Current name change policy and transgender people

[Riff_Raff]

I'm a transgender man and EU citizen and was hoping to get British citizenship under my preferred name as I still have all my other documents under my female name. It was not a problem a year ago but since I've read Home Office is enforcing a new policy on name changes I'm not sure what does this mean for my situation:

22. Where a transgender person applies to become a British citizen, they will normally be
naturalised in the name and gender contained in their passport, Home Office Travel Document
and national identity card. However, when they have been unable to obtain a passport from
their country in their acquired gender and were issued with a BRP in their acquired name and
gender they can be issued with a naturalisation certificate in the identity contained on their BRP.

23. Transgender people who hold non-British passports and identity cards in their former
name and gender will not be able to obtain a British passport in their acquired name and
gender, unless they align their other passport(s) or identity card(s) to reflect their acquired name
and gender or seek to revoke their other nationalities so that they are unable to hold documents
in more that one set of identities.

Does this mean if I fill out my application and attach a deed poll (the only reason I've been waiting with doing it is to not complicate the whole process) I will still get my naturalization certificate in my birth name if I don't renounce my other citizenship? I will probably not be able to get my gender and new name recognized in my home country for a long time as it is a very complicated court process and the outcome might not be certain.

Does the new policy mean that I will need to get citizenship under my birth name and swear during the ceremony under my old name and won't be able to get a British passport if I use a deed poll? If I use a deed poll now to change my name from female to male now would I need to revert it back to female for the purposes of the applications?

Now, this is kind of problematic for me on many levels since I got a beard and male voice and generally find the prospect of having to renounce my other citizenship to get my gender recognized ridiculous to put in mildly especially since those restrictions were not in place a few months back.

Any advice?

[JamesBrodie]

I'd suggest calling 0300 123 2253. They are (usually) very helpful.

[noajthan]

Yes, I also recommend you try to get as much good advice as possible before applying.

There are clear dangers in simply applying and hoping for the best.
It's because this still really is unknown territory due to the recent names/identity policy change imposed from last February.

For example, you can read here the difficulties this policy change has caused for married women who naturalised in married name but with docs/foreign passport in maiden name.

Ref: british-citizenship/passport-refused-un ... l#p1196883

So far HM PO have proved quite inflexible and insist on sticking to their no 'dual identities' stance.
Through no fault of their own some applicants get stuck in catch-22 situations; that is caught between UK rules and other countries incompatible rules &/or laws on dual citizenship.

It may help you to look into cancelling other foreign passports if that is possible.
The reason is cancelled passports do not have to be submitted with the application.

Alternately look into revoking the other citizenship - this may or may not be desirable (& ofcourse, why should anyone have to just to comply with UK requirements).

Whichever route you find you can expect it to take time and you may have to put travel plans for this year on hold.
For example, for my wife it took 4 months from application, working through an initial refusal, to finally the successful grant of a British passport.

You have my best wishes - good luck.

[noajthan]

Riff_Raff ,
It may be that just cancelling passports will not be enough in this case; that wouldn't necessarily stop another passport being issued in that name at a later date.

Regarding the ceremony, it is possible to arrange a private ceremony instead of joining a group ceremony; (but this does cost extra).

You may find rock solid advice based on direct experience a little hard to find as it is still early days for this policy.

Perhaps there is a legal rights or campaign group that could provide legal support and advice?

[noajthan]

Rereading the policy and para 21 offers a clue on a way forwards.

Ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -_v1_0.pdf

So using para 21 & 22 together there is a way to obtain BRP in new name and gender.
Then naturalise based on the name used on the BRP instead of what's on original passport.

The question is how para 23 plays out against paras 21 % 22.
Do you have to revoke the other nationality (& is it possible) or will cancelling passports be enough to go the para 21/22 route.

However you would need to check if an EU citizen can obtain a BRP.
Good luck.

[noajthan]

fyi - birth name does not have to appear on UK naturalisation certificate

As per para 1.7 of guide:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... y_2015.pdf

Your name at birth must be given on the application form, for identity purposes, but may be omitted from your certificate of British citizenship if you have a special reason for requesting this;
for example because you were adopted or are no longer living in the gender you were considered to have at the time of your birth.

[Riff_Raff]

Hi, thanks for the info. I called the helpline and the person wasn't even aware of any recent amendments to the name change policy.

Guide AN seems to contradict the info in the name change guidance doc but I think I'm still going to attach a deed poll to the application and see how it goes. Hopefully common sense will prevail.

[jayz81]

Hi Riff Raff I am in the same situation. What happened with your application?