Just like the subject line says...it took awhile, undoubtedly because everyone was madly rushing to beat the new fee increase. Took 'em three months to tell me that I needed a different letter (that was my fault); took me a few weeks to line up a doctor's visit that fit my schedule (so I could get a new letter); took me a week to get to the post office to send the new letter by...still can't remember whether it was registered mail or certified...and it took about four weeks more for mailing time two ways and processing.

The letter they sent me, in which they requested new sex-change documentation, was addressed to "Mr. Current Name." That was a positive sign, but I was pretty anxious until I got the actual passport.

I was stupid to let my old passport expire. I did my name change by the common usage method five years before 9/11, and my passport expired before 9/11. If I had handled my renewal in a timely fashion, I would have had little trouble getting a passport in my then-new name. Instead, I waited and had to deal with the sex-marker change AND post-9/11 name-change requirements. Fun.

But it's done, and it's a full ten-year passport rather than a two-year provisional. I know how lucky I am.

Next time, I'll see if I can get a better photo.

My photo sucks, too.  The flash was bright and washed out most of my beard and stache.  Looks like a total mug shot. And I'm stuck with it for 9 more years!  Bleh.


Jay

Quote from: sneakersjay on December 03, 2010, 11:00:46 AM
My photo sucks, too.  The flash was bright and washed out most of my beard and stache.  Looks like a total mug shot. And I'm stuck with it for 9 more years! 

You can always spring for a new one...do they let you do that?

I got a new campus ID, finally. The picture actually looks like me. I'm pretty happy with it. But I'm not happy that they made me pay for it. I mean, the old one was falling apart, it had my old status on it (student instead of faculty), and it had my Social Security number on it. They acknowledged years ago that they shouldn't have used the SSN for identification purposes, but they weren't about to replace the cards for nothing. So I hung onto the old one out of sheer pigheadedness.

Sometimes I can be pretty stupid.

Quote from: Arch on November 27, 2010, 11:32:04 PMTook 'em three months to tell me that I needed a different letter (that was my fault)

What does the letter have to say in particular? I've been thinking about updating my (expired) passport since the law change. Is it true we just need the letter? Are there problems if your name is legally changed but not on your BC yet? Do you need to give them a copy of the court order name change too?

Whoa, hold on there, Tex! Er, Radar.

The State Department has standardized content for the letter now, and you can find it on this link:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143160.pdf

If you are just updating an existing passport, you don't need to produce a birth certificate because the old passport establishes your identity. However, yes, you will need to provide evidence of your name change, unless you want your old name on the passport!

For the sex marker change, you have two choices. There's a provisional passport that needs renewing every two years--that's for people whose transition is not completed. Then there's the regular ten-year passport for people who are done.

The type you get depends on the wording in the letter. If your doctor is willing to state that you are done--that you have had "appropriate treatment"--then use the letter text that says that. The State Department should then issue you a ten-year passport. Otherwise, you will wind up stating that you are still in transition, which means you have to verify your sex marker every couple of years.

Do not seek out a surgeon, even if you have one. Surgeons cannot write this letter.

Unless they've changed it since a couple of months ago, the letter text that I found (I'm pretty sure it was provided by the State Department) is actually defective. It has a spelling error and a couple of other errors on it. So I tweaked it, printed it out, and gave it to my doctor. One of my doctor's staff retyped the letter, inserting all of his information. I can PM you the letter text, but it's the one for people who are essentially done. Hmm. I wonder if our Wiki has a link to the State Department's letter text? The link I sent you is a bulleted list, not quite what I used.

Well, PM me if you want to see exactly what I used.

Thanks for the info Arch. My passport expired so I assume I need to get a new one instead of an update? What is the federal definition of appropriate treatment and finished transition? I've noticed this seems to vary state to state- whether changing the gender on your DL or BC. Do all your doctors have to write a letter? I get that impression reading the PDF file.

Reading that file seemed vague and confusing on things. I just might have to go to the passport office with this printed out and ask them. Why is red tape so... red tape?

Quote from: Radar on December 19, 2010, 08:38:06 PM
Thanks for the info Arch. My passport expired so I assume I need to get a new one instead of an update? What is the federal definition of appropriate treatment and finished transition? I've noticed this seems to vary state to state- whether changing the gender on your DL or BC. Do all your doctors have to write a letter? I get that impression reading the PDF file.

Reading that file seemed vague and confusing on things. I just might have to go to the passport office with this printed out and ask them. Why is red tape so... red tape?

The thing is, there IS no federal definition of "appropriate treatment." If your doctor is willing to write a letter that says you've had such treatment, then that's all the State Department requires. You only need one letter, but it has to come from one of the types of doctors they list. My GP (an internist) wrote mine.

If your passport has expired, then you might need to fill out a different application form--not the renewal form but the form for first-time applicants. You'll have to go to the site to find out which form to submit. But apart from your fees and the application form, you should only need your old passport, a new picture, the name change documentation, and the letter from your doctor. (I'm pretty darned sure, but don't quote me on that.) I can help you through this if you want--PM me--and then you can take everything down to the acceptance facility or whatever they call it, and ask them to double-check everything for you before you submit it all.

I never got my letter back, and the guy I talked to on the phone said that I should have received it back. So now I have to write a letter inquiring what happened to my letter.

Quote from: Arch on November 27, 2010, 11:32:04 PM
But it's done, and it's a full ten-year passport rather than a two-year provisional. I know how lucky I am.

Congrats dude!

Quote from: Arch on November 27, 2010, 11:32:04 PM


Next time, I'll see if I can get a better photo.

You mean they didn't get the pointy ears?

Congrats

Cindy

Quote from: CaitJ on December 20, 2010, 02:27:03 AMCongrats dude!

Thanks!

Quote from: CindyJames on December 20, 2010, 02:43:45 AMYou mean they didn't get the pointy ears?

No, there's a hint of a smile...and as everybody knows, drow NEVER smile.

Congrats, Arch.  I saw my passport as yet another form of validation.  I mean, if the United States Department of State says I'm a woman, then who is going to argue? (neener neener)  And my photo is lousy, too, but it's a valid passport and looks vaguely like me.

One more step to being you!

- Kate

Quote from: K8 on December 20, 2010, 05:37:03 PM
Congrats, Arch.  I saw my passport as yet another form of validation.  I mean, if the United States Department of State says I'm a woman, then who is going to argue? (neener neener).

Precisely!!! (Well, my birth state, South Carolina, is going to argue, but they'll have to enter the twenty-first century one of these days.)

I thought South Carolina was still resisting entering the 20th century.  *ducks*

- Kate

Quote from: K8 on December 20, 2010, 06:07:12 PM
I thought South Carolina was still resisting entering the 20th century.  *ducks*

You are SO right. I'm sure parts of it are nice...but I wouldn't want to live there. Hell, I'm not even happy I was born there.

Quote from: Arch on December 21, 2010, 01:08:16 AMYou are SO right. I'm sure parts of it are nice...but I wouldn't want to live there. Hell, I'm not even happy I was born there.

I live right above them. Many aren't even in the 19th Century.