Juan Carlos Sarazua 3. Contemporary Citizenship Regime In Guatemala, the forms of acquisition, loss or suspension of citizenship are based on the 1985 Constitution and the 1966 Nationality Law (with some reforms). 3.1. Modes of Acquisition of Citizenship In Guatemalan legislation, the two main forms of acquiring nationality of origin are well defined: offspring and place of birth. The combination of both establishes a mixed model because both ius soli and ius sanguinis give access to nationality. In this sense, the Constitution establishes, first, the nationality of origin of “those born in the territory of the Republic”, compounded by those born in Guatemalan ships and aircrafts. That is, it recognises that ius solis is transmitted by any vehicle or transport that recognises the sovereignty of the country. One can observe here the continuity between the first Constitution of the State of 1825 and the current one. This requirement facilitates access to Guatemalan nationality for anyone born in the territory. As the Constitution does not explicitly reject it, this may include children of non-domiciled foreign parents and those of expatriates. It guarantees in a broad way the right to nationality. Guatemala thus follows a pattern that is more frequent in the American sphere as it responds to the marked interest of receiving a constant flow of migrants, as mentioned in previous sections21. With the law, it can be affirmed that these were the intentions of the members of the National Constituent Assembly and the Congress of the Republic when issuing these legal regulations, through in practice enormous difficulties have been reported for those born on Guatemalan territory but to foreign parents in an irregular migratory status. In this case, the Constitution does establish the right of children born in Guatemalan territory to nationality. To the contrary, one of the hardest difficulties reported has been to register these children, as the law establishes that such registration has to be done with valid personal documents: identification cards (or IPR) and passports with legal stay. In the case of migrants who are going to another destination, not having this documentation prevents children born in Guatemala during their parent’s journey from enjoying the right to nationality guaranteed by the Constitution22. In this sense, the Civil Code clearly states that residence in the country is “constituted voluntarily by residence in a place with the intention of remaining in it”, and this last condition is recognised as “the continuous residence for one year in the place. The previous presumption will cease if it is verified that residence is accidental or in another place” 23. In this way, the Guatemalan Civil Code is quite broad. However, the Migration Act of 1998 established time limits for the recognition of domicile to foreigners, applicable to transient migrants. First, it recognises two categories of foreigners in the country: non-resident and resident. The former are divided into persons in transit or tourists, and the latter into temporary and 21 Vonk “Guatemala” Carol Girón Solórzano, “Estudio migratorio de Guatemala”, en Estudio comparativo de la legislación y y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, INDECES, 20p. 299-300. 23 Código Civil, art. 32 y 33. 22 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/4 - © 2020 Author 9