Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello all,

I'm writing to ask if anyone has had a recent (last couple of months) application for a gender-amended US passport either turned down or delayed.

Additionally I would like to know if anyone has had successful applications in recent months and when the passport was issued.

I am asking because I now know of a handful of cases where US passport applications are being slowed down or even denied to trans people. It is causing a great deal of concern in my circles and I want to cast the net wider and make sure this isn't happening across the board.

I was fortunate enough to get my passport amended immediately after the election but my girlfriend is only just getting her name and ID stuff sorted. I am extremely worried for her ability to get a passport as I am for the ability of any and all of my friends to get theirs. Any information on negative or positive experiences will be helpful.

Most of the delays have to do with asking for papers that have already been received, or rejecting papers that should meet policy guidelines. The people I have talked to all assumed that it was their fault up until we began comparing notes on this issue. A friend of mine who is emigrating to Ireland due to her concerns about the US government's actions is documenting cases of this happening so we can build a bigger picture of what's going on.

I applied for mine in person at the US embassy in London last April (2017), without any issue. As that was only a 2 year 'transitioning' passport, I'll have to go through the process again next year for a full 10 year version. I hope you get yours sorted, I'd appreciate any updates [emoji5].

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Hmmm

I just mailed my renewal with name and gender change Last week.  I guess we will see in 4 to 6 weeks.

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I recently (two weeks ago) had mine completed, and did have an initial rejection. I called the number on the paperwork that came back and ended up speaking to the gentleman that sent the initial rejection.

I sent in all of the paperwork, but needed to resend the letter from my physician. It was initially rejected due to it not being on "letterhead". My physician is part of The University of a Pennsylvania family health system and they do not have letterhead to speak of. However they did ink sign it and print it out with the UPH "letterhead" at the top of the page, which achieved what they were looking for.

Prior to sending in my response, by accident I did have my application reviewed by someone who works for the state department handling passport applications. This was by random accident and she was pretty clear that the standards have not changed in any way.

The key is:

1. Make sure you use DS11 instead of DS89. I had a perfectly valid passport, but since gender is changing you cannot do a renewal. It is an application for a new original passport. This is different than how it used to be and means you do need to go to an acceptance facility and cannot just mail it in. That costs an extra $35. If you are only changing name the you can just do a renewal and supply a certified copy of the court order. If you are changing a gender then it is a new passport application altogether.

2. Get the physicians letter right the first time. I just downloaded the template from the state departments website and filled in the blanks and had my physician sign it. It must be on letterhead and ink signed. The lack of letterhead caused my initial rejection in mid June.

One thing to note is what they did not return to you. If it was not returned or explicitly requested to be furnished, they still have it in a folder on a specific persons desk. If you call the number listed on the letter you received, you will eventually get routed to that same person. This includes photos - I had one photo returned to me and ended up supplying (and paying for) a second set that they ended up not using. Unfortunately some of this does end up being the discretion of specific person who handles your application.

Hope this helps?

RCR,

I applied for my passport at the end of May.  It arrived last week.  I did have a bit of a problem in that they wanted a different form than the one the agent at the passport office gave me to fill out. Don't know who made the mistake but after getting the form they really wantedsent to them the passport showed up in short order.  I am non-op with little more than HRT and therapy.  I asked for both a name change and the gender marker change.  They did the name change with the first form I sent but not the gender marker until they got the second form.  All I needed for the gender marker change was a declaration that met the criteria listed on the State Department's passport site.  They only require the doctor state that I have undergone "appropriate clinical treatment" and that I am now female.  "Appropriate clinical treatment" is defined by the doctor.

You might consider asking your doctor to give you a letter that meets the criteria even if your girl friend has not finished with everything she wants to get done.  The bar is not very high as far as the State Department or Social Security (same letter works) are concerned. It depends more on what your doctor thinks about the situation. She might be able to get the document changes right away and not have wait till she has finished her transition.

I can get you a copy of the letter I had prepared for my doctor so all she had to do was fill in the blanks for her info after she had it copied onto the offices letterhead. I had her do four copies of the form because it works for SSA and North Carolina's DMV.  Turned out I needed the fourth for the passport form snafu even though they had the one I sent the first time around.  Can you PM me with an email address so I can send it your way?

Stevi

Looks like I may have an issue then, as I sent in renewal form and just filled it out with female as the gender.  I did not know you needed to do it as a new application. 

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  I just received my very first passport today it only took 2 1/2 weeks to receive it from the time I applied on Jun 27, 2018. I had my name already changed on my ID (driver's licence) and my birth certificate. I did not need a physician's letter for it. I had all the forms filled out ready to be signed and original ID and Birth certificate with copies. I had it processed at the post office near me that was designated as an official passport application agent and had my picture taken there at an additional cost. I had no problems at all.

