Good News for Transgender and Nonbinary USA Passport Applicants
USA Passport applicants can now choose to self-certify a binary transgender option and will soon have the option to choose nonbinary gender markers.
As of June 30, 2021, the US Department of State will allow USA passport applicants to self-certify their gender, regardless of gender markers on their supporting documents. It will take longer for nonbinary gender markers to be available but State Department staff are working on making that possible.
Special advice for transgender and nonbinary students
While UC Merced Study Abroad staff are highly supportive of adding new nonbinary gender markers and allowing transgender students to self-certify, we encourage all USA passport applicants to consult with the appropriate study abroad advisor before applying. For many applicants, there will not be any issues, but we anticipate that, for some countries, transgender and nonbinary students may face unintended consequences. We do not know for sure what those will be at this time, but we want to raise awareness of potential issues that might arise for specific destinations.
