DIRECT ACCESS — NATIONALITY FOR CHILDREN OF GUATEMALANS
US-Born Kids Are Guatemalan by Origin
Before you click, have ready:
  • Your child's US birth certificate apostilled by the issuing state's Secretary of State
  • Your valid Guatemalan DPI or passport (the Guatemalan parent)
  • Your Guatemalan birth certificate (the Guatemalan parent)
  • Child's US passport
  • Marriage certificate (if parents are married)
Cost: Free (apostille separate ~US$10-50) · Time: 3-6 months · MINEX: +502 2410-0000 · Verified: May 2026

Quick summary: Children of Guatemalan parents born abroad (USA, Mexico, Spain, etc.) are Guatemalan by origin under the Constitution (Art. 144). The process is free at MINEX or the consulate, takes 3-6 months for resolution, and allows dual nationality (Art. 146). You will need your child’s birth certificate apostilled by the US Secretary of State.

What Is Nationality of Origin for Children of Guatemalans?

Guatemala’s Constitution (Article 144) establishes that children of a Guatemalan father or mother born abroad are Guatemalans by origin. That means even if your child was born in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, or any city in the world, they have an automatic right to Guatemalan nationality simply by having at least one Guatemalan parent.

This principle is called jus sanguinis (right of blood) and coexists with jus soli (right of soil), which is what the United States applies. That is why a child of Guatemalan parents born in the USA has dual nationality of origin: American by being born there, and Guatemalan by being your child. Both are full nationalities — neither one is “second-class” or provisional.

The MINEX process is to formally recognize that nationality and register it. Without this recognition, your child is technically Guatemalan under the Constitution, but does not have the documents to prove it (cannot get a Guatemalan passport, is not in RENAP, cannot easily inherit land in Guatemala, etc.).

For the roughly 3 million Guatemalans in the USA, this is one of the most valuable processes for their children. Guatemalan nationality opens concrete doors: a Guatemalan passport (useful for travel, lower hospital fees if visiting Guatemala), the right to inherit family property in Guatemala, the right to study at Guatemalan public universities at national rates, and the right to live indefinitely in Guatemala without a visa.

Requirements

For the child (US-born):

  • US birth certificate — original with seal from the state’s Vital Records office
  • Apostille of the birth certificate by the issuing state’s Secretary of State (California, Texas, NY, etc.)
  • Certified Spanish translation of the birth certificate (if requested by the consulate)
  • Child’s US passport (simple copy)
  • If the child is over 7 years old: 2 ID-size photos
  • Completed application form (download from MINEX portal or pick up at consulate)

For the Guatemalan parent:

  • Valid Guatemalan DPI (original and copy)
  • Guatemalan birth certificate of the parent (RENAP)
  • If parents are married: marriage certificate
  • If only one parent is Guatemalan and the other is foreign: documentation of the foreign parent
  • If parents are separated or divorced: legal documentation of status

Additional documentation (case-dependent):

  • If parents are unmarried: sworn declaration of paternity/maternity from the Guatemalan parent
  • If the child was acknowledged after birth: acknowledgment certificate
  • If there are name discrepancies between documents: notarized clarification

Step-by-Step

  1. Apostille the child’s birth certificate in the USA. This is step 1 and usually takes 2-4 weeks. Each state has a different process. In California, this is done at the Secretary of State (Sacramento or LA). In Texas, at the Secretary of State (Austin). In NY, at the Department of State (Albany). Cost: US$10-50. For federal documents (rare), the apostille is done at the US Department of State (Washington DC).
  2. Gather all documentation for the Guatemalan parent — valid DPI, RENAP birth certificate (issued within the last 6 months), marriage certificate if applicable.
  3. Book an appointment at a Guatemalan consulate in the USA via citaconsularguatemala.com. Select “Nationality Process” or “Registration of child born abroad.” You can also do the process directly at MINEX in Guatemala if you visit.
  4. Submit the complete file at the consulate or MINEX. The officer reviews documents and gives you a receipt. If something is missing, they tell you what to get and give you time to obtain it.
  5. The consulate forwards the file to MINEX in Guatemala for resolution. This shipping adds 2-4 weeks.
  6. MINEX reviews and issues the nationality recognition resolution. This takes 3 to 6 months depending on the workload of the Nationality Department.
  7. The signed resolution arrives at the consulate where you started the process. You will be notified by email to pick it up.
  8. Once you have the resolution, you can apply for the child’s Guatemalan passport at the same consulate or register them in RENAP next time you visit Guatemala. The resolution is the document that proves the nationality.

Cost and Time

ItemApproximate CostTime
US birth certificate apostille (state)US$10-502-4 weeks
Certified Spanish translation (if needed)US$30-801-2 weeks
Process at consulate/MINEXFree (Q0)1 day (submission)
MINEX resolutionFree3-6 months
Total estimatedUS$50-1504-8 months
Child’s Guatemalan passport (after)US$50-754-6 weeks

Common Errors

Details

US birth certificates are state-level, not federal. The apostille is issued by the Secretary of State of the state where your child was born, NOT the US State Department in Washington DC. If your child was born in Texas, apostille in Austin (Texas Secretary of State), not in DC. Confusing this adds 4-8 weeks to the process. Each state charges differently: California charges US$26, Texas US$15, NY US$10.

Details

RENAP requires certified certificates issued within the last 6 months. If the birth certificate you have stored at home is years old, it does not work. Getting a new certificate from RENAP costs Q15 and can be requested online at renap.gob.gt. If you are in the USA and cannot go to RENAP in person, a relative in Guatemala can request it with your DPI and then send it apostilled (an additional Q85 for the MINEX apostille).

Details

If the father and mother were not married when the child was born, the Guatemalan parent must present a sworn declaration of paternity before a notary, in addition to the child’s birth certificate showing their name. If the Guatemalan parent’s name is NOT on the child’s birth certificate, the process becomes significantly more complicated — it requires additional proof (DNA, prior legal acknowledgment, etc.). Consult with the consulate before applying.

Details

It is common for the US birth certificate to have the full name (with middle name, hyphenated last names, etc.) and for other documents to show it differently. All documents must match. If there are differences, prepare a notarized clarification explaining it is the same person, or request a corrected birth certificate from the issuing state before starting the process with MINEX. Unresolved discrepancies are the #1 cause of file rejection.

For US Diaspora

For Guatemalans in the USA, this process has important practical nuances:

Where to apostille by state (Secretaries of State):

  • California — Secretary of State, Sacramento/Los Angeles. US$26 walk-in, US$36 mail.
  • Texas — Secretary of State, Austin. US$15 per document.
  • New York — Department of State, Albany/NYC. US$10 walk-in, US$10 mail.
  • Florida — Department of State, Tallahassee. US$10.
  • Illinois — Secretary of State, Springfield. US$2 (one of the cheapest).
  • Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, etc. — check with your state’s Secretary of State, costs US$3-25.

Highest-demand consulates for nationality (book ahead):

Key tip: this process is perfect to do during a mobile consulate because it does not require multiple visits — you bring the entire file and submit it. If MINEX organizes a mobile consulate in your city, take advantage of it. You save a trip to the fixed consulate.

After obtaining nationality, common next steps are: apply for the child’s Guatemalan passport, register them in RENAP next time you visit Guatemala, and consider signing up for consular registration for future notifications.

There is also a parallel simplified process — Register US-born child as Guatemalan — which is the registration of the birth in RENAP through the consulate. Many Guatemalans first do the birth registration (faster, ~1-2 months) and then the formal nationality resolution if they need it for more complex procedures.