Mexican dual nationality for children born in the U.S.

We are a private service. The appointment is free at citas.sre.gob.mx and you can do the procedure yourself. If you prefer our support, we charge for our service.

In short

• It is free. Birth registration includes the first certified copy of the Mexican birth certificate. Each additional copy costs USD 20 in 2026 (Ley Federal de Derechos 2026, the Mexican law that sets these fees).
• One appointment per person. Each person being registered needs their own appointment. It is free through MiConsulado or at +1 (424) 309-0009.
• The full certificate. The long-form U.S. birth certificate is required, not the “abstract.” An apostille is only needed if the certificate was issued outside the U.S.
• It varies by consulate. This guide uses the March 2026 sheet from the Consulate in San Diego. There, these appointments open only on Fridays. Other consulates may ask for something different.
• The appointment is not enough. The same sheet warns: “Having an appointment does not guarantee that the procedure will go through.”

How to do it yourself

Which procedure it is

At a Mexican consulate, dual nationality is handled as a birth registration. The consular service protocol, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF), Mexico’s federal gazette, calls it “Registro de nacimiento para personas nacidas en el exterior” (birth registration for persons born abroad). It is for persons “who have a foreign registration, descendants of those who prove Mexican nationality” (DOF, May 21, 2025).

When it is done, the registered person has their Mexican birth certificate. The San Diego sheet makes clear that, on obtaining Mexican nationality, the person “does not lose U.S. nationality, nor is it affected.”

In 2025 there were 126,060 dual nationality registrations in the U.S., 153% more than in 2024. These are figures from Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) cited by La Silla Rota on March 17, 2026.

What the protocol asks for and what your consulate asks for

The consular protocol sets three requirements for this registration:

1. The foreign birth certificate.
2. A document that proves the Mexican nationality of the mother or the father.
3. An official ID of the person who comes to do the procedure.

At the window, staff review the documents, hold a consular interview to check that the information matches, and take biometric data. Under the same protocol, the maximum time to resolve the procedure is 15 calendar days.

Consulates publish their own requirement sheets, and they may ask for more documents. San Diego’s also asks for both parents’ documents, their marriage certificate if they had a civil marriage, and 2 copies of each document. And it warns: “In some cases additional documentation may be requested.” Prepare with your consulate’s sheet.

Step by step

1. Get your consulate’s sheet and application form. In San Diego, the application is downloaded from its services page. It is filled out completely and in block letters.
2. Gather the documents on the list further down, with their copies.
3. Create your account in MiConsulado. You can use an email address or LlaveMX. LlaveMX requires a phone number registered in Mexico; if you don’t have one, use an email address (El Cronista, February 26, 2026).
4. Book one appointment for each person being registered. Choose the birth registration service. In San Diego it is called “Registro Civil - Nacimiento - Recepción de Documentos.”
5. If you don’t use the website, call or write on WhatsApp at +1 (424) 309-0009. On WhatsApp, the San Diego sheet says to send the word “CITA.”
6. Save the confirmation. In San Diego it arrives by email when the appointment is created, and you have to bring it that day.
7. Go with the originals and the copies. If the documentation is complete and correct, the consulate carries out the procedure.

When appointments open

There is no single rule for all consulates. In San Diego, according to its March 2026 sheet, dual nationality appointments open only on Fridays, “over the course of the day.”

Civil registry procedures are among those that require an appointment, under the consular protocol (DOF, May 21, 2025). Service without an appointment and emergencies for other procedures are covered in the consulates guide.

What it costs

The amounts are from the Ley Federal de Derechos 2026 and the San Diego sheet. In San Diego, copies are paid for with a debit or credit card or in cash; American Express is not accepted.

After the registration

With the Mexican birth certificate, you can apply for the Mexican passport, with a separate appointment. For a minor, both parents attend or form OP-7 is presented. Requirements and 2026 government fees in Mexican passport in the U.S.

If you need your own voter ID (INE card), registration to vote from abroad in 2027 is open until February 25, 2027 (INE). We explain it in voter ID from abroad.

