Mexico and the United States will give you twice more opportunities to study, find new job, or expand your business if you acquire citizenship in both countries. Prior to 1998, Mexico did not allow dual citizenship, which was inconvenient as many people traveled between the US and Mexico. Starting from 1998, however, Mexico enables its people to acquire US citizenship by making dual citizenship perfectly legal.

But how does one become a citizen of both the United States and Mexico? Here are the main ways to achieve this:

• Verify the nationality of your parents.

If one of your parent is an American, and another is a Mexican, you acquire citizenship in both the United States and Mexico through parentage. Contact the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to get the Certificate of Citizenship; and to get your Certificate of Nationality in Mexico, contact the Mexican government.

• Verify where you have born.

If you were born in Mexico, then you already have Mexican citizenship thanks to the “jus soli” principle that Mexico observes to determine nationality of its people. To apply for US citizenship, you will need to firstly find out if you are eligible and after that you can send your request for acquiring US citizenship to the US government.

If you were born in the United States, then you are already a US citizen. It does not matter if your parents were illegally living in the US at the time of your birth: you still qualify as a true, rightful citizen of the United States. All you need to do is move to Mexico, live for two or five years in the country and apply for Mexican citizenship afterwards.

You may not have an American parent, and you may have been born on the Mexican soil, in which case you should follow the same path that all immigrants follow seeking for US citizenship. That is, you need to get a green card through marriage to an American or by getting a job in the US and live in the US for three or five years respectively.