years. In other words, if you already had a resident card, and then you got married, the countdown of 2 years before naturalization must begin from the date of marriage registration. At the same time, the National Institute of Migration believes that 2 years should pass from the moment the migration service is notified of the event. The difference between these two countdown dates of 2 years before the right to obtain citizenship can be several months and depends on how quickly you notify the migration service after registering your marriage.
When you notify the immigration office of your marriage, they will first check to see if the event is recorded in the Mexican civil registry. If the marriage to a Mexican is registered abroad, the foreign marriage certificate must be apostilled, translated into Spanish and submitted to the Mexican civil registry office (registro civil) for inclusion in the registry. You can make an entry in the civil registry both in Mexico and through the Mexican consulate. After the entry appears in the civil registry, the migration service will take into account the fact of marriage.
Whether you should change your residency card after birth or marriage depends on your current status in Mexico. Let's say, if you are now a temporary resident, after the birth of your child it is estimated to purchase a permanent resident card, and then think about how many years later you will want to apply for citizenship — in 2 years, 5 or 10 years. Because the permanent resident card has no expiration date and does not need to be renewed. On the other hand, if your temporary resident card is valid for 4 years (it does not need to be renewed), then you have the right not to change it, because after 2 years you will still be able to apply for citizenship.
Marriage has its own nuances. The temporary resident card cannot be changed until its expiration date. By notifying the migration service about your marriage, you simply shorten the period until you can acquire a permanent resident card and/or be allowed to apply for citizenship to 2 years. If your temporary resident card is due to be renewed during these years, you will have to renew it.
The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires that your residency card be valid for at least six months at the time of applying for citizenship. This also determines whether your current card is suitable and whether you need to first get a new one and then begin the naturalization process.
Applying for citizenship based on the birth of a child or marriage to a Mexican, in other words, using a 2-year period only makes sense if it reduces the current period before obtaining citizenship and simplifies the naturalization procedure. Let's say you have been a resident of Mexico for 4 years and only now got married. You can begin the naturalization process after 1 year based on 5 years as a resident or after 2 years based on marriage to a Mexican. It is more logical to use the first option. In addition, the number of required documents is less in the first option.
If you received a resident card by birth of a child, let’s say, not entirely legally, it makes sense to wait until 5 years have passed as a resident of Mexico and then apply for citizenship, rather than apply for citizenship after 2 years, but with the fear that the child’s papers may be checked.
Everything written above does not apply to those who had a Mexican resident card for study at the time of the birth of a child or marriage. It is necessary to prepare a new card based on the event that occurred, and only after this can the period before applying for citizenship be considered.