Dual citizenship in Latin America has been the easiest second-passport option in the world for Americans. Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica and most of their neighbors all permit it without renunciation. The region accounts for the bulk of US-citizen naturalizations abroad each year, with more than 125,000 Mexican-American dual citizenships granted in 2025 alone.

Nicaragua just exited the consensus

A constitutional amendment ratified by the National Assembly on Jan. 14 and published in the official gazette on Jan. 16 strips Nicaraguan nationality from anyone who acquires a second citizenship. Foreigners who naturalize as Nicaraguans must renounce their prior nationality. The only exemption: Central American nationals resident in Nicaragua. AE has covered the political mechanics of the Ortega-Murillo reform separately. This piece looks at where it leaves Americans.

The comparison set has shifted

For Americans tracking second-passport options in the hemisphere, Nicaragua had been a minor but functional jurisdiction. Citizenship was available through descent, through naturalization after four years of permanent residency, and through treaty-based fast tracks for Central American and Spanish nationals. Dual nationality was explicitly permitted. The prior constitution’s Article 20, reformed in 2000, made it so.

That changed on Jan. 16. Nicaragua now sits with a small group of countries that force a choice. Most regional peers do not:

• Mexico. Permits dual nationality. Largest single source of new US-foreign dual citizens.
• Argentina. Permits dual nationality. Two-year naturalization path, the fastest in the region.
• Brazil. Permits dual nationality. Citizenship by descent for children of Brazilian nationals.
• Uruguay. Permits dual nationality. Three-year naturalization for those with family ties.
• Panama. Permits dual nationality in practice for naturalized citizens despite a constitutional renunciation clause that is not enforced.
• Costa Rica. Permits dual nationality.
• Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela. All permit dual nationality.
• Nicaragua. No longer permits dual nationality outside the Central American exemption.

Who this actually affects

Roughly 429,500 people of Nicaraguan descent live in the United States, concentrated in Florida and California, according to the most recent Census Bureau figures. A subset of that population holds or could claim Nicaraguan citizenship by descent under the prior nationality law. Anyone in that group who completes the naturalization paperwork going forward triggers automatic loss of Nicaraguan citizenship under the new constitutional text.

The mechanics matter:

• Born in Nicaragua, naturalized as US citizen before Jan. 16, 2026. Officials say the change is not retroactive. The US Embassy’s advisory notes that enforcement is at the Nicaraguan government’s discretion.
• Born in the US to Nicaraguan parents, never claimed Nicaraguan citizenship. Filing a claim now would not be naturalization, so the descent path may remain open. The Embassy advisory does not address this case directly.
• Born in Nicaragua, considering claiming US citizenship after Jan. 16. Acquiring US nationality now severs Nicaraguan nationality automatically.
• Born in the US to Nicaraguan parents, considering naturalization in Nicaragua later. Would have to renounce US citizenship.

The US government has been explicit that it cannot revoke US citizenship based on a Nicaraguan ruling. But Nicaragua can deny or revoke Nicaraguan citizenship to anyone who would otherwise have a claim, including dual US-Nicaraguan nationals.

What it changes for the broader Plan B calculation

Wealthy Americans buying backup passports generally treat dual citizenship in Latin America as low-friction. The region’s universal-or-near-universal tolerance is one of the reasons. Nicaragua’s exit is the first reversal in a generation.

It is also a reminder that constitutional protections on citizenship can change quickly under authoritarian pressure. The Ortega-Murillo amendment moved from proposal to ratified text in roughly nine months, in two legislative votes that were both unanimous in a one-party assembly. Officials have promised non-retroactivity. Officials have also, since 2023, stripped nationality from nearly 500 critics in ways the prior constitution prohibited.

For Americans treating a second passport as insurance, the lesson is that the insurance product itself depends on the issuing government’s political stability. Most second-passport analysis prices in tax obligations, residency requirements and processing times. It tends not to price in the chance that the issuing country rewrites its citizenship rules outright.

How this impacts Americans seeking Dual Citizenship in Latin America

Nicaragua is not a major destination for American emigrants. The story matters because of what it signals, not the immediate population it affects. Dual citizenship in Latin America has been a single permissive bloc for a generation. It now has its first formal exit, executed faster than most legal analysts thought possible. The next test is whether any other regional government follows.