This is general information, not legal advice. Naturalization rules and SRE procedures change — confirm current requirements with the SRE or a licensed attorney before you rely on anything here.
How It Works
Who Qualifies and How Long It Takes
- 5 years: the standard path.
- 2 years: you’re married to a Mexican and have lived together in Mexico for those 2 years.
- 2 years: you have children who are Mexican by birth, you descend directly from a Mexican by birth, or you’re originally from Latin America, Spain, or Portugal.
- 1 year: you were adopted by Mexicans, or you’re a minor child or grandchild in a Mexican’s custody.
Will You Keep Your Other Citizenship?
The US and Canada, for example, generally don’t treat a renunciation made inside another country’s naturalization as giving up citizenship, which is why many people end up holding both. Confirm with your own country’s consulate before you sign.
Once you’re a naturalized Mexican, Article 37 of the Constitution says you can lose it by using a foreign passport, presenting yourself as a foreigner on an official document, or living abroad for five years straight. Ask an attorney how to handle this if your other country requires you to travel on its passport.
Children of a Mexican Parent
The Exams
- History and culture: 10 multiple-choice questions, 8 correct to pass, 10 minutes. The SRE’s study list covers history; civics, population, and geography; and traditions, culture, and food.
- Spanish: a short interview, a reading passage, and a written section. You need 5 of 6 points and a satisfactory interview, in 10 minutes.
Applicants over 60, minors, and refugees skip the history and culture test but still take the Spanish test. A second attempt comes at least 15 business days after the first; fail both and you wait a year and pay the fee again.
Some applicants report being asked to recite the national anthem, mainly at the Mérida office. It isn’t in the published rules, but it’s worth learning. Practice it below.
Where and How to Apply
Pre-register on the SRE’s SINNA site, then choose where to file: the central office in Mexico City or the SRE desks inside the passport offices in Mérida, Monterrey, and Pachuca. Every appointment and both exams happen at the location you pick, and you go alone, except that married applicants bring their Mexican spouse. The fee changes every year, so check the current amount on the SRE’s site.
Practice the Exam
The real history and culture exam is in Spanish: 10 multiple-choice questions, 8 correct to pass, 10 minutes. Practice in English first if it helps, then switch.
Civics practice is free. History, culture, and the full practice exam come with Amigo Plus.
The National Anthem
These are the official recordings published by Mexico’s Defense Department (SEDENA). Mexican law protects the anthem: sing the official lyrics, respectfully, and never for profit.
Practice Reciting It
Pick a section. You’ll see one line; say the next one out loud, then check yourself.
Sung in full, it goes chorus, stanza I, chorus, II, chorus, III, chorus, IV, and ends on the chorus.
Coro
Mexicanos, al grito de guerraMexicans, at the cry of war,
El acero aprestad y el bridón,make ready the steel and the bridle,
y retiemble en sus centros la tierraand let the earth tremble at its core
Al sonoro rugir del cañón.at the resounding roar of the cannon.
Estrofa I
Ciña ¡oh patria! tus sienes de olivaMay your brow, oh homeland, be crowned with olive
De la paz el arcángel divino,by the divine archangel of peace,
Que en el cielo tu eterno destinofor in heaven your eternal destiny
Por el dedo de Dios se escribió.was written by the finger of God.
Más si osare un extraño enemigoBut should a foreign enemy dare
Profanar con su planta tu suelo,to profane your soil with his step,
Piensa ¡oh patria querida! que el cieloknow, oh beloved homeland, that heaven
Un soldado en cada hijo te dio.gave you a soldier in every son.
Estrofa II
¡Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intenteWar, war without truce on whoever tries
De la patria manchar los blasones!to stain the homeland’s coat of arms!
¡Guerra, guerra! Los patrios pendonesWar, war! Soak the nation’s banners
En las olas de sangre empapad.in waves of blood.
¡Guerra, guerra! En el monte, en el valleWar, war! On the mountain, in the valley,
Los cañones horrísonos truenen,let the dreadful cannons thunder,
Y los ecos sonoros resuenenand let the echoes resound
Con las voces de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad!with cries of Union! Liberty!
Estrofa III
Antes, patria, que inermes tus hijosBefore, homeland, your defenseless sons
Bajo el yugo su cuello dobleguen,bow their necks beneath the yoke,
Tus campiñas con sangre se rieguen,let your fields be watered with blood,
Sobre sangre se estampe su pie.let their feet tread upon blood.
Y tus templos, palacios y torresAnd let your temples, palaces, and towers
Se derrumben con hórrido estruendo,fall with a horrid crash,
Y sus ruinas existan diciendo:and their ruins remain, saying:
De mil héroes la patria aquí fue.here stood the homeland of a thousand heroes.
Estrofa IV
¡Patria! ¡patria! Tus hijos te juranHomeland! Homeland! Your sons swear to you
Exhalar en tus aras su aliento,to breathe their last upon your altars
Si el clarín con su bélico acentoif the bugle, with its warlike call,
Los convoca a lidiar con valor.summons them to fight with courage.
¡Para ti las guirnaldas de oliva!For you, the olive garlands!
¡Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!For them, a memory of glory!
¡Un laurel para ti de victoria!For you, a laurel of victory!
¡Un sepulcro para ellos de honor!For them, a tomb of honor!
