So this has been a week with some big up and downs. Right now, I'm feeling rattled because I just got my fingerprints done for my legal name change. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was stressful. There's the usual discomfort every time I see my female name--that's been around for years.
I knew that when I went in for the prints, I had to tell them it's for a legal name change. However, I wasn't expecting to have to give the police my proposed new name and out myself to the desk clerk. The prints are needed as part of the name change submission to Vital Statistics with birth certificate and all that, so I was surprised that I had to give the new name on the spot to the police because this wasn't Vital Stats or the name change application. I also had to get my photo taken--didn't expect that either. Plus they have to do an RCMP database in Ottawa, presumably to check I'm not a criminal? All in all, I found it a very dysphoric and uncomfortable experience and I'm glad that's done.
Big hug! Congratulations on the big step! It is, as you say, done.
Hugs, Devlyn
Cheers, Devlyn! Appreciated.
I'm glad you got it done and over with. Congratulations.
Years ago I also needed to have my fingerprints taken for a work thing. I too was not comfortable going into a police station here in Oregon to get it done. I remember the first two printout came quickly out of the print but there was a 15-20 minute wait for the third. That was how long it took to run a fingerprint check on mt while I was there. Had it come up with anything I would likely have been arrested on the spot. I guess they didn't find anything. Of course they didn't tell me why the last one was taking so long.
We don't seem to have that here in the UK - yet.
Here's hoping that my new name doesn't flag up with criminals of the same name. :)
Quote from: Viktor on November 29, 2017, 06:40:02 PM
We don't seem to have that here in the UK - yet.
They don't have fingerprinting for a name change in the UK? That is fabulous. Although they already have you on CCTV, I guess? ;)
interesting. i changed my name about 3 years ago in ontario and didn't have to go through any of that. i just submitted my name change forms and handed them a money order and that was it. maybe you are from a different province, idk but yeah, definitely didn't have to do any of that. either way, congrats i know i felt 100% better once i got my name change. it was so easy to change my name on everything after that.
The reason you need to tell them your proposed (new) name is so they can add it as an alias to any criminal record you may have. The idea behind fingerprinting for a name change is so any criminal history under your old name will "carry over" to your new name which helps prevent people from hiding a criminal past by changing their name.
Quote from: Hughie on November 29, 2017, 06:42:23 PM
They don't have fingerprinting for a name change in the UK? That is fabulous. Although they already have you on CCTV, I guess? ;)
Oh more than likely. They probably know all about me, given the UK govt. recently gave itself power of access to everyone's browser and email history.
Finger printing for legal name change? Whaaaa?
Ive had criminal background checks for working nuclear facilities that didnt even require that..
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Ha, sign me up to work in a nuclear facility. ;)
Yeah, I wasn't impressed with being printed like a criminal. I get searching the police database to see if you have a record on the old name... but that's what databases are for... searching. With words. It felt like a violation of my privacy and unnecessary, like doing a name change because I'm trans is a bad thing. Like it's a crime. I'm not a fan of this biometric data, especially for something like this. Us Canadians usually (or used to) be really concerned about privacy and personal data.
For those who don't like the idea of being fingerprinted for a name change, which would you rather do - get printed now and have any record under your old name tied to your new name, or have to out yourself and disclose your old name later on when someone wants to search your record?
By the way, in most cases where they fingerprint you for record-searching only, and you have no record, they destroy your prints afterwards (so you wouldn't have a record of being printed like if you had actually been arrested and fingerprinted).
Quote from: Angela Drakken on November 30, 2017, 04:29:14 PM
Finger printing for legal name change? Whaaaa?
Ive had criminal background checks for working nuclear facilities that didnt even require that..
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I second that. Never heard of having to do that before! But then again, America's East Coast seems to be pretty progressive in many LGBTQIA ways.
Good luck with the name change!
