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Passport

The US passport is the federal travel document most likely to need updating and the one whose policy environment shifts most rapidly. Self-attestation was reinstated in 2022, suspended in January 2025, briefly restored by injunction in June 2025, and re-suspended after the Supreme Court's November 2025 stay. For routes through the legal-name side of the application see Legal Name Change; for what to carry across borders see International Travel; for non-citizen filings see Immigration.

Policy is volatile

VERIFY before applying. US passport gender-marker policy changed three times between January 2025 and November 2025 and remains in active litigation (Orr v. Trump, on appeal to the 1st Circuit). Re-check travel.state.gov, A4TE, and the ACLU Orr docket the week you file. Every US-specific section below carries volatility risk.

Current US State Department policy (STALE-RISK)

STALE FLAG — re-verify each filing

As of April 2026 the SCOTUS November 6, 2025 stay in Orr v. Trump is in effect; State is issuing birth-sex markers only. Outcomes that could move this section: 1st Circuit ruling on the merits, further SCOTUS action, a successor executive order, or settlement.

Timeline of reversals

  • Pre-January 2025. Self-attestation accepted for M / F / X. X marker broadly available since June 2022; physician letter dropped in 2010 for binary changes.
  • January 20, 2025. Executive Order 14168. State suspends marker changes, removes X, issues only M or F matching sex assigned at birth.
  • June 17, 2025. D. Mass. preliminary injunction in Orr v. Trump (ACLU). State briefly resumes self-selected markers; X applicants leave the sex field blank and check X on the attestation form.
  • November 6, 2025. SCOTUS stays the injunction. State reverts to birth-sex-only.
  • Now (STALE — VERIFY). Birth-sex-only is operative. Existing passports with non-birth-sex or X markers remain valid until expiry.

What State will currently issue

  • M or F matching the sex on the applicant's US birth certificate or CRBA.
  • X marker: not available on new or renewed US passports.
  • Self-attestation of a different marker is not honored. State will request documentation establishing biological sex if a discrepant marker is requested.

Practical implications

  • An accurate-marker passport remains valid until expiry. Do not voluntarily replace or correct it unless required (loss, damage, near-expiry, mandated correction). Any replacement triggers current policy.
  • First-time or post-expiry applicants will receive a passport with the birth-sex marker.
  • A name-only renewal does not by itself force a marker change, but verify the rules in force at filing.

Form selection

Form When to use
DS-11 In person at an acceptance facility. Required if you have never held a US passport, your prior passport was issued under age 16, was issued more than 15 years ago, was lost / stolen / damaged, or cannot be submitted with the application.
DS-82 Renewal by mail. Eligible if your most recent passport is undamaged and submittable, was issued at age 16+, was issued within the last 15 years, and is in your current name (or name change is documented by certified marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order).
DS-5504 Corrections / limited-validity replacement. Use within one year of issuance for data correction, legal name change since issuance, or limited-validity replacement. Fee-free in qualifying cases (expedite fee still applies). After one year, name changes go through DS-82/11.

Decision shortcut:

  • Recent passport (< 1 yr) + name change → DS-5504.
  • Renewal due + legal name change → DS-82 if eligible, else DS-11.
  • Never held a passport, or expired beyond DS-82 window → DS-11.

Photo requirements

  • 2x2 inches, color, taken within the last six months, plain white or off-white background.
  • Must reflect current appearance. State Department guidance requires a new photo when "your appearance has significantly changed" — including substantial weight change, major facial surgery, large new face tattoos, and gender transition.
  • No filters, software smoothing, AI enhancement, or background replacement. Stricter automated face-match rejection rules took effect in late 2025; visible retouching causes outright rejection.
  • No glasses. Head coverings only for documented religious or medical reasons (signed statement).
  • Makeup, hair styling, and gendered presentation are unrestricted; depict yourself as you normally appear.

When the marker will not match presentation under current policy, photo accuracy becomes the primary identification anchor at the border. Submit a current photo; do not submit an older photo to align with a forced-mismatched marker.

Combining name change and marker change

  • Under current policy, a combined application issues the new passport in the new name with the assigned-at-birth marker. The marker request is not honored.
  • Accepted name-change documents: certified marriage certificate, certified divorce decree showing the name change, or certified court order of legal name change. Common-law or self-asserted names are not accepted.
  • DS-60 (Affidavit of Name Change with three pieces of public evidence) is available in narrow circumstances but a court order is strongly preferred and required by most acceptance agents. See Legal Name Change.

