No Guatemalan Granted Belizean Nationality

Mario Arzu

So if you are wondering if any nationality certificate was issued to Guatemalan citizens, the short answer is no. According to the Director of the Nationality and Passport Department, Mario Arzu, the process of granting nationality to Guatemalans was halted in 2016. 

Mario Arzu, Director, Passport and Nationality Section

“The applications for Guatemalan nationals, those are no longer processed through any means. Once they are descent it is different because they are Belizeans, and those are their children that were born abroad. That’s completely different. Our laws make provisions for those children. When it comes through registration through marriage they need to get permanent residence or if they have already acquired permanent residence then they remain as residence. But no we are not, the Nationality Scrutinizing Committee, sorry does not approve or recommend to the Minister any application by Guatemalans. That has been stopped since; the last one, I think, was 2016. So we have not for these past almost three years deliberated on any Guatemalan applications.”