Tweet
Last June, the Obama Administration made changes to the rules for obtaining passports. These rules were made to change procedures for transgender people so that we trans folk could obtain two-year passports without genital reconstruction surgery.
The new rules are found in the State Department’s document 7 FAM 1300 APPENDIX M GENDER CHANGE. It spells out a lot of hoops trans people have to jump through to get that two-year passport.
The first, and most difficult part, has been getting a letter I needed form one of the five types of physicians (psychiatrists, internists, endocrinologists, gynecologists, and urologists) written in a format the State Department accepts, spelling out my gender is female. Heck, the State Department has lots of requirements for this letter — It must be a signed original statement, on office letterhead, from a patient’s attending medical physician, that must include the following:
• Physician’s full name
• Medical license or certificate number
• Issuing state or other jurisdiction of medical license/certificate
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration number assigned to the physician
• Address and telephone number of the physician
• Language stating that he/she is the attending physician for the applicant and that he/she has a doctor/patient relationship with the applicant
• Language stating the applicant has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (male or female)
• Language stating “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the forgoing is true and correct”
• Annotate the application “gender transition” to record the reason for issuing the full validity passport in the new gender.
Late last July, I asked my psychiatrist for a letter that conformed with the State Department requirements. (I see about psychiatrist about every month-and-a-half for my bipolar condition, so I was asking for this letter from a doctor who has an ongoing doctor-patient relationship with.) It took until just last week to actually obtain a letter from her that completely conformed with the State Department requirements because, as I expected, the letter she wrote for me was the first one of these kinds of transgender-pasport letters she’d ever written.
As a next step, I then went to assemble the rest of my documentation to take to the Post Office for that two-year passport. However, when I went to pull out my birth certificate from my files, I found out my copy didn’t conform to the State Department requirements. I only have a Xerox copy of an official copy of my birth certificate in my files, but I need an actual official copy of my birth certificate to take to the Post Office for that passport I want.
So, I need a new official copy of my birth certificate if I want that passport. To make a long story short, to get that new official birth ceritificate copy, I needed a notarized, filled-in form to send to the Los Angeles County Register-Recorder that confirmed my identity — My identity needed to be verified to confirm I’m the actual registrant asking for a copy of my own birth certificate. Since I’ve changed my name as part of my transition, I had to bring a notary my driver’s license, and a copy of my change of name document back from when I changed my name to Autumn in 2004 so he could confirm — in writing with a notary seal — that I am the registrant. You know, because my name doesn’t now match the one that’s on my birth certificate.
I got that done yesterday (Saturday, December 5, 2010). I mailed off the notarized copy of my form confirming I am a registrant asking for a copy of my own birth certificate off to the Los Angeles County Register-Recorder yesterday afternoon.
As you can see, I’ve taken my passport photo taken — I look jaundiced in the photo, don’t I? Oh well, it’s not like the photos on photo identification cards ever look great, y’know?
As soon as my official copy of my birth certificate shows up in the mail, I’m off to the Post Office with my folder of documents to apply for my passport in my current name and gender identity. Before that passport expires, I hope to have my birth certificate changed to reflect my gender, and then I’ll have to update my passport to reflect what my updated birth certificate will say.
This is a lot of work, but I want to feel free to travel again. Having a passport that had a gender marker that didn’t reflect my gender identity would take away from feeling like I could travel internationally — I don’t want to carry an identity document at any time that has a male gender identifier on it.
~~~~~
Related:
* BREAKING Blend exclusive: State Department issues gender change policy for passport applications
* Foreign Affairs Manual Requirements For Passport Change Of Gender
28 Comments
passport photo requirementsi noticed they let you wear your glasses and earrings. interesting. when my spousal unit had her dutch passport renewed recently it seemed the netherland’s photo requirements were incredibly persnickety, including no hair obscuring the earlobes and no jewelery.
These hoops are a form of discriminationThese hoops, Autumn (which is a beautiful, apt name) are a form of discrimination of the highest order, which others do not have to go thru in a separate but equal situation. My solidarity is with you! Thanks for being my facebook friend.
My glasses needed to be prescription……and not too dark. The tint is actually to protect my blue eyes from too much exposure to sunlight. Sunlight, my doc tells me, can actually sunburn my eyes because blue indicates a lack of protecting pigment. So in other words, the tint in my glasses are actually there for a reason. (Pink is my choice of tint color though — grey tint would just bore me.)
Earrings…I checked the rules, and the photo rules I read didn’t say anything at all about earrings, so I left my earrings on.
If the Post Office makes me take another picture over the earings, my world won’t end. But, my pink glasses are bifocal, so the glasses are very obviously prescription glasses — I would fight over taking a picute without ‘em on.
grey tint would *not* be you!
Similar to my experience getting a UK passportThat wasn’t too painful, though I did have to appear in person at the UK High Commission. Fortunately I live in Canberra, so that wasn’t an Interstate trip.
