Becoming Mexican
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Brazil on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Brazil to Mexico · Becoming a citizen
Five years of residence is the general rule, and it falls to two for anyone from a Latin American country or the Iberian Peninsula, for a direct-line descendant of a Mexican by birth, for a parent of a Mexican-born child, and for the spouse of a Mexican who has lived with them in Mexico. The tests are Spanish plus a history and culture examination, both set against content approved by the foreign ministry's own institute, with the history paper waived for minors, refugees and anyone over sixty. The trap is the residence clock: only time held on a temporary or permanent resident card counts, and six months of absences in the last two years breaks it.
At a glance
- General residence requirement
- 5 years immediately before the application
- Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula
- 2 years
- Direct-line descendant of a Mexican by birth
- 2 years
- Parent of a Mexican child by birth
- 2 years
- Spouse of a Mexican
- 2 years of living together in the marital home in Mexico
- Adopted children and minor descendants under Mexican parental authority
- 1 year, uninterrupted
- Absences that break the clock
- More than 6 months in total during the 2 years before the application
- What counts as residence
- Only time on a temporary or permanent resident card
- Examinations
- Spanish, plus Mexican history and culture
- History paper waived for
- Minors, refugees and applicants over sixty - Spanish is still required
- Naturalisation fee
- MXN 9,502.01
- When the nationality takes effect
- The day after the naturalisation certificate is issued
Requirements
- Five years of residence immediately before the application, or two years in the shortened cases
- Residence proved with a temporary or permanent resident card - a visitor permission proves nothing
- That card valid for at least six months beyond the date of the application
- Passing a Spanish examination and a Mexican history and culture examination, set against content approved by the Instituto Matías Romero
- A written statement of every entry and exit over the relevant period, for the absence calculation
- Renunciation of other nationalities and the protest required by article 17 of the Ley de Nacionalidad, which is only taken once the decision to grant has been made
- Payment of the naturalisation fee
In detail
Two years is the common case, not the exception
The headline five years applies to someone with no connection to Mexico and no Spanish-speaking or Iberian origin. A Spaniard, a Portuguese, a Brazilian, a Colombian, an Argentine - anyone 'originario' of a Latin American country or the Iberian Peninsula - needs two. So does the grandchild of a Mexican, the parent of a Mexican-born child, and the spouse who has lived with their Mexican partner in Mexico. In practice, for most of the people this reference is written for, Mexico asks two years.
The residence clock is stricter than it looks
Two things narrow it. First, only time on a temporary or permanent resident card counts: the regulation names those two documents and nothing else, so long stays as a visitor are invisible here. Second, absences are measured as a quota rather than as a break - more than six months away in total during the final two years interrupts the residence, however the trips were spread. A single long trip three years back is harmless; three two-month holidays in the last eighteen months are not.
What the examinations are
The law asks for Spanish, knowledge of the country's history and integration into the national culture. The regulation turns that into examinations set against content approved by the Instituto Matías Romero, the foreign ministry's diplomatic academy. Minors, people the interior ministry recognises as refugees, and applicants over sixty take the Spanish test only. The renunciation of other nationalities is not required until the decision to grant has been made, which means an applicant is not asked to give anything up while the outcome is still open.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Brazil
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«El extranjero que pretenda naturalizarse mexicano deberá acreditar que ha residido en territorio nacional cuando menos durante los últimos cinco años inmediatos anteriores a la fecha de su solicitud»Our translation - not official
The foreigner who wishes to naturalise as Mexican must prove that he has resided in national territory for at least the last five years immediately preceding the date of his application
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Bastará una residencia de dos años inmediatamente anteriores a la fecha de la solicitud cuando el interesado:»Our translation - not official
Two years of residence immediately preceding the date of the application shall suffice where the person concerned:
The four cases that follow are descent from a Mexican by birth, having Mexican children by birth, being from a Latin American country or the Iberian Peninsula, and outstanding service to the nation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Sea originario de un país latinoamericano o de la Península Ibérica, o»Our translation - not official
Is a native of a Latin American country or of the Iberian Peninsula, or
'Originario' - a native of - rather than a national of. The law does not define it, and the distinction matters for someone who naturalised elsewhere.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Las ausencias temporales del país no interrumpirán la residencia, salvo que éstas se presenten durante los dos años anteriores a la presentación de la solicitud y excedan en total seis meses.»Our translation - not official
Temporary absences from the country shall not interrupt residence, unless they occur during the two years preceding the submission of the application and exceed six months in total.