Hugs,
  Laurie

Quote from: TonyaW on July 14, 2018, 11:29:11 PM
Looks like I may have an issue then, as I sent in renewal form and just filled it out with female as the gender.  I did not know you needed to do it as a new application. 

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You will need to resubmit and it will cost you $35 plus the certified mail cost.

Here is a document I put together for some local trans women going through this. See the second to last page for what is needed for the gender change on the passport... literally fill in the blanks.

The letter from the doctor must include
-dr name, license number and issuing state
-the phrase "has received appropriate clinical treatment"
-a statement that they are your personal physician
-an oath

https://tinyurl.com/y87z3dek

Quote from: Laurie on July 15, 2018, 01:42:44 AM
  I just received my very first passport today it only took 2 1/2 weeks to receive it from the time I applied on Jun 27, 2018. I had my name already changed on my ID (driver's licence) and my birth certificate. I did not need a physician's letter for it. I had all the forms filled out ready to be signed and original ID and Birth certificate with copies. I had it processed at the post office near me that was designated as an official passport application agent and had my picture taken there at an additional cost. I had no problems at all.

Hugs,
  Laurie

Hi Laurie,

You make a super good point here - if your birth certificate has been changed and your are getting your first passport, you do not need the physician letter. This is no different than a cis getting their first passport.

The physicians letter is needed if you are changing the gender on an existing passport or your birth certificate shows the incorrect marker.

Quote from: jill610 on July 15, 2018, 04:52:08 AM
You will need to resubmit and it will cost you $35 plus the certified mail cost.

I did all the other name and gender changes back in March.  Wisconsin doesn't change the birth certificate gender without surgery though.

Will they just send the whole bit back? Can I mail it back then or others have said you need to go in person?

I bookmarked this thread so I can follow up when I hear something.

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Quote from: TonyaW on July 15, 2018, 06:48:05 AM
I did all the other name and gender changes back in March.  Wisconsin doesn't change the birth certificate gender without surgery though.

Will they just send the whole bit back? Can I mail it back then or others have said you need to go in person?

I bookmarked this thread so I can follow up when I hear something.

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They will mail you a mildly helpful letter explaining in mostly generic terms what needs to be fixed. They keep all your paperwork with the officer who's desk it landed on.

Call the number on the letter and ask for more details. Expect a short but polite and specific conversation.

You will need to go to an acceptance facility like a post office or library and pay $35 processing fee if you have not already. If you get rejected again, keep going back to the same facility and there will be no additional fees.

Make sure you used the application for new original passport (DS11) and not application for renewal.

The guy I talked to and the lady from the processing facility I bumped into both said the main reasons for rejection were using the wrong form and the letter not containing the required wording and not "appearing" on official office letterhead.

My total time from initial submittal to receipt of my new passport, even with the resubmission was less than four weeks.

Thanks for the info Jill.  I used the renewal form as I was looking up how to do a name change. I guess for now I just wait until I hear back.

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Please note this only applies if you already have a passport. If you are applying for your first passport AND have changed your birth certificate, then the process is no different from a cis application.

Following up on this topic, I happened to end up sitting next to the same State Department employee on the train that I bumped into at the post office. The wonders of Philadelphia both being a major government hub as well as a fairly small city.

Anyways, we chatted for the hour on the train (she actually recognized me and started the conversation, not sure how I feel about that one!) and I brought this specific topic up to her. Her response was very specifically

Quote
"We have received no change in guidance on gender change since the last change two years ago. The requirement for documentation is very strict and is the cause for most rejections."

Specifically - that doctor letter must be identifiable to the reviewer as an original. If they believe it is a photocopy, they will reject it. If it is not ink signed, they will reject it. If it is not on office letterhead, they will reject it. If it does not contain all of the components in the template, they will reject it.

The other common reason for rejection she noted was people (like me) using the wrong form. The application is for a new original passport (DS-11) and not a renewal.

So moral of that story is:

1. Use the template for the letter that the state department has. That contains everything needed.
2. Bring it to your doctor (you can pre-fill it out and same some time for your physician) and have them print it or photocopy it onto their letterhead.
3. Your doctor must physically sign it. They should not use a stamp or electronic signature.
4. Submit that original copy with your passport application.

Here is what the state department says:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/gender.html

and the template:

Quote
(Licensed Physician's Official Letterhead)
(Physician's Address and Telephone Number)

I, (physician's full name), (physician's medical license or certificate number), (issuing State of medical license/certificate), am the attending physician of (name of patient), with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whom I have treated (or with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whose medical history I have reviewed and evaluated).
(Name of patient) has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (specify new gender male or female).

