# Leaving Mexico while Citizenship is being processed?



## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

I am a US citizen married to a Mexican citizen. In February we will have been married for 2 years and I will be eligible to apply for Mexican citizenship. I've been doing my FM2 stuff on my own but for this I want to hire an attorney. I spoke with one today and they charge $300 USD to manage the process. This seems reasonable to me.

She said the process for citizenship could take anywhere from 6-12 months and that during that time I'm not allowed to leave Mexico except for very short trips. Is this correct? I am supposed to be going on a 3-month trip to Europe during this time so I need to know if I have to figure out an alternative for that.

Also, I read in one of the threads on this forum that you're not allowed to be out of the country for more than 180 days during the 2 years of FM2 holding prior to applying for citizenship. When I got my first FM2 I asked if there were any restrictions like this and I was assured that there wasn't so I didn't monitor my time out of country. If this limitation exists, I'm probably going to be in trouble as I will have been out of Mexico for more than 180 days. I'm wondering how they would know this though? They've never asked to see my passport before and that's the only way I can see them knowing - if they examine my passport closely.

Thanks for any feedback about this, I'm a bit freaking out about the fact that I might have to cancel this Europe trip. It would cause some major problems.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

Why not inquire at the Secretaria de Relaciones office nearest you, the one in charge of naturalization of foreigners? On a forum, you can get every shade of opinion, many of which are incorrect. There may be a correct answer in the responses, but can you tell which it is?

It occurs to me also that if you are hiring an attorney, you could ask him/her for a professional answer.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

I have seen it said on other forums that you should not hire a go-between to process your nationalization. The reasoning they claim is that although there is no formal test of Spanish for nationalization, your ability to navigate the bureaucratic steps, and your ability to do so in Spanish, serves as a kind of test in itself. If you can’t do it yourself, you aren’t considered qualified for nationality. This is free third-hand advice from the internet, so take it as worth what you paid for it.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

As for how they would know you were out of the country, didn’t you have to fill out a form when you left Mexico, then they tear it in half and keep half—then you have to hand back the other half when you return to Mexico? That’s how it’s always been for me.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Don't ask SRE and don't depend upon an attorney who has not done this several times before!!!!!! Hopefully, your previous trips won't show up, but in any case I would suggest that you don't travel any more on your current visa. When you have completed the five year term, you could become 'Inmigrado' and not have many travel restrictions. Then, when you have a couple of years to spare, apply for citizenship.


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## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

Anonimo said:


> Why not inquire at the Secretaria de Relaciones office nearest you, the one in charge of naturalization of foreigners? On a forum, you can get every shade of opinion, many of which are incorrect. There may be a correct answer in the responses, but can you tell which it is?
> 
> It occurs to me also that if you are hiring an attorney, you could ask him/her for a professional answer.


The info I got WAS from an attorney, as I stated in my OP. I leave Mexico in 24 hours and won't be back until January so asking at an office isn't an option.


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## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

maesonna said:


> I have seen it said on other forums that you should not hire a go-between to process your nationalization. The reasoning they claim is that although there is no formal test of Spanish for nationalization, your ability to navigate the bureaucratic steps, and your ability to do so in Spanish, serves as a kind of test in itself. If you can’t do it yourself, you aren’t considered qualified for nationality. This is free third-hand advice from the internet, so take it as worth what you paid for it.


I could do it myself but it would take many hours of my time to figure out what I need and where to take it and when. I'd rather just pay someone to do it so I don't have to stress about not having the right stuff and having to go back multiple times (as happened when I first got my FM2 because even my husband couldn't understand everything they were asking for).



> As for how they would know you were out of the country, didn’t you have to fill out a form when you left Mexico, then they tear it in half and keep half—then you have to hand back the other half when you return to Mexico? That’s how it’s always been for me.


Ah yeah, forgot about that part. Well, will just have to hope they don't check.


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## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

RVGRINGO said:


> Don't ask SRE and don't depend upon an attorney who has not done this several times before!!!!!! Hopefully, your previous trips won't show up, but in any case I would suggest that you don't travel any more on your current visa. When you have completed the five year term, you could become 'Inmigrado' and not have many travel restrictions. Then, when you have a couple of years to spare, apply for citizenship.


I'm already Inmigrado because, as I said in my OP, I'm married to a local. SO, I don't have to do the 5 year thing. Not leaving isn't an option. I fly out Sunday morning and I don't return until January. There's no changing that. Will just have to hope it's not a big deal but if I have to delay, I have to delay.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You are probably 'Inmigrante Familial', not 'Inmigrado'.
In any case, I hope you can work it out.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

vagabondette said:


> Ah yeah, forgot about that part. Well, will just have to hope they don't check.


