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ARTICLE · 07 APRIL 2025

No 'X' Marks: USCIS No Longer Issuing Documents With 'X' Gender

Jackson Lewis P.C.
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Effective April 2, 2025, all documents issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will identify individuals as either male or female. Previously, USCIS-issued documents also listed "X" as a gender.

United StatesImmigration
Sarah P. Caze
Sarah P. Caze

Effective April 2, 2025, all documents issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will identify individuals as either male or female. Previously, USCIS-issued documents also listed "X" as a gender.

This policy change is a direct response to President Donald Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, executive order (EO) vowing to "defend women's rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male." In this EO, Trump called for the secretary of homeland security to issue identification documents reflecting the holder's sex as either male or female only.

In addition to eliminating the term "gender" from its Policy Manual, USCIS clarifies that, for purposes of reviewing immigration applications and issuing documents, it will look to the individual's birth certificate at or near their time of birth to determine their sex. It may also rely on documents other

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