Every child born in Mexico automatically has the right to become a citizen of this country. In addition, a child born abroad can acquire Mexican citizenship if one or both of his parents are Mexican by birth or naturalization (however, a Mexican parent who received Mexican citizenship from a Mexican parent but was born abroad cannot pass on this citizenship to his or her foreign-born children).
To exercise this right, the child’s parents must grant him Mexican citizenship. In the future, in addition, it is allowed to prepare the citizenship of the parents for the child, and for the parents — permanent residence in Mexico. This is done in several stages.
Birth certificate
To obtain a Mexican birth certificate (Acta de Nacimiento), you should contact the Registro Civil (registry office). You can find registro civil offices in different states and municipalities of Mexico by following the necessary link in thisfile.
Cancun hassixRegistro civil offices, central located at SM 22, Calle Margaritas No. 31, Colonia Centro (near Las Palapas park). Opening hours: Monday — Friday from 08:00 to 21:00 (but expect to work until 15:00). .
You do not have to go to the central office to stand in line there.
The coordinates of all registro civil offices in Cancun where you can purchase a child's birth certificate are presented in thispublications.
In Playa del Carmen (municipality of Solidaridad), the registro civil is located at Municipio de Solidaridad, Palacio Nuevo. .
To register a child at the registro civil office and obtain a birth certificate, you must have the following documentation:
- Application form for child registration — You can fill it out on the spot, or you can download it on the Internet and bring it already filled out. Here are the application forms forCancunand forPlaya del Carmen.
- Birth certificate from a medical institution (Certificado de Nacimiento, also called birth certificate or nacido vivo), on letterhead and stamped, original and copy
- A copy of the doctor’s ID card specified in the medical institution certificate
- Passports of both parents, original and copy of data page
- Birth certificates of both parents. If the parents are foreigners, the certificates must be apostilled, translated into Spanish and certified by a Mexican sworn translator*
*Parents' birth certificates are not required in all states. In Quintana Roo they do not require it. If the parents have their birth certificates, enter information about the grandparents in the application form for registering the child.
If your parents' birth certificates are needed and you don't have them, read thispublication.
- Parents' marriage certificate (optional). If the certificate was not issued in Mexico, it must be apostilled, translated into Spanish and certified by a Mexican sworn translator
- Paper FMM immigration forms received upon entry through the land border, or printed FMMD forms downloaded upon entry through the airport, parents — foreigners or another document confirming legal stay in the country, original and copy — required in some registro civil offices
- Two adult witnesses with identification cards containing their photographs, originals and copies of these documents
Any adult citizens of any state, including relatives, have the right to be witnesses.
Sometimes they also require confirmation of your home address. As proof, they usually accept electricity bills from SFE, water bills or home telephone bills from Telmex, but not older than 3 months. The address is listed on these accounts. In addition, a rental contract is suitable.
After comparing the copies with the originals, all original documents are returned. Some registros civil have the opportunity to require not one, but two copies of documentation.
When registering a child at the registro civil offices, the presence of both parents and witnesses is mandatory. But the presence of a child is not necessary.
If one of the parents is absent, the other should be given a document explaining the absence of the second parent (certificate of divorce or death of the spouse). If such a document was not issued in Mexico, it must be apostilled, translated into Spanish and certified by a Mexican sworn translator. Although on some websites you can read that an absent parent has the right to issue a power of attorney to register a child with the registro civil, in reality such powers of attorney are not accepted.
How to register a child and obtain a Mexican birth certificate without the presence of the father, we described in thisarticle.
The issuance of a birth certificate at the registro civil takes up to half an hour (officially — 15 minutes).
Price: no charge for children under 5 months. If the child is 6 months or older, a certain procedure must be followed by requesting a certificate of non-registration of the child. Sometimes, if the parents are foreigners, they officially have the opportunity to ask to pay approximately MXN 110 ($6) “to promote tourism, comprehensive family development, social development and promotion of culture in the state.”
An employee of the registro civil can also be called home (on-site birth registration). Officially in the state of Quintana Roo it is valued at 490 / 700 MXN during working / non-working hours ($25 / 36). Additionally, you will have to pay for a taxi and, possibly, thank the registry office employee (although it is not recommended to tip official employees, but it is recommended to pay the amount that he requests, including the official part, — 1000 — 1500 MXN). The next day you can pick up the birth certificate at the registro civil or they will bring it themselves. Representatives of the Civil Registry Office also offer registration of a CURPa for a child and an apostille for a certificate for an additional fee.
Once you receive a Mexican birth certificate, your child is considered a Mexican citizen! However, several more steps are required.
Certified copies of birth certificate
After purchasing a child's birth certificate, you should purchase a certified copy of it (Copia certificada) — extract from the register. It is also called a certified copy. You may need several copies, which Mexican officials will request:
- upon receipt of a passport for a child,
- when parents and relatives obtain permanent residence in Mexico.
These copies will not be needed when the child obtains citizenship of the parents' country.
Please note that a certified copy has a limited validity period. But you can request and obtain a copy at any time, not necessarily immediately after purchasing the birth certificate. Moreover, for this purpose it is allowed not to come to the registro civil.
