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U.S. Resident Alien name change for transgender people
Disclaimer: This is legal talk, not legal advice. Laws vary by state, and
some of the information discussed on this page may not be applicable in your
case. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information and provide it without
warranty. Laws change and this information may contain errors and omissions.
It is up to you to confirm any information herein by doing your own research.
A reader writes in September 2003:
A note to US resident aliens wishing to change name.
Changing name can be very complicated for non-citizen permanent residents
of the USA because there are at least the laws of two counties involved, at
a minimum one country for passport and another for "green card".
Name changes can get very complicated when trying to synchronize changes under
two nations' bureaucracies that make no accomodations for this. Moreover it
is a legal nightmare to have passport and green card mismatched as to sex.
One solution for "green card" holders is to seek US citizenship.
The application for US citizenship (form N-400) includes express provision
for changing legal name at the moment of being sworn in as a US citizen. Persons
following this procedure will be sworn in as a new US citizen by a Federal
Judge rather than by a civil servant and will typically have to travel a Federal
courthouse to be sworn in.
There are several advantages, the cost is typically less, humiliating publication
in a newspaper is not required (in states that so require for "ordinary"
name changes) and the name change is ordered under US Federal Law rather than
state law. Thus the change has the force of law in all states as contrasted
with only one state. Universities who refuse to change names may be forced
to comply with a Federal Court order even where they routinely brush off a
state court order. As a final aside, since homophobia is still alive and well
in the BCIS (formerly INS) it might be wise to consider adopting an epicene
[androgynous] name.
Update from September 2004:
Effective 1 September 2004, the USCIS no longer accepts petitions for change
of name with N-400 Application for Naturalization. Petitions already filed
will be processed but no new ones will be accepted. The petition is usually
drafted by the USCIS and formally filed during the first or only N-400 in-person
interview.
So, in short, if you are applying for Naturalization as a US citizen and
have not already had your interview then you can no longer expect to be able
to use this process (Federal law) to change your name.
Prospective citizens should be aware that US Certificates of Naturalization
contain Name, place and date sworn in, date of birth, former citizenship,
height, marital status and, yes,unfortunately and irrelevantly, sex. It is
almost impossible to get a certificate of naturalization changed once it has
been issued.
Other resources
Precedent for transsexuals
[no specific case noted]
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