Óscar Miranda Abogado
Áreas de práctica
Ver todasDefensa estratégica · juicios orales · amparo penal
Divorcios · pensión · custodia · sucesiones
Despido, finiquito y liquidación · lo que te corresponde de verdad
Contratos · arrendamiento · daños · litigio
Cobro de deudas · pagaré · juicios ejecutivos
Constitución · compliance · gobierno corporativo
Defensa SAT · TFJA · predial · amparo fiscal
Clausuras · multas · INVEA · juicio de nulidad
Residencias · naturalización · INM
Registro · oposición · propiedad intelectual
Compraventa · escrituración · vicios ocultos
Negativa de pensión · semanas cotizadas · Modalidad 40
Asesoría inicial desde $2,000 MXN · Lunes a viernes 9:00 – 21:00
Agendar por WhatsAppÓscar Miranda Abogado
FOR EXPATS & LONG-TERM RESIDENTS · MEXICO CITY
If you have built a life in Mexico, Mexican citizenship by naturalization is the point where renewals, resident cards and immigration status stop being part of it. The process runs through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), and it is won or lost on details most applicants never hear about — absence limits, mismatched names on documents, the wrong residency route. Óscar Miranda is a licensed Mexican attorney (cédula profesional 13195234) who prepares naturalization files for foreign clients entirely in English, with a closed-fee quote after a real case review — never open-ended hourly billing.
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The general rule, set by Article 20 of Mexico’s Nationality Law (Ley de Nacionalidad), asks for five years of legal residency in Mexico immediately before the application. But the same article creates two-year routes that apply to far more people than most expats realize. The full naturalization process is documented in detail (in Spanish) for those who want the technical version.
Only two years of legal residency are required if any of these applies to you:
Marriage to a Mexican national, with a marital home established in the country, cuts the residency requirement to two years. If you are still working toward residency itself, see how residency through marriage works first — citizenship is the step after it.
Having children who are Mexican by birth qualifies you for the two-year route — a situation many foreign parents in Mexico are in without knowing it counts. Being a direct descendant of a Mexican (a Mexican parent or grandparent in your direct line) qualifies as well.
Nationals of Latin American countries and of the Iberian Peninsula qualify for the two-year route by origin alone — no marriage or family connection required.
Choosing the right route — and proving it with consistent documents — is the first technical decision of the whole process. If you are not yet a resident at all, start with our immigration services in English to get the residency clock running correctly.
The application (form DNN-3) is filed at a delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Along with it, you take an exam on Mexican history and culture and must show that you speak Spanish. There is an official study guide, and with preparation the exam is the least risky part of the process. If you fail, you wait at least fifteen business days to try again; two failed attempts mean waiting a year from your last try.
The requirement that sinks more applications than the exam: absences. Trips abroad do not interrupt your residency — unless they fall within the two years immediately before your application and add up to more than six months in total. You declare your entries and exits under oath, and the authority can cross-check them against the immigration registry. We run this computation against your passport and official movement record before filing, because filing on a memory-based estimate is how solid cases get rejected.
Since its 1998 reform, Mexico allows dual nationality: becoming Mexican does not mean Mexico requires you to abandon your original citizenship. Whether your home country lets you keep its passport is governed by its own law — a question we review case by case before you start, not after. What you gain on the Mexican side:
One honest caveat: naturalization is a serious, personal legal decision with consequences in two legal systems. The right time to understand them is before form DNN-3 is filed — that is exactly what the first consultation is for.
Honest expectations first: preparing a clean file — absence computation, apostilles, translations, exam preparation — typically takes weeks; once filed, the SRE’s review runs on its own clock, measured in months rather than weeks, and varies by delegation and caseload. Anyone promising you a specific date is guessing. What can be controlled is arriving with a file that gives the authority no reason to object.
| Concept | When | Cost (MXN) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial consultation — route diagnosis, absence count, document review | Before anything is filed | $2,000 MXN |
| Federal government fee for the naturalization letter (2026) | Paid when the application is filed | $9,500 MXN |
| Apostille and certified translation of foreign documents | Before filing | Varies by country |
| Full legal representation through the SRE process | Closed quote, in writing | Quoted after case review |
Initial consultation: $2,000 MXN (about $100 USD). You leave it knowing which route applies to you, a preliminary computation of your absences, a review of your documents, and a closed written quote if the case is ready to file. And if you do not yet meet the requirements, we tell you exactly when you will — instead of charging you for an application headed for rejection.
The federal fee of $9,500 MXN for the naturalization letter is the 2026 government rate, the same in every modality, and is paid to the SRE — not to the firm.
Mexico will not take it from you: since the 1998 constitutional reform, Mexican law allows dual nationality, so naturalizing does not mean Mexico requires you to give up your original citizenship. Whether your home country lets you keep it depends on its own law — some countries withdraw citizenship from nationals who voluntarily acquire another one. We review that question case by case before you file, so there are no irreversible surprises.
The exam covers Mexican history and national culture, and you must also demonstrate that you speak Spanish. If you fail, you must wait at least fifteen business days before submitting the application and taking the exam again. You get two attempts; if you fail both, the SRE requires you to wait one year from your last attempt before applying again. In practice the exam is the least risky part of the process if you arrive prepared — most rejections come from the file itself: excess absences and inconsistent documents.
Under Article 20 of Mexico's Nationality Law, two years of legal residency are enough if you are married to a Mexican citizen and living in Mexico, have Mexican children by birth, are a direct descendant of a Mexican, or are a national of a Latin American country or of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Many applicants qualify for one of these routes without knowing it — we confirm which one applies to you in the first consultation.
Temporary trips abroad do not interrupt your residency, unless they take place during the two years immediately before your application and exceed six months in total. You declare your entries and exits under oath, and the SRE can cross-check them against the immigration registry (INM) — so estimating from memory is a bad idea. We compute your absences against your passport stamps and official immigration movement record before anything is filed.
Permanent residency is not an indispensable requirement — what the law asks for is legal residency in Mexico during the years immediately before your application, with a valid resident card. That said, permanent residency is the natural stepping stone, and most successful applicants reach naturalization after holding it. If you are not there yet, our immigration practice can map the fastest compliant path.
Yes. Óscar Simón Miranda González holds professional license (cédula profesional) 13195234, verifiable on the Mexican Ministry of Education's public registry, with a master's degree in criminal law and 9+ years of litigation and administrative practice, including immigration and naturalization matters.
Every naturalization case comes down to three questions — which route applies to you, whether your absences fit the limit, and whether your documents are consistent. All three get answered in the first consultation, in English, for $2,000 MXN.
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