How to Change Your Gender on your Social Security Card

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The Social Security card does not normally have gender details on display. The card only lists the name and Social Security number. However, the SSA has records of other details, including gender. This kind of information is usually paramount for statistics and research. Changing of gender does not in any way affect issues such as health or Social Security benefits.

Those who which to change the gender on their social security cards must be very sure because you are limited to only three replacements per year and only ten during your entire lifetime. Here is the process you need to follow for social security card gender change.

Obtain a court order declaring your gender change.

It is advisable that this should be the first thing done before anything else. If any other document becomes invalid, a court order is always accepted as valid proof. The process is quite easy. Start by filling out a cover sheet. Proceed by filling out a petition for a change of name with the clerk. It takes a while to get the court date so you should plan way. The average it takes, depending on the state, is seven weeks. The court order will issue a stamped copy of the order.

If in any case, the process of obtaining a court order is too expensive, you can choose to contact local gender transformation networks for support. Another option would be to request the court to waive the fee. For the court to consider your application to waive your fee, it will consider your ability to pay by how much money you make. Three forms must be filled to complete the application: a petition to leave, an affidavit and an order granting leave.

Submit a completed SS-5 form

It is the only form required for the gender change process. You can obtain it from your local SSA office or simply download it from SSA.gov. The details you need to fill in are your name, date, and place of birth, parents name and social security numbers, sex a phone number an address. Everything else is changing apart from, of course, the sex. Your signature is needed at the end. It is very important to fill the SS-5 with completeness and accuracy because failure to do so will mean unnecessary delays in the process of social security card gender change.

Attach an original copy of a physician’s letter if changing the gender marker

It should be noted that this letter serves as a replacement to previous policies which required documentation of surgical procedures. A template you will find online, but it is much easier to use one provided by the physician since it is more trustworthy and has a letter-head. The physician must also be licensed for the document to be valid. Other details that the letter must include are physician’s full name, medical license number, issuing state certificate, drug enforcement administration number assigned to the physician, address and telephone number of the physician.

It may also include language stating that he or she has a doctor-patient relationship with you, language stating that you have had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition and finally language stating that what is written is true and correct. How people transition from gender to gender varies and therefore what constitutes appropriate clinical treatment differs. The range of these treatments is captured in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care and includes changes in how gender is expressed, changes in the role of the gender, psychotherapy, hormone therapy and, or surgery. You are only required to state that you have undergone treatment and not the specifications of what specific treatment you underwent.

Attach your Identification Card/ A valid 10-year passport showing the correct gender

The ID card is of course used to verify your citizenship and age. Your ID must not be a photocopy or a temporary one, bring the original one. Immigrants must prove valid and lawful immigration status. The only documents accepted as proof of US citizenship in cases of no identity card or passport are the certificate of naturalization, certificate of citizenship, certification of report of birth and consular report of birth abroad. For immigrants, you must show your employment authorization document or arrival and departure record. It is important to note that if your gender transition is still in progress, you will only be issued with a two-year passport, whose validity you can extend once your transition is complete.

A birth certificate showing the correct gender

In case you were born in the US and you don’t have your original birth certificate, you can contact the Vital Records office in the State where you were born. Your birth certificate will then be emailed or mailed to you, depending on your preference. Afterward, you can go ahead and change the gender on your birth certificate. It is an integral part of the process as the SSA will not correct any part of your Social Security without it. However, it is the most difficult document to change gender. Some states require proof of surgery while other states completely prohibit the change of gender on state-issued birth certificates. Some states even require a court order once the gender change social security card is done.

There are three options for doing this, and you can choose whichever is preferable to you:

• Submit your application online
As much as this is the most convenient method, it is only available in select states: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. However, you need to be extremely careful since wrong applications online are prone to more delays.

• Submit your application via mail
It can be addressed to any SSA office. A concern with a lot of people about putting their Social Security details in the mail is that it makes them susceptible to fraud and theft. However, there is a very little proven risk of information being stolen when it is placed in the mail.

• Submit your application in person
This can be done in your local Social Security Administration office. It is not encouraged because sometimes the queues are long, but for those who don’t feel comfortable with any other method, delivery in person would suffice. A way to bypass the long queues would be to call ahead and ask to speak to a supervisor.

• Submit your application via a third party
It includes services of sites that auto-generate forms like the SS-5 and give guidance on each step. Other benefits include a reduction in errors made in the process, a less stressful time applying, avoidance of delays, round the clock support and overall more affordable. If at all you encounter problems while changing your gender on your Social Security Card, you are advised to contact your regional SSA office or your Senator’s office.
Some people change their gender on all other documentation apart from their Social Security Card because of the amount of effort it requires and the amount of time. However, such discrepancies with the SSA can cause problems such as tax forms not being accepted by the IRS, not being able to get financial aid form schools, not being able to apply for credit cards and not being able to apply for loans. It would, therefore, be easier to change the gender on all documents. Overall, it takes about a week from gender change social security card application to getting your new Social Security card.


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