The fight to get an Australian passport – one that would allow me entry back into the country, as the UK one would not – that took 20 months, a legal fight, questions in parliament, letters to ministers…
You see, they weren’t acting in accordance with their own regulations. I couldn’t prove that because the regulations were not available to the public, and not covered by the Freedom of Informstion Act. Except… the Minister had claimed in writing to an obscure parliamentary committee that they were available to the public on demand in order to get the FOI exemption… The bureaucrats when confronted with that documentary evidence had to either obey the verbal direction of the Minister, or testify that he’d lied to parliament, a sacking offense (for the minister, and admitting it a career-ender for them). Oopsie. Panic.
I got a copy of the regulations. Yes, I could prove in a court of law that they were acting contrary to them. And was prepared to.
Before then it was Kafka-esque. “We can’t give you a passport because of regulations the nature of which we have a ministerial directive not to reveal.” I eventually got a passport, a refund of the application fee, and an apology. The courts would have had them for breakfast.
It only took me seeing several lawyers, researching dusty archives of parliamentary committees, about 40 hours waiting in APO offices (camping on their doorsteps basically), quite a few hundred dollars in fees, research on legal databases and official letters in accordance with various acts… just to get a passport. Not an F passport, any passport.
It’s better now. The Australian Passport Office has gone from being one of the most, if not the most, reactionary and transphobic government departments to being one of the most trans-friendly. A few court cases fought by Trans women where the courts ripped them new ones helped, and I think my persistence may have played a part too.
I could not have done it without the help from other public servants who were outraged and took it as a personal insult that their government, their administration, was acting in such a callous, inhuman, and illegal fashion.
One office gave me a standing ovation, you know? After staying back late on a Friday afternoon, doing unpaid overtime just to get my case resolved. There are some good people out there, dedicated public servants who see their duty as genuinely serving the public. Never forget that.
Good Luck, may the Red Tape not ensnare you, Zoe
QuestionWhy won’t they issue a regular, ten-year passport?
Don’t know.I just know the 7 FAM 1300 Appendix M Gender Change document states this is all for a a two-year passport, not a ten-year passport. Why just a two-year passport? You’d have to ask the State Department.
I can only tilt at so many windmills — as we used to say in the Navy, I only have a limited amount of give-a-sh** — so I’m just going to go with the flow on this one.
Hoops?You say that the State Department’s new rules require
Honestly, I see only one federally-mandated hoop for trans people – the certification letter from a physician. Everything else seems like the same old same old applicable to everyone. What am I missing?
By the way, that was the first I had read the new regulations. They seem not only not onerous but sensitive, too. A small step forward, perhaps, but not insignificant.
Huh? pls delete one of these. Sorry.
I understand about tilting windmillsBut it’s just sad we trans-folks receive 1/5 what others take for granted.
o_O
the new regulations were announced this summerwe wrote about it here.
I have heavy prescription glasses tooAnd I was required to remove them.
Temporary passport for SRS.They won’t issue a 10 year passport until you’ve had SRS, the two year one is temporary so that you can travel out of the states to have SRS and not get hassled about a conflicting gender marker overseas. I had my SRS in Thailand and after I came back I was able to get a new 10 year passport no problem with the surgeon’s letter.
WonderfulI cannot afford surgery.
I forget who it was who said, “When you look likeyour passport photo, it’s time to go home”….
Seriously, I met you and that is an awful picture…
Your new passport will not be limited to 2 yearsAutumn,
I think you are misreading the State Department’s new gender change policy. The policy states:
(Section b(1) and b(1)(g), P. 2, emphasis added). In contrast, a “limited validity,” i.e., two-year, passport is issued when the physician is only able to state that “the applicant is in the process of gender transition to the new gender ….” (Section b(2)(b), P. 3, emphasis added). In other words, the two-year passport is for those who have not yet completed “the appropriate clinical treatment” necessary to obtain a full validity, i.e., standard 10-year, passport. (Of course, it’s important to note that it is between the trans person and her/his physician to determine what treatment is appropriate for her/him to transition, without interference or restriction by the State Department.)
I believe this is how NCTE, which worked closely with the State Department in developing this new policy, interprets it. NCTE’s recommended language for the physician’s statement recognizes this distinction, with the more limited language to be used by those applying only for the two-year passport. See NCTE, Understanding the New Passport Gender Change Policy, June 2010, p. 2. NCTE’s explanation also states, “If you are just beginning transition and need to travel abroad, you can obtain a two-year provisional passport.” (p. 1)
Obviously, you’re way beyond the beginning stage of transition and should have no trouble in obtaining a full validity passport showing your correct gender.
Abby’s correctIt’s all in the wording, as Abby says. I had no problems getting a full 10 year passport this past summer, in preparation for my trip to Thailand for SRS in the fall.
It depends…They will issue a full validity passport (10 year), or a limited validity passport (2 year) depending on what the letter says.
If the letter says you are “in the process”, it’s for 2 years.
If it says “the applicant has had appropriate clinical treatment” then it’s good for 10.