A certified copy of the birth certificate can be obtained electronically and then printed at home on white paper. Such a copy has the same legal force as that received from the registro civil. It has a QR code and an electronic ID. Government agencies that request a copy of a child's birth certificate have technical options to instantly verify its authenticity.
You can obtain a certified copy of your child’s birth certificate herepage, click on the button opposite the option «Acta de nacimiento en línea». You will need accompanied authorizationLlave MX. Next, you need to pay for the service by credit card, and then print a certified copy within 24 hours.
You can also receive a certified copy by visiting the same registro civil in person where you received the original birth certificate of the child. This is done without registration in the general queue. An identification document of the person requesting a copy is not needed, but the details of the birth certificate itself are needed. You can pay for the service in banks, OXXO stores, etc.
Pricean electronic certified copy of a birth certificate in the state of Quintana Roo is 42 MXN ($2), a paper copy in the offices of the registro civil — 52 MXN. Costs will vary in other states in Mexico.
Apostille on birth certificate
After issuing a Mexican birth certificate, you need to put an apostille on it in order for the child to subsequently receive the citizenship of the parents at the consulate of their country in Mexico City. Very often this is done like this: you leave the registro civil with the received certificate and immediately take it for apostille.
It is possible to apostille a birth certificate only at the General Secretariat of each state government. The government of Quintana Roo is located in the city of Chetumal, however, they also have an office in Cancun. In other cities in the state of Quintana Roo, it is not possible to apostille a birth certificate, but you can send the documentation by mail.
Any person who has the original of this document can request apostille of a document. No power of attorney is needed. You are required to have the following documentation with you:
- Document to be affixed with an apostille
- Identity card of the person submitting the document for apostille
- Identification number (CURP) — for Mexican citizens only
- Receipt for payment of services, original
State Government Office Hours: Monday — Friday from 09:00 to 15:00.
Rate: 670 MXN ($39). The apostille process takes from 3 to 15 working days, but often the document is certified on the day of submission.
You can find out the contacts and opening hours of offices that apostille documents in different states of Mexico.Here.
Legalization of a Mexican birth certificate abroad
For a child to obtain the citizenship of his parents at a foreign consulate in Mexico, a copy of the birth certificate issued by the Mexican registro civil, apostilled, translated into the language of the state of citizenship of the parents with certification of the translation by a sworn translator of Mexico is required.
In addition, the translation of the birth certificate can be certified at the foreign consulate itself. However, usually, consulates do not deal with translation, but only with its certification. The translation must be completed in advance, without errors and in compliance with established translation rules, and provided for certification in printed form.
You are allowed to find sworn translators in Mexico who do such translations.Here.
Pricetranslation services by a sworn translator range from 400 MXN ($21). In this case, personal presence or delivery of the original birth certificate is most often not necessary. You just need to send a scanned copy of the document by email, and in return you will receive a translation by paper mail or courier delivery, certified by the signature and seal of a sworn translator.
The cost of certifying a copy of a translation of documentation from Spanish into Russian at the Ukrainian Consulate in Mexico reaches $40 per document, at the Russian Consulate — $25 for each original page.
Mexican sworn translators are also able to translate other documents apostilled outside of Mexico into Spanish.
Unfortunately, translations made by sworn translators in Mexico are most often not accepted abroad, in Ukraine or Russia. You will have to first translate the certificate from a certified translator in your country, and then have the translation certified by a notary, or use another copy of the translation certified by the consulate in Mexico. Read about it in thisarticle.
Mexican Resident Identification Code (CURP)
Registration of CURP for a child — the next step towards obtaining Mexican citizenship for him.
CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población) — a unique number that is issued to all Mexican citizens, and in addition to residents (Residente temporal, Residente permanente). CURP is needed to complete a variety of government and other procedures such as applying for insurance, school admission, acquiring a driver's license, paying taxes, etc.
A CURP for a child is generated before the birth certificate is issued. After this, obtaining CURP is allowed asonline(select the Ingresa los Datos para buscar tu CURP tab) and then download it to your computer and simply print it or visit the registro civil office (see above). In this case, you will need to indicate all the same data that is contained in the child’s birth certificate.
Price: The purchase of CURP is always free of charge.
Health card (vaccinations)
Obtaining a health card (Cartilla Nacional de Salud) — not required, but highly recommended. This card is also called a medical book or vaccination card. In fact, this is an analogue of the card in our usual clinics, but only in a compressed form. As a rule, it is given out after the first vaccination. It records all vaccinations given, all visits to the doctor, the child’s measurements and other health indicators.
For children under 9 years old this card looks likelike this. The card contains the child’s data from the birth certificate, his CURP (if any), and a photograph is pasted in. You need to have this card with you every time you visit your doctor, so it's best to get it right away.
A health card is issued on the basis of a birth certificate in any medical institution, public or commercial.Price: free of charge.
Previously, a health card (called a vaccination card) could be asked for at the immigration service when applying for a residence permit for parents or at foreign consulates when registering a child. Now they don't ask.
International passport for a child
If you are going to travel abroad with your child, you should purchase a passport for the child.
How to purchase a passport for a child — Mexican citizen, read inthisarticle.
If you do not plan to leave Mexico yet, you do not need to purchase a passport. In addition, for children under 3 years of age, a passport is issued for a validity period of only 1 or 3 years. And it is possible to create the citizenship of the parents for a child without a passport.