Mexico Delays Dual-Nationality Plan 1 Year

Millions of U.S. citizens seeking to recoup lost Mexican nationality or claim it via Mexican-born parents will have to wait another year to apply, Mexican officials said Wednesday in their most detailed statement on the subject to date.

However, authorities urged would-be applicants to begin preparing the paperwork--such as Mexican birth certificates--as a rush is expected at consulates in Los Angeles and elsewhere once the process kicks off next March.

Enrique Berruga Filloy, chief of staff at the Foreign Relations Secretariat in Mexico City, revealed new details about the impending dual-nationality changes during a briefing at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles--the site expected to have the heaviest workload.

Once the process begins, millions are expected to besiege the 41 Mexican consulates nationwide. Historically, Mexicans have lost their rights as Mexican nationals upon acquiring foreign citizenship.

The issue has drawn intense interest among Mexican immigrants residing in the United States, who have long been among the least likely to naturalize as U.S. citizens--in part because of fear of losing their status under Mexican law.

For instance, Mexican law severely restricts foreign nationals’ ability to own land near international borders, the coasts and in the communal properties known as ejidos.

Retaining Mexican nationality preserves expatriates’ rights to live and work in Mexico, own land there, carry a Mexican passport and enjoy many other privileges.

“At the moment of returning to Mexico,” Berruga said, “they return as Mexicans, not as foreigners.”

In recent years, experts say, Mexican immigrants have begun to apply in large numbers to become U.S. citizens. Many say they are motivated by what they view as the threat of anti-immigrant laws emanating from Washington and state capitals.

The onset of dual nationality is one more example of strengthening links between two nations with ever-growing economic and cultural ties, despite sometimes bitter disputes about issues such as drug trafficking, illegal immigration and trade. In fact, Mexico’s actions on dual nationality have already prompted opposition from some in the United States who view it as an affront to U.S. citizenship--a viewpoint disputed by Mexican officials.

Dual nationality has an ambiguous status in the United States, neither encouraged nor barred, officials said. The United States requires immigrants seeking citizenship to renounce other allegiances, U.S. officials note, but cannot regulate whether foreign countries recognize that renunciation.

While the new law in Mexico affects Mexicans living worldwide, it was largely drafted to meet the concerns of those residing north of the border. Officials estimate that 95% of the Mexican expatriate population lives here, concentrated in California and the Southwest.

In December, the Mexican Congress passed constitutional amendments that, for the first time, allowed Mexican citizens to retain their nationality even if they naturalize as citizens of other nations. In recent months, 26 of 31 state legislatures have already approved the changes, Berruga said, ensuring their enshrinement into law.

Explaining the delay until next March, the Mexican diplomat said federal and state lawmakers must still pass dozens of secondary laws needed to implement the constitutional changes. Meantime, authorities must devise procedures, application forms, information brochures and other material for what will be a massive undertaking.

Dual nationals would continue to pay taxes in the country where they reside and earn income, Mexican officials said.

They would be required to register for military service at age 18 in Mexico or at Mexican consulates or embassies. However, Berruga said, Mexican nationals residing abroad would not be required to serve in the military.

Applicants for Mexican nationality will consist of two distinct groups:

The first includes Mexican immigrants anxious to regain Mexican nationality lost when they became U.S. citizens--the 2 million or so believed to be in this category will have five years to apply to recoup their rights as of next March.

The second group--and perhaps the larger one--includes the U.S.-born sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants newly eligible for status as Mexican nationals. They must demonstrate that one or both parents were born in Mexico, typically with birth certificates.

There are now 6.6 million U.S.-born residents with one or more parents born in Mexico, said Jeffrey Passel, a demographer for the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.

Large-scale immigration in the past 20 years has pushed the population of Mexican immigrants in the United States to almost 7 million, more than one-quarter of all the nation’s foreign-born residents.