On June 17 th of this year, regulations to Mexico’s Nationality Law (Ley de Nacionalidad) were published in the Official Journalof the Federation, which entered into force the day following their publication, and which has as their objective regulatingnationality questions and complementing application of the existing Nationality Law. The regulations contemplate various newelements in the nationality field, including the following: (i) introduction of a definition of “Declaration of Mexican nationalityby birth,” understood as a legal instrument for recovering one’s Mexican nationality; (ii) establishment of time limits applicableto various application processes and response times; (iii) detail and clarification of the requirements to comply with obtainingMexican nationality by naturalization, and processes for losing such nationality; (iv) an introduction of a required process forlegal regularization of real property of individuals who have lost their Mexican nationality by naturalization; (v) establishmentof a special section in registration books authorizing nationality granted by the Mexican Department of Foreign Relations(Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores or SRE), and procedures for clarifying and rectifying such matters; and (vi) establishmentof causes for violations to the regulations and applicable fines. In particular, it is worth noting that with respect to real propertyowned by individuals who lose their Mexican nationality by naturalization, obligations are established enabling theregularization of ownership of such property, so that in cases where the property is outside Mexico’s coastal and borderrestricted zones, parties have up to six months to process with the SRE a corresponding permit and citizenship waiveragreement, and if the properties are within the restricted zones, such parties have up to two years to transfer title to an authorizedindividual. If this does not occur, the procedure to revert title to the Mexican state will follow.
