# citizenship question



## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I know this has been covered a LOT but I cannot find the answer to my specific questions and I know there are posters here that are quite knowledgeable. The probable objective is Mexican citizenship.

If a US citizen is married to a Mexican citizen I understand that they can get a _Residente Temporal_ for 2 years with no income requirement. (Correct?) Can they get a _Residente Permanente_ or is the RT the only option for the first two years?

I'm not sure of what happens at 2 years including in regard to income requirements. Can they go directly to citizenship? If not, can they go to _Residente Permanente_? or what are the common options?


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

xolo said:


> If a US citizen is married to a Mexican citizen I understand that they can get a _Residente Temporal_ for 2 years with no income requirement. (Correct?)


Correct.



xolo said:


> Can they get a _Residente Permanente_ or is the RT the only option for the first two years?


You can move to permanente after those 2 years but to go to RP right away you would need to use income. 



xolo said:


> I'm not sure of what happens at 2 years including in regard to income requirements. Can they go directly to citizenship? If not, can they go to _Residente Permanente_? or what are the common options?


If you are in the "married to a Mexican" plan then income requirements aren't an issue.
After 2 years as temporal you can convert to permanente. Or, and this is a little unclear to me in the way it is written, it appears that you can go directly to citizenship based on those two years of residency married to a citizen (even though it was RT).


----------



## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

circle110 said:


> Correct.
> 
> 
> You can move to permanente after those 2 years but to go to RP right away you would need to use income.
> ...


After 2 years on a RT married to a Mexican National you have to apply for RP before you can apply for citizenship as they need you to have a valid residence vísa/card to process your citizenship application which takes several months. They will not accept your application with an expired 2 year RT visa/card. I still don´t know if you have to be 2 years on a RP card to apply for citizenship or 2 years on a RT visa/card plus a new RP visa/card to apply. It isn´t clear what the law is. I suspect it is the later but it could very well be the former.


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

AlanMexicali said:


> After 2 years on a RT married to a Mexican National you have to apply for RP before you can apply for citizenship as they need you to have a valid residence vísa/card to process your citizenship application which takes several months. They will not accept your application with an expired 2 year RT visa/card. I still don´t know if you have to be 2 years on a RP card to apply for citizenship or 2 years on a RT visa/card plus a new RP visa/card to apply. It isn´t clear what the law is. I suspect it is the later but it could very well be the former.


This is my case also and either an RP or an RT (but not a tourist or student visa) will satisfy the  SRE. Naturalization through marriage is uniquely mentioned in Article 30 of the constitution with the requirement that the couple's domicile be in Mexico, interpreted as proof of two year residency within which a maximum of 180 days out-of-country are permitted. All other pretexts for naturalization are solely administrative and are not mentioned.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

perropedorro said:


> This is my case also and either an RP or an RT (but not a tourist or student visa) will satisfy the  SRE. Naturalization through marriage is uniquely mentioned in Article 30 of the constitution with the requirement that the couple's domicile be in Mexico, interpreted as proof of two year residency within which a maximum of 180 days out-of-country are permitted. All other pretexts for naturalization are solely administrative and are not mentioned.


That seems to be correct. The constitution mentions two categories of naturalized citizens:
• II.30.B.I Those that have obtained a "Carta de Naturalización" from the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores.
• II.30.B.II Those that are married to a Mexican and have resided in the country for two years.

The constitution does not detail the requirements for naturalization by residency only for naturalization by marriage. However, the SRE instructions for naturalization by residency specify five years on a Residencial Permanente visa.


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> That seems to be correct. The constitution mentions two categories of naturalized citizens:
> • II.30.B.I Those that have obtained a "Carta de Naturalización" from the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores.
> • II.30.B.II Those that are married to a Mexican and have resided in the country for two years.
> 
> The constitution does not detail the requirements for naturalization by residency only for naturalization by marriage. However, the SRE instructions for naturalization by residency specify five years on a Residencial Permanente visa.


And to cover the basics with something that most here probably already know, Immigration and Naturalization in Mexico are dealt with by separate cabinet level arms of the government. INM officials, i.e. the folks you get your visa or residency from, work under Gobernación (SEGOB), and probably don't know diddly about naturalization. That's handled by the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE). If one is seeking Mexican citizenship, keep on top of both streams of paperwork.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

perropedorro said:


> And to cover the basics with something that most here probably already know, Immigration and Naturalization in Mexico are dealt with by separate cabinet level arms of the government. INM officials, i.e. the folks you get your visa or residency from, work under Gobernación (SEGOB), and probably don't know diddly about naturalization. That's handled by the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE). If one is seeking Mexican citizenship, keep on top of both streams of paperwork.


Indeed. When I applied to SRE for citizenship, I had to supply lots of information about my immigration status past and present. One reason the process took so long, about 15 months from application to receiving citizenship, was that I had to apply to INM for information to give to SRE. Then after my application was complete, SRE sent it to INM for review and it took months for INM to return it to SRE.


----------



## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

perropedorro said:


> And to cover the basics with something that most here probably already know, Immigration and Naturalization in Mexico are dealt with by separate cabinet level arms of the government. INM officials, i.e. the folks you get your visa or residency from, work under Gobernación (SEGOB), and probably don't know diddly about naturalization. That's handled by the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE). If one is seeking Mexican citizenship, keep on top of both streams of paperwork.


That's not quite true -- it's now one step even more convoluted.
You start out by getting a visa/canje at a consulate, which is part of SRE. Then you switch to INM once you get to Mexico for the rest of the process. Then, if you decide to go for naturalization you are back with SRE once again!


----------

