Requirements for Mexican dual citizenship
The documents usually required to register someone born in the United States at a Mexican consulate, ready to print.
How to use this checklist
This checklist gathers the documents usually required to register someone born in the United States to a Mexican father or mother at a Mexican consulate. It’s based on the requirements published by the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles. Each consulate may ask for something different or something extra depending on the case, so use it as a guide, check your consulate’s official page and bring it to your consultation: we’ll go through it together.
Always bring originals in good condition. Copies and documents that are torn, marked up or hard to read may not be accepted.
Document checklist
Check off each document when you have it ready.
For the person being registered
- Long-form U.S. birth certificate (not the abstract), original and in good condition, issued by the county or state records office
- Valid official ID with name and date of birth. For minors, the photo must match the child’s current appearance
For the Mexican father or mother
- Original Mexican birth certificate (or, if naturalized as a Mexican, the Mexican naturalization letter)
- Valid official photo ID with full name and signature
- If they became a U.S. citizen: naturalization certificate (shown and returned to you)
For the other parent, if not Mexican
- Valid official ID; parents from other countries, a valid passport with their signature (passport book)
Depending on your case
Ask us if any of these apply to your family.
- Parents who weren’t married or married after the birth: the father attends the registration appointment or signs a notarized special power of attorney
- The mother uses her married name on her ID: marriage certificate
- A parent has passed away: original death certificate
- Adults registering themselves: the parents’ marriage certificate (from at least six months before the birth) and a U.S. passport
- Birth certificates from other countries: verification or apostille, plus a Spanish translation if not in English or Spanish
Before the appointment
- Check that the parents’ names are identical on every document
- Request the appointment through the consulate’s official channels (phone, WhatsApp or citas.sre.gob.mx)
- Check the consulate’s official page in case it asks for anything else
The most common document mistakes
Bringing the abstract instead of the long form. Many families keep a short version of the U.S. birth certificate at home. The consulate asks for the long form, the one that shows the parents’ full details. If you don’t have it, you can order it from the records office of the county where your child was born, or from the state.
Names that don’t match between documents. This is the most common problem. If the U.S. birth certificate shows the mother with her husband’s surname, or a parent is missing a surname or has a different letter, the consulate may ask for more documents or not do the registration that day. Check before you request the appointment; at the consultation we tell you what to do in each case.
Expired IDs. IDs have to be valid on the day of the appointment, both for the person being registered and for the parents.
Forgetting the special cases. A notarized power of attorney from the father, a marriage certificate or a death certificate may be essential depending on your situation. Better to know beforehand than to have to come back.
After registration
Once your child has the Mexican birth certificate, the next step is usually the CURP and the Mexican passport. See what comes after registration.
Important notice
This page is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary from one consulate to another and can change over time; at your consultation we confirm the requirements for your case and your consulate. Hermandad Mexicana Nacional is a nonprofit: it is not part of, or affiliated with, the Mexican government or its consulates.
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