Mexico is a country situated in Northern America. It is fun, fascinating, diverse, and beautiful. It is also one of the biggest countries in the world. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing vacation, relocation option, or starting a business, exploring Mexican citizenship is absolutely recommended.
Having Mexican citizenship has several benefits and can make life a lot easier if you live there. As a Mexican citizen, you would have full rights to vote and live without fear of being deported. The Mexican passport is also one of the strongest, allowing visa-free access to well over 100 countries which includes Europe’s Schengen region as well.
Entering Mexico
Any foreigner who wants to live and work in Mexico legally must get a Mexico Resident Visa. There are several types of Mexican visas and they include the following:
• The Mexican Tourist Visa: this visa allows the holder to stay in Mexico for up to 180 days for purposes that do not include lucrative activities.
• The Mexican Temporary Resident Visa: this is issued to foreigners who want to live in Mexico for longer than 180 days.
• The Mexican Permanent Resident Visa: this visa is issued to foreigners who want to permanently settle in Mexico.
• The Mexico Student Visa: this type of visa is issued to foreign students who want to pursue their studies in a Mexican educational institution.
• There is also an adoption visa.
Entering Mexico is relatively easy if you are a citizen of the US, most of Western Europe, or from specific Latin American countries. You can show up as a tourist and visit Mexico visa-free for up to 180 days. But citizens of other countries require a visa.
You can stay in Mexico for this whole duration and even work online or in a business that is location-independent. But, if you want to work for a Mexican company, then you will require a work permit.
If you are serious about moving to Mexico, and living there permanently, you should consider a temporary or permanent resident visa. You have to apply for a resident visa from a Mexican consulate located outside Mexico. When you apply, you will be given a temporary visa.
The duration of the Mexican Temporary Resident Visa is 180 days. Once you arrive in Mexico you must apply to turn it into a Temporary Resident Card within 30 days. The Mexico Temporary Resident Card is credible for one year on the first issuance and can be renewed for another one to three years.
After four years of living with a Mexican Temporary Resident Visa, you become qualified to apply for Permanent Residency.
Qualifying for a temporary resident visa in Mexico
Mexico gives a Temporary Resident visa, intended for people who wish to stay in Mexico for up to 4 years. The Temporary Resident visa is a renewable, long-term residency permit that gives valid temporary residency status to the holder.
To apply for and be granted a temporary resident visa in Mexico, the applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:
• You can receive a residence permit if you are willing to invest your capital in Mexico.
• If you are a qualified professional, scientist, or technician, Mexico offers a category of visa that allows you to live and work in Mexico under sponsorship from a company.
• There are specific instances where you may receive an invitation to volunteer for a Mexico-based institution without receiving any income. If you have such an invitation, then you may be entitled to a temporary resident visa as well.
• If you are related to a Mexican citizen or a permanent or temporary resident, you may qualify for the temporary resident visa as well.
• If you purchase Mexican real estate which is valued at forty thousand days times the minimum wage in Mexico, you may be able to get a temporary resident visa as well.
• This temporary residence permit can optionally carry work permissions, and allows unlimited entries to, and exits from, Mexico.
If you are planning to reside and not work in Mexico, then you will have to prove that you have sufficient funds to pay for your housing and food expenses while in Mexico.
If you are married to a Mexican national, you will be granted two years of temporary residency and after those two years you can exchange this for permanent residency
Qualifying for a permanent resident visa in Mexico
The Mexican Permanent Resident permit is intended for people seeking permanent residency status in Mexico. You do not necessarily have to be a Temporary Resident first before becoming a Permanent Resident, given that you fulfill the requirements required for permanent residency.
To apply for and be granted a Mexican permanent resident visa, the applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:
• Have certain close family connections in Mexico: if a person is related to the second level of permanent resident or citizen, or if the person is a sibling of a Mexican citizen or permanent resident.
• The applicant can apply for retirement status: if the person is retired, has pension payments coming in, and can provide for himself/herself through investment income, savings, or pension payments.
• The applicant must have four consecutive years of regular status as a Temporary Resident,
• The applicant must have two consecutive years of regular status as a Temporary Resident where that Temporary residency was granted through marriage to a Mexican national or a foreign permanent resident.
• The applicant must meet a minimum score under the Points System: foreign nationals who have expertise in sciences, arts, technology, humanities, sports, or other important areas that the Mexican government deems capable of enhancing Mexico would qualify for the points-based program.
• The applicant can be granted residency on humanitarian grounds or through political asylum.
With a few exceptions (applicants of the points-based program who can apply within Mexico at any one of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM) offices), the Permanent Resident permit cannot be granted in Mexico. The applicant must apply for it at a Mexican consulate outside of Mexico.
The good thing about a permanent residency is that the holder then doesn’t have to apply for a work permit. He/she can work anywhere in Mexico.
If you are born in Mexico, then you automatically become a citizen. The process of becoming a citizen normally happens within the first year of birth.
Obtaining citizenship and dual citizenship
If you plan on staying in Mexico for the long period, at some stage you might choose to take your residency status to the next level: citizenship.
Mexico is one of the countries in the world that permits dual citizenship. You can hold two citizenship if a Mexican citizenship is one of the two.
The majority of foreigners qualify for Mexican citizenship through a process known as naturalization.
Naturalization is the process by which you apply for and, if successful, afterward obtain Mexican citizenship.
Importantly, you must have at least 5 consecutive years of legal residency, either temporary and, or permanent. But foreigners who come from Latin American countries or the Iberian Peninsula, can naturalize in just two years of residency.
Also, you must prove that you have been situated in Mexico for at least 18 months in the past two years before your application date.
A path to becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen directly is by birth within Mexico, outside Mexico to Mexican parents or parents of Mexican descent, through marriage to a Mexican citizen, or by having Mexican children.
The process of applying for Mexican citizenship
The process of obtaining Mexican citizenship is quite simple. You just have to meet the requirements and present the correct documentation to the right authorities.
The Requirements for Mexican Citizenship Application
Original and one copy of the following:
• Completed application form DNN-3
• CURP – Clave Única de Registro de Población
• Foreign birth certificate
• Resident card
• Passport or alternative valid ID
• Resident card.
• A letter under oath asserting the number of exits from and entries to Mexico for the two years preceding the application.
• Clean Criminal Record Certificate issued by the national and local authority for your place of residency
• Proof of your understanding of the Spanish language, the history of the country, and your cultural integration in Mexico
• Two passport-size photos
Extra forms or documents may be required. After gathering the essential documents, you can go to the applicable office, consulate, or immigration office, as may be the case, and submit the documents.
Being a Mexican citizen means uninhibited access to jobs, education, and several other benefits in the North American country. Ready to apply for Mexican citizenship? Let’s go ahead and contact your Damalion expert now.
