El Salvador · Citizenship
El Salvador citizenship for Americans: how many years, and can you keep US citizenship?
Short answer
Apply after 5 years of residence, counting temporary years, once you hold a permanent card. Keeping US citizenship depends on a treaty, and none was found.
The rules
| Timeline | 5 years of residence, temporary and permanent combined; apply with a permanent card |
|---|---|
| Dual citizenship | Depends: naturalized citizens keep another nationality only under a treaty; none with the US was found. |
Checked against the law The 5-year rule, permanent card, fee and loss rules.
Not yet verified Whether every part of this timeline is confirmed at the official source.
Good to know
- Permanent card: retirees and income residents can get one after 1 year, other residents after 3.
- Shorter clocks: 1 year for people of Spanish or Hispanic American origin; 2 years for spouses of Salvadorans.
- No exams: you swear to obey the law, and a notice is published 3 times.
- Consulate letter: a certificate that your home country allows dual nationality.
- Fee: $700
- Keeping it: you lose it after more than 2 years in a row back in the US, or 5 years in a row abroad.
Sources (3)
Legal basis and exact figures
- Clock: Constitution art 92(2): 5 years for foreigners of any origin; Ley Especial art 156(2) (DL 918/2023) counts temporary and definitive residence; art 156(1) 1 year for Spaniards and Hispanic Americans of origin (how 'origen' is proved not checked); art 156(3) 2 years for spouses; art 156(5) investor and donor programmes.
- Application: definitive-residence card (art 159(8)); consular certificate that the origin country allows dual nationality (art 159(7)); oath (arts 158(6), 270); edict published three times (art 264); fee USD 700 (art 325). No tests listed (arts 158-159).
- Dual nationality and loss: Constitution art 91 (Salvadorans by birth), art 93 (naturalised: treaties with reciprocity); no US treaty found; whether the US Embassy issues the certificate not checked. Loss: art 94; Ley art 279 as replaced by DL 531/2026. Absences: temporary residents 90 days a year (art 119); definitive residents may be away up to 2 years (art 154).
Every rule, with its legal basis
The rules
US nationals are 'extranjeros de cualquier origen': five years of residence in El Salvador (Constitution art 92(2)), counting temporary and definitive residence (Ley Especial art 156(2), as reformed by DL 918/2023). One year of definitive residence applies only to people originating from Spain or a Hispanic-American country (art 156(1); Constitution 'españoles e hispanoamericanos de origen'), so a US citizen of Hispanic-American origin may qualify for the shorter clock (how 'origen' is proved was not checked). Spouses of Salvadorans: two years of residence before or after the marriage (art 156(3)). Investor or donor government programmes have their own track (art 156(5)). Which residence counts: temporary and definitive residence; non-resident tourist time is not residence. The application must include a definitive-residence card (art 159(8)), so a pensioner or rentista (definitive after 1 year) or another temporary resident (definitive after 3 years) must switch to definitive residence before applying.
Absences: no specific absence rule for the five-year count was found; temporary residents must spend at least 90 days a year in the country (art 119, 2026) and definitive residents may be away up to two years (art 154).
Language or tests: none listed in the application contents and documents (arts 158-159); the applicant declares adherence and obedience to Salvadoran laws and takes an oath (arts 158(6), 270); an edict is published three times (art 264). Fee USD 700 (art 325).
Dual nationality: Salvadorans by birth have the right to dual nationality (Constitution art 91); for naturalised citizens, art 93 leaves retention of a non-Central American nationality to treaties with reciprocity, and the application must include a certificate from the applicant's embassy or consulate stating that the country of origin allows dual nationality (art 159(7)). No US–El Salvador treaty was found, and whether the US Embassy issues such a certificate was not checked. Loss: a naturalised Salvadoran loses the nationality by residing more than two consecutive years in the country of origin or being absent more than five consecutive years without permission, or by final conviction (Constitution art 94; Ley art 279 as replaced by DL 531/2026).
Not yet verified Whether every part of this timeline is confirmed at the official source.
Links
Citizenship in El Salvador, in full → The full El Salvador guide →
Questions people ask
How many years until I can become a citizen of El Salvador?
5 years of residence, temporary and permanent combined; apply with a permanent card
Can I keep US citizenship if I become a citizen of El Salvador?
Depends: naturalized citizens keep another nationality only under a treaty; none with the US was found.