Expedited processing

  • Routine target: 6–8 weeks; varies with backlog.
  • Expedited service (additional fee, currently $60): target 2–3 weeks.
  • Urgent travel (within 14 calendar days, or visa needed within 28 days): in person at a regional passport agency by appointment. Appointments are scarce — book the moment travel is confirmed.
  • Life-or-death emergency service: same- or next-day issuance with documentation of the emergency.
  • Expedite does not bypass marker policy. Any application processed during a restrictive policy window follows that policy regardless of expedite status.

Borders, mismatch, and the travel kit

CBP officers are trained that document mismatches do not automatically indicate fraud, but secondary inspection is at officer discretion. A photo that matches current appearance is the single most useful mitigation. Most foreign borders verify the document, not gender expression, but practice varies; countries with anti-LGBT enforcement may use mismatch as a pretext. Book air tickets in the exact legal name on the passport.

What to carry:

  • Passport (original); backup ID with affirming marker if your state ID matches gender identity.
  • Certified copy of court order of name change; physician letter on letterhead (the historical 2010–2024 State Department format remains useful).
  • A4TE Know Your Rights: Passports printout; attorney contact for detention.
  • Under REAL ID (effective May 7, 2025) the boarding-pass name must match an acceptable ID; the passport satisfies this.

For destination-specific risk see International Travel.

Comparator countries

Country Markers Self-determination Documentation required
UK (HMPO) M / F No GRC required Deed poll for name; doctor letter that change is "likely to be permanent." No X (Elan-Cane 2021).
Canada M / F / X Yes (since 2017–19) Form PPTC 482 statement (or older statutory declaration). No physician letter.
Australia M / F / X Effectively yes Form B-14 signed by medical practitioner / psychologist, or updated state BDM certificate.
Germany M / F / divers / blank Yes (Selbstbestimmungsgesetz, Nov 2024) Declaration at registry office; one-year cooldown on subsequent changes.
Spain M / F Yes (16+, Ley Trans 2023) No medical reports for adults. 14–15 parental consent; 12–13 judicial.
Ireland M / F Yes (GRA 2015) Self-declaration; passport follows Gender Recognition Certificate.
Netherlands M / F / (X via court) Partial Expert statement to registry of place of birth; non-binary marker only via court order.

Other binary self-determination jurisdictions: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland. TGEU's Trans Rights Map is the canonical reference for the rest of Europe.

Both Canada and Australia warn that X markers may not be recognized at every border; Canadian advisories in 2025 specifically named the United States as a destination where X-marker holders may face obstacles.

If a US application is denied or stalled

Common scenarios: returned for "additional documentation" after a discrepant marker is requested; issued with birth-sex marker despite attestation; held in suspense past normal processing.

  1. Document everything — forms, receipts, tracking, correspondence.
  2. Call the National Passport Information Center (1-877-487-2778); escalate to a Regional Passport Agency for in-person review.
  3. Contact a Senator or Representative's constituent-services office; passport casework is routine.
  4. If denial tracks marker policy specifically, contact ACLU, Lambda Legal, GLAD Law, or A4TE — all are tracking Orr v. Trump patterns.
  5. Do not falsify documents. Altered birth records or fraudulent letters are federal offenses (18 USC §§ 1001, 1542) with travel risk far worse than a marker mismatch.
  6. Consider deferring travel until policy stabilizes; existing valid affirming passports remain usable until expiry.

If travel is time-sensitive, accept a birth-sex-marker passport rather than miss the trip; carry the kit above and reapply later under whatever rules then apply.

Sources

US government (primary)

Litigation tracking

Advocacy guidance

  • A4TE, Know Your Rights: Passports.
  • A4TE, Identity Documents & Privacy.
  • Immigration Equality, Gender EO FAQs on Forms and Documents (January 2026 update).
  • Human Rights Watch, US Supreme Court Allows Discriminatory Passport Rule, November 10, 2025.
  • 19thnews.org, Trans people can obtain accurate passports again. Here's how. (July 2025).

Comparator jurisdictions