BO · Citizenship by descent

Bolivian citizenship by descent

Reaches a great-grandparent. Every answer on this page is what Postern’s rulebook returns, word for word, with the law it cites. The free check runs the same rules.

Last verified 25 September 20265 sourcesNot legal advice

BO · PARENTLIKELYThrough a parentCitizen by descentBO · GRANDPARENTPOSSIBLEThrough a grandparentCitizen by descentBO · GREAT-GRANDPARENTPOSSIBLEThrough a great-grandparentCitizen by descent
Routes
Citizen by descent (Art. 141)
Dual citizenship
Kept on every open route

The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.

On this page
  1. 01Who qualifies
  2. 02Dates that matter
  3. 03Mothers’ lines
  4. 04Keeping your citizenship
  5. 05The routes and the law
  6. 06The documents
  7. 07What it takes
  8. 08Where the records live
  9. 09Law changes
  10. 10Other doors
  11. 11Sources

01Who qualifies

Who qualifies, generation by generation

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Bolivian citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by descent

Anyone born abroad to a Bolivian parent is Bolivian by birth, in every generation, so your parent registers at the consulate first and then you do.

What would settle itWhether your parent can be registered as a Bolivian national first; consular registration of adults has no published fee or age limit.

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Bolivian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by descent

Anyone born abroad to a Bolivian parent is Bolivian by birth, in every generation, so your parent registers at the consulate first and then you do.

What would settle itWhether your parent can be registered as a Bolivian national first; consular registration of adults has no published fee or age limit.

02Dates that matter

The dates that matter

No date named in Bolivia’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

03Mothers’ lines

How mothers’ lines were treated

Bolivia’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:

04Keeping your citizenship

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

05The routes

Every route, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent

Open through a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent

  • LIKELY
    Through a parent
  • POSSIBLE
    Through a grandparent

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether your parent can be registered as a Bolivian national first; consular registration of adults has no published fee or age limit.

06The documents

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent

Through a parent

  • Your parent’s Bolivian birth certificate or identity document
  • Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated

Through a grandparent or great-grandparent

  • Your Bolivian ancestor’s birth certificate
  • Birth records for each generation, each registered at the consulate in turn

Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.

07What it takes

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent

Time
A few weeks to a few months for the consular registration.
Cost
About $150–350: registration fees, apostilles and certified translations.
The hard part
None, really. Bring your parent’s Bolivian birth certificate or identity document and your apostilled U.S. birth certificate.
Who decides
The Bolivian consulate for your address, through SERECI.
The first record
Your parent’s Bolivian birth certificate or cédula de identidad, from SERECI (Servicio de Registro Cívico). Request the certificado de nacimiento through SERECI with the name and place of birth, or bring the parent’s cédula to the consulate appointment. oep.org.bo

How it’s filed

Where
The Bolivian consulate general for the applicant's residence, in person (U.S. posts include New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles and others; unverified: full list and jurisdictions). New York: 237 West 37th Street, Floor 13, New York, NY 10018 (consulados.cancilleria.gob.bo/nueva-york), found via WebSearch, not fetched directly; confidence: secondary, verified 2026-09-25. office list
How
In person; you appear in person
Appointments
By phone or email with the consulate (New York: coliviannuevayork@rree.gob.bo). No online booking found; walk-in hours 9:00–15:00 at New York.
Fee
About $15
Decision
1–9 weeks
What goes in the file (6)
  1. The applicant's official birth certificate from the country of birth, original or legalized copy, apostilled where required, with a Spanish translation
  2. The applicant's foreign ID (passport)
  3. The Bolivian parent's valid cédula de identidad, original (or other official proof of the parent's Bolivian identity)
  4. The other parent's valid ID, original, if foreign
  5. Two adult witnesses who are not family, with valid ID, present at the registration
  6. Minors additionally: the medical certificate of live birth, the parents' marriage certificate if any, and the child in person
What goes wrong (4)
  • Fee: the 2015 schedule lists USD 15 for registration of a child aged 12–18; unverified: the adult fee (prior research found registration free under 12). Treat USD 15 as indicative.
  • The consulate issues a Bolivian birth certificate at registration; with it the person applies for a cédula (SEGIP) and a passport.
  • One generation: a grandchild files nothing until the parent is registered as Bolivian; then the parent's new certificate supports the grandchild's registration as the child of a Bolivian.
  • From AR, BR: Bolivia has many consulates in Argentina and Brazil (e.g. Buenos Aires, La Plata, São Paulo, Corumbá) with the same procedure. From CA, GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the embassy or consulate for your residence (London has an embassy).

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.

08Where the records live

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

  • birth

    SERECI (Servicio de Registro Cívico, under the Órgano Electoral Plurinacional), which holds Bolivian civil registration

    Search by name, date and place of birth, or the parent's cédula number. The parent's valid Bolivian cédula de identidad is usually enough for the consulate; the parent's birth certificate is the fallback.

    Ask
    Through an agent, in Spanish · request page ↗
    Takes
    1–13 weeks
    Good to know (2)
    • unverified: whether SERECI certificates can be ordered online from abroad; a relative in Bolivia, or the consulate, is the dependable route. A duplicate Bolivian birth certificate issued by a consulate costs USD 5 (Houston schedule, Resolución Ministerial 081/2015).
    • unverified: the start date of Bolivian civil registration; earlier births are in Catholic parish registers.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Translations

Into
Spanish
Who may translate
Any certified translator
About
$25–$60 a page

The foreign birth certificate is presented as an original or legalized copy, apostilled where required, and translated into Spanish. The consulate can legalize the signature on the translation (USD 15 for a Bolivian citizen, USD 50 for a foreigner, per the 2015 schedule). unverified: whether the New York post insists on an apostille for a U.S. certificate.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

The passport

Where
The Bolivian consulate (the electronic passport is issued by DIGEMIG through consular offices), in person, with the new birth certificate and a cédula or ID assignment. Fee not published on the consulates' pages (unverified); the 0 here is a placeholder, not a free passport.
Fee
Not confirmed
Time
2–13 weeks

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

09Law changes

Recent and pending changes

The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Bolivia.

The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.

10Other doors

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Bolivia without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

11Sources

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing. Records and filing checked 25 September 2026.

  1. LawPolitical Constitution of the State of Bolivia (2009), Art. 141(I) (nationality by birth) and Art. 143 (no loss by acquiring another) · Art. 141; Art. 141(I); Art. 143(I)
  2. RecordsSERECI (Servicio de Registro Cívico): Your parent’s Bolivian birth certificate or cédula de identidad
  3. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by descent · checked 25 September 2026
  4. RecordsBirth records: SERECI · checked 25 September 2026
  5. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait · checked 25 September 2026

Not legal advice. Postern’s rulebook is written from the statutes and tested against documented cases; where the law is unsettled, the answer says “possible” or “unsure” rather than guess.

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