Ryuichi
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Quote from: Hughie on November 30, 2017, 09:04:26 PM
Ha, sign me up to work in a nuclear facility. ;)
Yeah, I wasn't impressed with being printed like a criminal. I get searching the police database to see if you have a record on the old name... but that's what databases are for... searching. With words. It felt like a violation of my privacy and unnecessary, like doing a name change because I'm trans is a bad thing. Like it's a crime. I'm not a fan of this biometric data, especially for something like this. Us Canadians usually (or used to) be really concerned about privacy and personal data.
Youre Canadian? Wow pardon me for skim-reading.
I literally just did my legal name and gender change, was approved, and received it, in less than 6 weeks. No fingerprints required. Im totally confused why theyre asking you to do this.
If you can work twice as hard as the men I work with, and that for the most part isnt saying much, Id hire you in an instant.
Quote from: Angela Drakken on December 01, 2017, 01:52:30 PM
Youre Canadian? Wow pardon me for skim-reading.
I literally just did my legal name and gender change, was approved, and received it, in less than 6 weeks. No fingerprints required. Im totally confused why theyre asking you to do this.
If you can work twice as hard as the men I work with, and that for the most part isnt saying much, Id hire you in an instant.
i'm also confused because in my post i said the same, i didn't need finger printing to change my name. mine was similar to your experience where i filled out the papers and in 6 weeks, my name change was approved. changing my gender on everything was even easier to do. i'm also canadian but maybe it's different in different provinces? who knows, but in ontario, it wasn't like that for me.
For us late transitioners, who have an established work history and pensions to collect later on, being able to prove who you really are or were will insure that you keep your pension. Identity theft is a real possibility.
All very interesting! I'm in BC and it's usually a progressive sort of place, so I'm surprised it would be so different from Ontario with the finger-printing thing. Here, there's legislation protecting against discrimination due to gender identity and expression. My employer has a guide on how to support trans people in the workplace. And yet... fingerprints for a name change.
I think once the actual name change application is submitted, it's completed in 4-6 weeks. But I had to go through the circus this summer of working on getting the things to include in the name change application. That's the hard part. Original birth certificate from my birth province... I had to order that and it took forever. The fingerprints had to be done to submit the receipt with the name change application to prove that it's been done. You'd think there was a better way.
Plus, there's the horrible photo they took of me while doing the prints. Like they need a mugshot to do prints? Presumably putting that through a database too? It boggles the mind. I'd figure that the Vital Statistics part with the birth certificate etc would be more useful than my fingerprints to prove who I am, like they do in other places.
I sure hope BC gets on the same page like Ontario sooner rather than later.
Quote from: Hughie on December 02, 2017, 01:56:37 AM
All very interesting! I'm in BC and it's usually a progressive sort of place, so I'm surprised it would be so different from Ontario with the finger-printing thing. Here, there's legislation protecting against discrimination due to gender identity and expression. My employer has a guide on how to support trans people in the workplace. And yet... fingerprints for a name change.
The fingerprinting requirement applies to names changed for ANY reason (other than done as part of a marriage or divorce), so it's not a policy that was designed in mind to make things harder for the transgender population.
The fingerprinting requirement varies from province to province. It's a provincial requirement, not a federal one. In NS, you need fingerprints, too.
The way they are processed here is:
1. Does the fingerprint tie in to an existing criminal record (regardless of name)? If not, you are good to go and the fingerprint record is destroyed. They were clear with me that the name-change fingerprint is not filed anywhere.
2. If the fingerprint matches a criminal record, they add your old name (if not already there) and your new name to that record.
The purpose is to ensure that people aren't changing their names to escape a criminal past.
Quote from: tgchar21 on December 02, 2017, 09:02:17 AM
The fingerprinting requirement applies to names changed for ANY reason (other than done as part of a marriage or divorce), so it's not a policy that was designed in mind to make things harder for the transgender population.
I know it's not only the trans population who need to do the prints... and personally I don't think it's right outside to do this to anyone, unless there's some kind of crime that's been committed. Or if everyone else is getting prints, the folks getting married should need to do the fingerprints too. It's still a name change. Except a more socially accepted one. Criminals get married too. :)