A quota, not a rule about continuous absence: three trips of ten weeks each in the final two years break the residence, while a single seven-month absence three years ago does not.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Bastará una residencia de un año inmediato anterior a la solicitud, en el caso de adoptados, así como de menores descendientes hasta segundo grado, sujetos a la patria potestad de mexicanos.»Our translation - not official
One year of residence immediately preceding the application shall suffice in the case of adopted children, and of minor descendants up to the second degree under the parental authority of Mexicans.
Article 21 adds that this one year, unlike the five-year and two-year periods, must be uninterrupted.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Probar que sabe hablar español, conoce la historia del país y está integrado a la cultura nacional;»Our translation - not official
Prove that he can speak Spanish, knows the country's history and is integrated into the national culture;
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Todo extranjero que pretenda naturalizarse mexicano, deberá acreditar que sabe hablar español, que conoce la historia del país y que está integrado a la cultura nacional, para lo cual deberá presentar y aprobar los exámenes de acuerdo con los contenidos aprobados por el Instituto Matías Romero de la Secretaría.»Our translation - not official
Every foreigner who wishes to naturalise as Mexican must prove that he can speak Spanish, knows the country's history and is integrated into the national culture, for which he must sit and pass the examinations according to the content approved by the Ministry's Instituto Matías Romero.
The syllabus belongs to the foreign ministry's own diplomatic academy, not to an education authority.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«En el caso del extranjero al que la Secretaría de Gobernación considere refugiado, así como cuando se trate de menores de edad y personas mayores de sesenta años, será suficiente que acrediten saber hablar español.»Our translation - not official
In the case of a foreigner whom the Ministry of the Interior considers a refugee, and in the case of minors and persons over sixty years of age, it shall be sufficient that they prove they can speak Spanish.
The history and culture paper falls away for these three groups; the Spanish requirement does not.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Con la tarjeta expedida por la Secretaría de Gobernación que acredite la condición de estancia de residente temporal, o»Our translation - not official
With the card issued by the Ministry of the Interior evidencing temporary resident status, or
The only two admissible proofs of residence are the temporary and the permanent resident card. Years lived in Mexico on visitor permissions count for nothing in this calculation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«el cual deberá tener una vigencia mínima de seis meses, posteriores a la presentación de la solicitud»Our translation - not official
which must have at least six months' validity remaining after the submission of the application
A card about to expire blocks the application. Someone timing a naturalisation to the end of a four-year temporary residence has to renew first, or go permanent first.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«expedición de la carta de naturalización a la que hace referencia las fracciones I y II del Apartado B del artículo 30 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos $9,502.01»Our translation - not official
issue of the naturalisation certificate referred to in fractions I and II of Section B of article 30 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States $9,502.01
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
We did not read the foreign ministry's procedure pages: its naturalisation site is behind a browser check that our fetcher cannot pass, so the number of questions, the pass mark and the current fee schedule are not sourced here. The fee given is from the Ley Federal de Derechos.
Mexico does not require renunciation as a precondition. The law forbids the ministry from demanding it until the grant has been decided, and the certificate is issued once it has been made.
Someone who naturalises keeps Mexican nationality after a divorce where it was acquired through marriage, unless the marriage is annulled for a reason attributable to them.
Posts and offices reserved by the Constitution to Mexicans by birth stay closed to a naturalised Mexican; the Constitution says so in article 32 and extends the reservation to any other federal law that provides for it.
- consolidatesLey de Nacionalidad (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- consolidatesReglamento de la Ley de Nacionalidad (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- consolidatesLey Federal de Derechos (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- consolidatesConstitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source