What tends to go wrong

This is what the San Diego sheet (March 2026) points out explicitly:

• The short version of the certificate. “Abstracts” are not accepted, for either the birth certificate or the marriage certificate.
• A single appointment for several children. The sheet puts it this way: “An appointment for each person being registered is required.”
• Names that do not match. Each ID must show the full name exactly as it appears on the birth certificate. On the application, the names of parents and grandparents go as they appear on their birth certificates, with the women’s maiden surnames and without abbreviations.
• Documents with errors or damage. Documents that are “mutilated, stained or altered” are not accepted. If a certificate has errors or omissions, it must first be corrected with the authority that issued it.
• Copies that cannot be read. Copies must be clearly legible. Both sides of each ID are copied onto the same side of the sheet.

One more, not from the sheet: old information. Some pages that are not the SRE’s still publish the phone number of MEXITEL, which stopped operating on March 1, 2022 (Vive USA, February 25, 2022). The current channel is MiConsulado.

If you prefer our support

What it includes

• Guidance: what your consulate asks for the registration and who has to be there that day.
• A review of your documents before the appointment: the long-form certificates, any apostilles and translations that are needed, the parents’ IDs, and that the names are written the same way on all of them.
• Your appointment: one for each person who is going to be registered, of the right type and with their details exactly as they appear on their birth certificate. We do not resell or transfer appointments.
• Preparation: which originals and copies to bring, and how additional copies are paid for at your consulate.
• Follow-up: if the consulate cancels your appointment, we look for another one at no extra cost, and we stay with you until the registration is completed.

We never hold on to a passport.

What we need

• The details of each person who is going to be registered, exactly as they appear on their U.S. birth certificate.
• The consulate where you want to do the procedure.
• A phone number or an email address where we can send you the confirmation.

What you pay, and to whom

1. The appointment: free through MiConsulado or at +1 (424) 309-0009. You can book it yourself.
2. Government fees: birth registration is free in 2026 and includes the first certified copy. Each additional copy costs USD 20 (Ley Federal de Derechos 2026) and is paid directly to the consulate. In San Diego, by card or in cash, not with American Express.
3. Our service: our fee depends on the procedure and the case. Write to us and we will give you the cost for yours before we start.

What does not depend on us

No service guarantees a date or the outcome of the procedure. The authority decides that.

• The date. When each consulate opens appointments does not depend on us.
• The outcome. The consulate reviews the documents and decides whether the registration goes through.
• Whether the appointment stands. The consulate can change or cancel an appointment.
• Going in person. With or without us, on the day of the appointment the people involved in the registration attend, with their documents.

More about what we do and what we don’t, in how we work.

Documents for the day of the appointment

This is the list from the Consulate in San Diego (March 2026). Other consulates may ask for something different: check your consulate’s sheet before you go. For each document, San Diego asks for the original and 2 letter-size copies.

• The application, completely filled out. It is signed “under oath to tell the truth” (“bajo protesta de decir verdad”).
• The U.S. birth certificate of the person being registered, in its long form. If it was issued outside the U.S., it must be apostilled or legalized, and translated into Spanish if it is not in English.
• A valid ID of the person being registered, with their full name exactly as it appears on the birth certificate.
  • From 7 to 18 years old, one of these is accepted: U.S. passport, California ID, school ID with photo together with the transcript, or a signed school enrollment letter (constancia de estudios), with a stamped photo and less than 6 months old.
  • Children under 6 without those documents: a letter from the pediatrician, on letterhead and signed. It carries the child’s name and date of birth and both parents’ names as on the birth certificate. And a recent photo of the child, in light-colored clothing, with the doctor’s stamp or signature across it without covering the face.
• The parents’ birth certificates. Both prove their nationality, Mexican or foreign. At least one must prove Mexican nationality.
• A valid ID for each parent, with photo, signature and the full name as on their birth certificate.
  • Mexicans: Mexican passport, high-security consular ID card (matrícula consular de alta seguridad) or voter ID (INE card).
  • Foreigners: their valid passport, in booklet form.
  • Mexicans naturalized as U.S. citizens: in addition, their certificate of naturalization.
• The parents’ marriage certificate, if they had a civil marriage, in Mexico or in the U.S. The short version is not accepted either.
• If the mother or the father has died: their birth certificate and their death certificate. If they were a foreigner, only the death certificate.
• The appointment confirmation.

That day, the people involved in the registration attend: the person being registered and, depending on the case, the father and the mother.

If your Mexican ID has expired. The San Diego sheet asks for valid IDs. The consular protocol says Mexican identity documents “will not be subject to a validity period” and must be accepted without being renewed (DOF, May 21, 2025). Before you go, ask your consulate. In San Diego, civil registry questions are sent to [email protected].