Each of the statements in the template are specific and should not be altered. The phrase "appropriate clinical treatment" is what gets you a permanent passport instead of a provisional one.

Hope this helps someone!

Quote from: jill610 on July 21, 2018, 08:29:52 AM
Please note this only applies if you already have a passport. If you are applying for your first passport AND have changed your birth certificate, then the process is no different from a cis application.

Following up on this topic, I happened to end up sitting next to the same State Department employee on the train that I bumped into at the post office. The wonders of Philadelphia both being a major government hub as well as a fairly small city.

Anyways, we chatted for the hour on the train (she actually recognized me and started the conversation, not sure how I feel about that one!) and I brought this specific topic up to her. Her response was very specifically

Specifically - that doctor letter must be identifiable to the reviewer as an original. If they believe it is a photocopy, they will reject it. If it is not ink signed, they will reject it. If it is not on office letterhead, they will reject it. If it does not contain all of the components in the template, they will reject it.

The other common reason for rejection she noted was people (like me) using the wrong form. The application is for a new original passport (DS-11) and not a renewal.

So moral of that story is:

1. Use the template for the letter that the state department has. That contains everything needed.
2. Bring it to your doctor (you can pre-fill it out and same some time for your physician) and have them print it or photocopy it onto their letterhead.
3. Your doctor must physically sign it. They should not use a stamp or electronic signature.
4. Submit that original copy with your passport application.

Here is what the state department says:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/gender.html

and the template:

Each of the statements in the template are specific and should not be altered. The phrase "appropriate clinical treatment" is what gets you a permanent passport instead of a provisional one.

Hope this helps someone!

Good news is it looks like this wasn't my doctor's first rodeo.  She wrote my letter pretty much word for word to the template.

Bad news is I definitely used the wrong form. 

They've cashed the check, so now I wait until they tell me I screwed it up.

Wish I had come across this thread a week earlier than I did.

Thanks for the update

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Just thought I'd share this. It's EXTREMELY worrying as this looks like a deliberate attempt to invalidate a passport that has already been issued.

< Link removed by moderator - contained profanity etc. >

Has anyone else experienced or seen this for yourself? Is this problem widespread?

Quote from: Rose City Rose on July 27, 2018, 12:58:00 AM
Just thought I'd share this. It's EXTREMELY worrying as this looks like a deliberate attempt to invalidate a passport that has already been issued.

< Link removed by moderator - contained profanity etc. >

Has anyone else experienced or seen this for yourself? Is this problem widespread?

Going to guess that this is the same thread that I saw on Twitter. 

Assuming she's not a national security risk, since they screwed up in issuing it in the first place, they ought to be helping her to fix it free of charge rather than just outright revoking it. Or maybe  something  like "our bad, but we need xyz also" and give her 90 days before they revoke it.

So copy and pasted from the email letter I got telling me I screwed it up,



If  you wish to have  a  gender written in  your passport which is different from the  one  on some  or all  of  your citizenship and/or identity  evidence,  you will  need to apply  for  a  passport using  form DS-11,  Application for  a U.S. Passport.  This application form is enclosed for  your convenience; please  see  the instructions below  and on the form itself.    You will also need to include a  signed original statement on office  letterhead from  your attending  medical physician.  Statements from medical physicians can be  from licensed  medical doctors (M.D.)  and osteopathic  doctors (D.O.); the  physicians may  specialize  in various medical fields, including, but not  limited to: internal medicine, endocrinology,  gynecology, urology, surgery, psychiatry, pediatrics, and family  practice. 

The  statement  must  include  the following information:

a)  Physician's full name;
b)  Medical license or certificate number; c)  Issuing  state  of medical license/certificate;
d)  Address and telephone  number  of  the physician;
e)  Language  stating  that he/she has treated  you or  has reviewed  and evaluated  your medical history  and that he/she has a doctor/patient relationship with  you;
f)  Language  stating  that  you have  had  appropriate  clinical treatment for  transition to the new  gender (the new  gender, male or  female, must  be  stated); and
g)  The  statement must clearly  state  the  following: "I  declare  under penalty  of  perjury  under the laws of  the United States that the  forgoing  is true  and correct."

.

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I just came across this

https://www.them.us/story/trans-women-state-department-passports

Doesn't look good.

I have a hard time drawing conclusions from an isolated event. Are there more examples? If her passport was issued with a gender different than what is in her birth certificate and the criteria for issuing that passport at the time it was issued was not met, then it was correctly withdrawn. Frustrating yes but not sure why that's being construed as a systematic policy against trans women. Many of us have had our first application rejected because the paperwork was not exactly correct, and issued without problem once corrected.

