Ordinary residence-based naturalisation

Five-year ordinary residence

The ordinary route requires the five years immediately before application. SRE accepts temporary- or permanent-resident documentation; temporary student residence does not count. The current resident card must remain valid for at least six months after application.

Absences during the final two years

Temporary absences do not interrupt residence unless absences during the two years before application exceed six months in total. This is not a requirement for five uninterrupted years of physical presence.

Spanish and integration

Applicants must demonstrate Spanish, Mexican history and integration into national culture. SRE requires the corresponding exams. Its residence guidance exempts applicants over 60 and recognised refugees from history/culture testing, but still requires Spanish; no CEFR level is established there.

Criminal checks and decision

SRE requests federal and local criminal-record certificates. The law suspends processing for the specified criminal-proceedings orders in Mexico or their foreign equivalents, bars applicants serving imprisonment for an intentional offence, and permits a reasoned refusal by SRE.

Renunciation and oath

After deciding to grant nationality, SRE requires the Article 17 renunciations of attributed foreign nationality, foreign allegiance and protection, and the undertaking of loyalty to Mexican law. The declaration's effect under another country's law must be checked separately.

Naturalised nationality can be lost

Constitutional loss grounds include voluntarily acquiring foreign nationality, presenting oneself as foreign in a public instrument, using a foreign passport, accepting or using foreign noble titles involving submission to another state, and five continuous years residing abroad. The protection against deprivation for Mexicans by birth is different.