Since everything is computerized now, your status will be checked when you return to Mexico.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Since one day this question may apply to me, I took some time to search. Here are the requirements for applying for naturalization if you are married to a Mexican citizen:

You must have had your FM2/inmigrante visa for the past two years and have established a conjugal residence in Mexico during those two years. You also must comply with the 14 requirements below:

1. Be of legal majority of age.
2. Submit a copy of the form DNN-3
3. Show your original visa card plus 2 copies. Your visa must still have 6 months before expiration at the time of submission.
4. Show a certified copy and two photocopies of your foreign birth certificate.
5. Show original and two copies of your passport.
6. Show original and two copies of your marriage certificate.
7. Your Mexican spouse must show their birth certificate or a letter of nationalization if they weren't born in Mexico.
8. Submit original and two copies of a letter stating that the marriage has been consummated (!!) and that you live in a conjugal domicile.
9. Your Mexican spouse must show a current photo ID with two copies.
*10. Submit an original and two copies of a letter listing every exit and re-entry into Mexico you have made during the past two years.*
11. Submit original and two copies of a certificate showing no convictions during your time in Mexico.
12. Take and pass a test of your proficiency in Spanish and your knowledge of Mexican history.
13. Submit two color passport sized photos.
14. Present proof of payment.

Number 10 is kind of the crux of the question here. I searched and searched and found only information regarding the _five _year period of waiting to apply for naturalization but not the _two _year period required for spouses of citizens.

The five year rule is that you can't be out of the country for more than 18 months total during the 5 years immediately preceding your application for naturalization. If you have been away for more than 18 months you must wait until you have a consecutive 5 year period with 18 months or less of absence. If you are away for two consecutive years at any point, you lose your inmigrante/FM2 status and must start over from zero.

However, nothing I found applied to the shortened two year period for spousal naturalization. I found nothing saying 180 days -- or anything else. It still must be important because of requirement 10 above but I was unable to find any specific limit of time out of Mexico for the two years. 

I'll keep looking and if I do find anything more, I'll post that information.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

circle110 said:


> Since one day this question may apply to me, I took some time to search. Here are the requirements for applying for naturalization if you are married to a Mexican citizen:
> 
> You must have had your FM2/inmigrante visa for the past two years and have established a conjugal residence in Mexico during those two years.


How do you prove you have lived with your Mexican spouse for these two years, i.e., "established a conjugal residence in Mexico"?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I guess that is what requirement 8 refers to; you simply submit a letter of "Declaración bajo protesta de decir verdad" stating that fact along with the fact that the marriage has been consummated.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Since the OP is, presumably, on her way to Europe by this time, it seems that it wasn't crucial enough to delay the trip.

For circle110, perhaps, you could check locally for those requirements for a spouse of a citizen VS someone who is an immigrant?


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## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

mickisue1 said:


> Since the OP is, presumably, on her way to Europe by this time, it seems that it wasn't crucial enough to delay the trip.
> 
> For circle110, perhaps, you could check locally for those requirements for a spouse of a citizen VS someone who is an immigrant?



I leave in the morning, but delaying the trip to Europe isn't an option so I'll just have to deal with the consequences when I return...

Thanks Circle110 for the info! 

I'll update in January when I start the process if I don't learn more before then. 

Thanks everyone for your input!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

vagabondette said:


> I leave in the morning, but delaying the trip to Europe isn't an option so I'll just have to deal with the consequences when I return...
> 
> Thanks Circle110 for the info!
> 
> ...


¡Buen viaje!


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

vagabondette said:


> Also, I read in one of the threads on this forum that you're not allowed to be out of the country for more than 180 days during the 2 years of FM2 holding prior to applying for citizenship. When I got my first FM2 I asked if there were any restrictions like this and I was assured that there wasn't so I didn't monitor my time out of country. If this limitation exists, I'm probably going to be in trouble as I will have been out of Mexico for more than 180 days. I'm wondering how they would know this though? They've never asked to see my passport before and that's the only way I can see them knowing - if they examine my passport closely.


One of the dozens of documents you will need to apply for citizenship will be a copy of ALL pages of your passport. (advised March 2012)


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## vagabondette (Sep 20, 2009)

dongringo said:


> One of the dozens of documents you will need to apply for citizenship will be a copy of ALL pages of your passport. (advised March 2012)


Hm, my plan was to get a new passport before returning to Mexico in January because my current one is almost expired and I don't want to have to do it from Mexico.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

vagabondette said:


> Hm, my plan was to get a new passport before returning to Mexico in January because my current one is almost expired and I don't want to have to do it from Mexico.