I successfully changed my passport and my global entry within the last three months.

Before people panic I think that Jill's comments in reply #13 are very useful.


I had my passport application in Australia rejected once as one referee had managed to extend the tail-end of the letter 'y' in her signature by about 3mm outside of the boxed space area. Passport offices are very strict so please follow the rules and requirements before we have panics over stuff.

Oh and that passport was the first with my real gender so of course I presumed that I had been targeted.

Quote from: jill610 on July 28, 2018, 04:07:20 AM
I have a hard time drawing conclusions from an isolated event. Are there more examples? If her passport was issued with a gender different than what is in her birth certificate and the criteria for issuing that passport at the time it was issued was not met, then it was correctly withdrawn. Frustrating yes but not sure why that's being construed as a systematic policy against trans women. Many of us have had our first application rejected because the paperwork was not exactly correct, and issued without problem once corrected.

I successfully changed my passport and my global entry within the last three months.

Right,

If we don't know why they suddenly figured out that they screwed up by issuing the passport, there is no way to say its because she's trans. 

I've read of a few other cases.  From what I recall there were issues with the doctor letters not being just exactly perfect and they were not ones that had previously been approved.  One might argue that those requirements are anti trans by being so rigid because who else would they apply to? Doesn't do any good to argue, they aren't going to make an exception.  They own the hoops and want you to jump through them in perfect order, so that's what you do if you want a passport.

Not panicking Cindy, I used the wrong form. It's not obvious that you would essentially need to get a totally new passport in order to change the gender, especially when you only do a regular renewal for the name change.  Had I run across this thread two days before I did I would have potentially done it right the first time.  Other than the time I spent filling out the wrong form, it's not costing me any more than if I did it right the first time.  I don't have any travel plans so it's not that big of a deal to me.

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One thing I did notice when filling out the correct form when I re-did it was that if you use the form filler on the state Department web site, it will fill in the wrong form if you tell it you already have a passport.  It only asks if your name is different, not your gender. 

To get it to fill in the right form I had to tell the form filler that I was applying for a new passport and then manually fill in the current passport info on the form.

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Quote from: TonyaW on August 06, 2018, 07:21:58 AM
One thing I did notice when filling out the correct form when I re-did it was that if you use the form filler on the state Department web site, it will fill in the wrong form if you tell it you already have a passport.  It only asks if your name is different, not your gender. 

To get it to fill in the right form I had to tell the form filler that I was applying for a new passport and then manually fill in the current passport info on the form.

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Yes, I had the same problem as well. I suspect this is why they send a copy of the correct form in the rejection. However they do allow you to use your old passport as the proof of citizenship. I complained about this when I talked them but you know it falls on deaf ears.

My passport came in the mail today. So it took about 4 weeks even with having to resubmit the correct form and less than 2 weeks from that.

If I win the lottery I could actually go somewhere now.

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Tonya that's awesome!  Congratulations.   

Receiving my new passport was much more significant than I expected - I bet you feel the same way now. 

It was very nice to see the new passport with all the right entries in all the right places.  Definitely helped lift me out of the dark places my head had been.

No trips planned but that was the last big thing that needed name change and one of the few that cares about the gender marker.


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I submitted mine with a mismatch between my name and gender on my birth certificate  and my name and gender on my ID, on the weekend the government was shut down, and my passport came in the mail three weeks later. My ID documents came back a week after that.

Quote from: TonyaW on August 14, 2018, 12:37:37 PM
It was very nice to see the new passport with all the right entries in all the right places.  Definitely helped lift me out of the dark places my head had been.

No trips planned but that was the last big thing that needed name change and one of the few that cares about the gender marker.


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@TonyaW
Yes indeed, they finally got it right!!!   ... true to the old saying, good things take time.

I am happy for you, now you are free to some travel plans if you wish, but even if you don't leave North America, you should have your passport with you during any travel, even withing the USA borders.

Hugs,
Danielle

Was me that finally got it right.  I received it  in less than two weeks from resubmitting on the correct form, and only about 4 weeks in total. 

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I applied for my revised passport a few weeks after that awful leaked memo, and I did get my new passport with correct gender marker just about a month later, with no issues whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised.

My doctor was sure to use the "transition completed" language to make sure that I didn't have to apply for a new one in the middle of the next election season.

My updated one just arrived today!

Amazingly it took only 15 days and I did not request expedited service.  Not that I'm complaining.

Name and sex marker updated as requested.