The reasoning behind this is simple – if you just started transitioning, you are likely to look very different in 2 years. Renewing a limited validity passport shouldn’t have a fee – it didn’t before.
I would highly recommend getting a passport card as well. It’s credit-card shaped, bears no address, looks pretty cool, and is especially great when your state government is being a PITA.
Not for SRSSRS is not a requirement.
Under the old rules, they would issue a 1 year limited validity passport for the specific purpose of getting SRS. It required a letter indicating the date when you were getting SRS and could not be renewed if you did not.
Under the new rules (went into effect in July, IIRC), you get either a 2 or 10 year, depending on the letter.
If your doctor certifies you have had treatment, then you get a 10 year. There is no requirement whatsoever for any specific procedures or treatments (including SRS) – you just need to have had treatment.
If the letter indicates you are in the process of being treated, then it’s 2 years. This is done so that your photo can be updated if your appearance changes significantly.
You do not need a letter from a surgeon at all.
Yes, I was aware of the change, but had not read the new regs in full.Now having done so, I am just not understanding what the many hoops are that Autumn says the State Department requires of trans people that it doesn’t also require of anyone and everyone – aside from the document from your doctor, of course. And they even provide a model letter for that.
The new regulations seem pretty cool to me; especially the part where it’s now codified that surgery isn’t required.
Yeah, but they are sticklers.If I had tinted lenses currently, I think I would have worn an old pair of glasses with clear lenses for the photos or omitted wearing glasses entirely. The way the regs are written, they can require you to come back with a medical certificate for the tinted lenses.
I went for an Enhanced Driver’s license last week . . . . . . and got rejected at the DMV. Of course, I was trying to use the proofs that were fine in 2000 for the ordinary license. It looks like I am going to have to finally bite the bullet and get a judicial “name change” (even though after over 10 years, I am not not actually “changing” my name). I’ll need that for a passport, anyway – all of this was to connect-the-dots to my birth certificate.
Since that is the subject of pending litigation, I’m not applying for a change on my birth certificate in midstream.
If I have to buy yet another index number, I am tempted to challenge the DMV requirement for a judicial name change order, give the fact that the NY Civil Rights Law has been held by numerous court decisions to be not “in derogation of” the common law, but supplemental to it. On the other hand, administrative regs have to be arbitrary and capricious. In the other case, i think I have a case. On this one, for the EDL, the case is not as strong.
I have to mull this one over. In any event, The DMV was perfectly happy to renew my existing license.
NOTE: the fact that I had to present an original birth certificate meant that the clerk behind window 13 at the White Plains DMV referred to me as “this gentleman” when she spoke with the supervisor. I gritted my teeth – it does not pay to aggravate civil servants – but it was unnecessarily cissexist on her part. How would she have felt if I racistly referred to her as “girl” with a comtemptuous sneer? (Not that I would have done that. It would have been on the same order of insult, though, but two wrongs do not make a right.)
Oh well, it’s not like I was planning on going to Canada or taking a cruise any time soon . . .
kathrin is correct [eom]
Autumn . . . . . . it depends on what the medical professional’s letter states. GRS is NOT a requirement for a passport. Appropriate treatment can include SRS but does not have to.
as one of the folks……who went through the old 1 year temp/post SRS regular passport drill, I was both pleased and concerned when the changes went through. Reading about your process made me glad the new rules are in place!
I worry that it is all just administrative accomodation though. That’s all its ever been, in the former or present incarnation of the regulations. The Obama administration got points from the LGBT community for the rule change when it needed some points. But they did so by providing a civil right as a policy-dependent rule change. What will happen if/when the next administration is right wing gender essentialists? Surgery was always a fig leaf on this one, so to speak. Now that’s gone, and the visibility is way up. Hence the concerned part.
What would you recommend be done differently?
Since the various Passport Acts recognize the authority of the President and Secretary of State to issue passports, how else should the various details of issuance be determined? This is just basic nuts and bolts government. Would you really want to try to have Congress enact new passport legislation to specifically cover transgender issues?
Yes, though not specific to passports.It will never happen in the US. But your withering and dismissive tone aside, yes, I would like my identity — my name and gender — to have legal force.
The US does not have the equivalent of a gender recognition act (whatever its flaws in the UK, and they are real enough, it was a profound, generational triumph of civil rights work). All this stuff is given peicemeal, state by state…get a new birth certificate in WA (where I live)…get busted for peeing in the women’s room in Texas. At the federal level, you can get a passport (as you say, through the rules of the state department) or be bounced out of the recruiter’s office with a laugh (one department over). This is just the reality…some executive systems try to be decent about it, and some don’t, and it all can change with the stroke of a pen.
Civil rights which are given as people being nice and reasonable — at whatever level, and with whatever authority — are not the same as civil rights which come from law. Not remotely.
“this driver” would have been bestpeople really really really like to assign gender even when gender is irrelevant to the conversation. i find this completely annoying, and i don’t even have to deal with the legal hassles transgender people do. grr!