Dual citizenship in El Salvador.

El Salvador is one of the more relaxed countries in the hemisphere on plural nationality, for a reason that is demographic rather than ideological: roughly a quarter of the people born Salvadoran live outside the country, most of them in the United States, and the state has no interest in cutting them loose.

The constitutional position

Salvadorans by birth keep their nationality permanently. Acquiring another citizenship does not forfeit it, and it cannot be stripped. Naturalised Salvadorans are not asked to renounce a prior nationality either.

The routes in

Descent. A Salvadoran parent makes you Salvadoran, wherever you were born. This is the route most of the diaspora uses, and the paperwork burden falls on proving the parental link with documents that may be decades old and held in a municipal registry.

Marriage. After a qualifying period of residence and marriage.

Naturalisation. After holding residency, with Spanish and a civics component.

Central American or Spanish nationality. A shortened constitutional route.

What it is actually worth

• The passport, with visa-free access to around 130 countries
• The right to own land anywhere, including coastal and rural property, without the restrictions that apply to some foreign buyers
• A vote, and the ability to hold most public roles
• Freedom of movement in the CA-4 area
• A base with territorial taxation, which matters more to some people than the travel document does

The part to get advice on

Tax. Dual nationality changes your filing position in ways that depend entirely on your other passport, and the US in particular taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of residence. Talk to someone qualified in both jurisdictions before you file anything — we can point you to one.