Sheinbaum Signs Decree: Candidates for the Presidency and Governorships Must Be Only Mexican

BySugeyry Romina Gándara

This article by Sugeyry Romina Gándara originally appeared in the October 7, 2026 edition of SinEmbargo, a Mexican independent digital news outlet.

Luisa María Alcalde explained that people with dual nationality must renounce it before requesting their registration as candidates before the INE.

Mexico City, October 7 (SinEmbargo).— President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) signed this Wednesday the decree establishing that those who aspire to the Presidency of the Republic, a governorship or the Head of Government of Mexico City (CdMx) must hold only Mexican nationality.

During her morning press conference at the National Palace, the president explained that the constitutional reform, approved by the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies and 22 state congresses, will be published today in the evening edition of the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).

Today we signed the decree, already approved by the Senate, by a qualified majority; by the Chamber of Deputies, by a qualified majority; and by the state congresses, that is, the constituent body, that no President, man or woman, nor Governor, man or woman, may have dual nationality.

President Claudia Sheinbaum

Sheinbaum specified that the provision will begin to apply starting with the 2028 electoral process, so people who seek to run for any of these offices must have previously renounced any other nationality.

“Should they have dual nationality, the candidate will necessarily have to renounce it prior to registration with the National Electoral Institute [INE], so that they hold only Mexican nationality,” explained Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Legal Counsel of the Presidency.

The Procedure Has Yet to Be Defined

Alcalde Luján noted that regulatory provisions must still be issued establishing how aspirants must prove that they have given up the second nationality.

Claudia Sheinbaum signs the decree barring dual nationality for candidates
The decree will be published in the evening edition of the Official Gazette of the Federation. Photo: Camila Ayala Benabib, Cuartoscuro

For the moment, the official indicated that the procedure could involve not only the Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE), but also the authorities of the countries whose nationality the interested person holds.

“Later on, we will have to issue the regulatory provisions so that it is very clear what procedure must be carried out and before which authorities, not limited to the Secretariat of Foreign Relations, but also the countries themselves whose nationality one holds,” she indicated.

The reform, which amends articles 82, 116 and 122 of the Constitution, also prohibits those who hold the aforementioned offices from acquiring another nationality, using a foreign passport, exercising political rights linked to another citizenship or availing themselves of the diplomatic protection of another State.

It is worth noting that the National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Federal Judiciary (JUFED) expressed on October 1 its rejection of the reform, considering it a “regressive” measure, and maintained that it may limit the political rights of Mexican citizens by birth who, for various circumstances, also hold another nationality.