Passport BS Again...

[justatransgirl]

Public Notice:

Ladies especially, if your "papers aren't in order" now would be a good time to get on it.

I read in the paper the US Govt is starting the Passport BS again.

Now... starting in June you will have to have a Passport to enter the country via land ports such as Tijuana or Toronto.

This was supposed to happen about 18 months ago but they were so far behind on issuing passports they had to delay it.

The paper recommended getting your passport now to avoid what will probably be yet another crunch come summer.

Ladies if you have been putting off that legal name / gender change, DL, etc. you might want to think about getting the process going.

I can help anyone in CA, (and less so in AZ or TX) who needs info on what to do and where to go.

Hugs,
TS Jamie

[Alyssa87]

I was told that in NJ, i have to get my SRS b4 i get the F on my stuff. : (

[justatransgirl]

I'm sorry I don't know about NJ, but if that is the case honey, have you considered moving? Or getting a PO address in NY or some near state where you can.

If you check the TSRoadMap.com site and the TransgenderlawCenter.org both have some info on ID changes.

You should at least be able to do any name change docs if that's needed.

In CA you can change DL with a doctors signature on a DMV form saying you are in transition. You can change credit cards by sending them a letter in most cases, some want a copy of the before and after ID's to verify it's not a scam.

In CA you can get a court order for name change just by paying a fee and filing a couple of papers. You can also get a gender change by having a Dr. certification you have had "gender related surgery" (a boob job) and some people have gotten it with hormones alone.

With the court order you can get a birth cert updated - and other states will accept a CA court order. Though a number of states will not modify a birth cert period, or will issue a modified one - ala Texas.

Once your birth cert is updated you can get a passport. You can also get a passport with an SRS letter from a surgeon.

FYI - When we can put aside an extra 50-100 grand Jessica and I are planning to bring either a lawsuit or finance legislation to change the law in TX which will not update a B/C but will only ammend it - with the new gender in tiny type.

BTW - in CA it will take at least 7 months to get the lard asses at the State to actually change the B/C - they didn't do mine until I threatened a lawsuit and had a State Assembly member call them. I plan to work toward legislation requiring compliance with a court order in a reasonable time frame. In TX Jessica got her's, such as it is, back in 2 weeks.

Still a long way to go in a long long war ladies.

Hugs,
TS Jamie

[Alyssa87]

thanks for the info. i've done all the namechange business. but yeah, i guess the sex is gona require some trickery.lol

[SarahG]

I was told that in NJ, i have to get my SRS b4 i get the F on my stuff. : (

Officially that's the way the feds are too, at least based on what little is floating around online on the SSA's policy.

Unofficially, if you can find someone incompetent enough, "feminization surgery" is vague enough to sound like SRS, but could be just about anything. But you're basically hoping to find that stereotypical, overworked, underpaid, undertrained NJ Vitals worker, if the person pays attention to details its not gonna fly.

I'm sorry I don't know about NJ, but if that is the case honey, have you considered moving? Or getting a PO address in NY or some near state where you can.

After RealID, that was explicitly forbidden, you can't use PO boxes anymore and you MUST establish & prove establishment of new residency.

To clarify, you mean NYC, not NYS. NYC likes to pretend its a separate state, and will issue female DL's to preops, NYS is another story. Last I heard Mass was also moving to start issuing preops female DLs but I do not know if they have actually started that yet (or what the requirements would be to get it). That's it as far as states in the north eastern US are concerned, and even if you get a female DL... that's not going to be enough to get a female passport.

Even if she does manage to get a female NYC DL, the odds would be against getting one from NJ. Under RealID, state DMV's are supposed to keep on file copies of all records showing how your past has changed your ID's. Because NJ replaces BC's, and doesn't amend them-that probably won't out her, but her name history would.

Like say you lived in NYC with a female DL, and then move across the boarder into VT. In going to get a VT DL, they'd wanna see that sealed court order for the name change, to prove "its your real name" and that would readily out someone.

A GG friend of mine recently moved, she's been married a few times- and this is what she needed to get a new DL from another state: Original BC, 1st Marriage License (showing how her last name officially changed), 1st marriage's divorce papers (showing how that marriage ended) OR death cert (if the marriage ended from becoming a widower), sealed name change court order (showing how the last name went back to her maiden name), 2nd marriage license, 2nd marriage's divorce papers, 3rd marriage license, 3rd marriage divorce papers, 4th marriage license. And then to top it all off, you need to prove residency which means a deed, utility bill, tax papers, or writ of residency from the local town hall. These must be under your legal name, under your current (new) residence. Bank statements aren't enough to satisfy realID, but they are enough to satisfy a local town hall in getting a writ of residency... if you're in a state that will allow town halls to issue them.

In a nut shell, that means if you move to another state, and that state is RealID compliant, there is no way for them to NOT know your past as far as old names go. And that would out you. Unless, you changed your name as a minor and its records are sealed...

Also part of RealID is "one driver, one DL" meaning you can't even keep your old DL when getting a new one from another state. Some states DL's last for a few years, but you have to hand it over (or say its lost and get it replaced...and hand over the replacement) to get a new one from another state.

And under RealID, they're supposed to keep on file all DMV photographs of people who either are issued a DL, or apply to get a DL unsuccessfully. They're also supposed to take your pic first, not last (that way its on file in case you try, and fail to get a new DL). So you have not only your name to worry about, but any DMV pics since RealID has gone into effect (AFAIK this isn't retroactive, they aren't going to have pics predating RealID).

Though a number of states will not modify a birth cert period, or will issue a modified one - ala Texas.

& as far as names go, FL (or at least, they used to). Basically they put fine print on it saying "Jane Doe, former John Doe" or something to that effect. Way back when NJ was the same way, but isn't anymore.

You can also get a passport with an SRS letter from a surgeon.

But that's only good for a year, because its a temporary document. Homeland security would probably catch on if you were doing this "every year" for say, a decade.

TX which will not update a B/C but will only ammend it - with the new gender in tiny type.

I don't see how that would be possible given that Littleton establishes that chromosomes dictate legal sex status in Texas. Honestly, I am surprised they even issue preops female DL's down there given the case law.