Sounds like a good plan. However, for those who have to do it from Mexico, it is pretty easy. I just renewed mine. I downloaded the form, filled it out, printed it. Then took it to the Consulate in Guadalajara, turned in the form along with my old passport, paid the fee plus a shipping charge. My new passport was delivered to my door a week later. If you don't live close to a consulate or the embassy, I am guessing that you could ship it the form to them, and maybe a check as well.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

TundraGreen said:


> If you don't live close to a consulate or the embassy, I am guessing that you could ship it the form to them, and maybe a check as well.


I renewed my US passport last year at the consulate in Cabo San Lucas, which is really an extension of the one in Tijuana. They would absolutely not do anything by mail or courier. I had to make a round trip by bus (about three hours each way) to submit the application, then another a month later to pick up the new passport. They also required cash, as I recall. No idea if it's the same countrywide.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We're fortunate to have monthly consular visits in both Chapala and Ajijic for passport renewals and other services. We have the advantabe of numbers and many are geriatrics, who would have trouble getting into Guadalajara. Some are also housebound or in assisted living facilities.
We also have an INM office in Chapala; probably for the same reasons.

The OP's new passport may solve the 'entry/exit/time out of Mexico problem'; keep your fingers crossed. However, you will still have to write the statement of travels and if they check their computers & find that you lied...........Oh, Oh!


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> We're fortunate to have monthly consular visits in both Chapala and Ajijic for passport renewals and other services. We have the advantabe of numbers and many are geriatrics, who would have trouble getting into Guadalajara. Some are also housebound or in assisted living facilities.
> We also have an INM office in Chapala; probably for the same reasons.
> 
> The OP's new passport may solve the 'entry/exit/time out of Mexico problem'; keep your fingers crossed. However, you will still have to write the statement of travels and if they check their computers & find that you lied...........Oh, Oh!


Something new happened the first of July to me. I was flying out of the Mexicali Airport again and when the INM officer gave me yet another IMM for 180 days he, who seems to be the same officer and we know eachother for 5 years now, everytime I am there told me "This time this IMM is good for only one flight sir." He has told me in the past I can use the same IMM tourist card for as many times as I want for the 180 days on flying to Central Mexico. He added they are now implementing the new rules and you will need another IMM form the next time you fly to SLP from now on. I have been handing them in at the border office not at the airport everytime for about 9 or more months even if it is only 60 days old and getting a new one when flying back.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

it was always that way, even with the old FMT and then the new FMM. Your friendly agent has just discovered the proper procedures.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I have never flown domestically within Mexico so I have never had to deal with that but it seems odd that they would demand a new FMM for a domestic flight. Is the cost included in the price of the flight?

I realize that international flights have always been that way but for domestic flights it seems sort of unnecessary since the FMM holder is not leaving the country.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

circle110 said:


> I have never flown domestically within Mexico so I have never had to deal with that but it seems odd that they would demand a new FMM for a domestic flight. Is the cost included in the price of the flight?
> 
> I realize that international flights have always been that way but for domestic flights it seems sort of unnecessary since the FMM holder is not leaving the country.




Well technically you don´t need a new FMM everytime you hop on an airplane to get somewhere. 

In TJ and Mexicali the IMN officers have a desk right at the end of the X-ray machine just past the customs green light - red light button and their table and they have asked me occationally when passing by if I am an Americano and do I have a current FMM card to show him when passing thier desk.

Most of the people that get FMM cards in Mexicali I have seen are younger Mexican Americans that are flying past the " Border Free Zone" of Baja California and myself. In TJ usually a couple of Americanos and many Mexican Americans get them.

A few weeks before Christmas there were over a dozen of us in line to get an FMM and we ended up chatting in the "salon de espera" a few of us. They lived in the Imperial Valley thier whole lives or Palm Springs and were traveling with thier Mexican born parents who did not get FMM cards.

So yes any American citizen leaving the Border Free Zone needs one if they are flying south but it seems thier Mexican born parents, even when issued a US passport and displaying it in the open, do not and use thier IFE card to travel south.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> it was always that way, even with the old FMT and then the new FMM. Your friendly agent has just discovered the proper procedures.


I guess they don´t get training all the time but seem in touch with the new rules slowing being put in place and this could be a good reason why he has changed his tune now. He went back to school.


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