Passports for Transsexuals Traveling to Thailand for SRS

 

Many agencies will not change the sex marker on your documents until you have completed sex reassignment surgery.  However, for the convenience of transsexuals traveling to Thailand, Canada, or another country for SRS, the U.S. state department is willing to issue a temporary passport valid for one year with the sex marked female (or male for FtM transsexuals).  After you have had SRS, it is possible to have this passport extended for ten years from the date you first applied for it.

 

How Do I Obtain a Passport?

 

U.S. State Department Passport landing page
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

This State Department site lists what you will need for any first-time
passport:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html

Locations where you may apply for your passport
http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

Passport application form
http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds11/ds11_842.html

I chose a post office some distance from my home because I am stealth.  While I waited in line for my turn, I noticed that the male clerk was loud, and I hoped I would be waited on by one of the two female clerks.  I ended up with the man, but when I asked him to keep his voice down for me, he did speak quietly and softly, and he even took another clerk to the back when he needed to ask her a question.

 

The postal clerks were helpful and respectful toward me, but they had never
heard of the temporary one-year passport.  I just sent my documents anyway,
and the State Department did send me what I asked for.

You will need to send extra documents for the temporary passport.  I
don't know of any State Department list of what is required specifically for
this passport, so I'll list what I sent:

 

  1. The DS-11 passport application
  2. Birth certificate (or send other proof of U.S. citizenship)
  3. Certified copy of my legal name change court order (links birth
    certificate with my current name).  If you did a common law name change without a court order, getting your post-transition name on your passport might still be possible, but tricky.
  4. Drivers license (or state issued photo ID).  I recall that the post
    office made a photocopy to send.
  5. A pair of 2" x 2" photos.  I had my passport photos taken at a nearby
    Walgreens.

 

Those are what you will need for any passport.  In addition, I also sent
these:

  1. Letter from my chosen SRS surgeon verifying my scheduled surgery date in
    Bangkok.  I asked my surgeon to spell out 'sex reassignment surgery' because I don't think everyone knows what SRS stands for.
  2. A copy of my SOC letter from my therapist recommending SRS.
  3. I composed a letter of my own which described my transition process over
    the years, mentioned my SRS date and surgeon, and requested the temporary one-year passport with the F listed for sex.

 

I did not send a flight itinerary, because I had not yet booked my flight at the time of my passport application.  But some have  recommended sending a copy of your flight itinerary if you have it.

 

Applying for my passport cost me almost $100.  But I am told that obtaining
the permanent passport after SRS won't cost me anything.

Many countries will not admit you if your passport is going to expire in
less than six months.  So I would not apply for my passport until your SRS
date is less than six months away.  But you do need to allow time for the
State Department to process your application, which will take four to eight
weeks.  I would allow at least three months to be on the safe side.

If you print the DS-11 form at home, print only on one side of each page.
They will not accept your application if you've printed it on both sides of
the paper.  Fill it out as completely as possible, but do not sign it.  The
postal clerk will tell you when to sign it just before he/she sends it.

 

 

After you have had your SRS:

 

I recommend that you send for your extension of the temporary passport before it expires.  I am told that you will need to send:

 

  1. The application for extension of your passport (this should have been provided with your temporary passport).
  2. Letter from your SRS surgeon verifying that your SRS was successfully completed.
  3. Your temporary passport.

 

In exchange, you should receive a permanent passport valid for ten years from the date you first applied for the temporary passport.

 

 

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