The U.S. immigration system can't process transgender passports

The State Department has confirmed that it has no way to process passports from immigrants who do not identify as either male or female.

Some countries, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Australia, and Denmark, allow citizens to identify with gender options other than male and female on official documents. Amruta Alpesh Soni, for instance, has a passport displaying Soni's gender as "T," for transgender.

But people who apply for U.S. visas are forced to identify themselves as male or female on the applications, despite what their passports might say, a State Department spokesperson told BuzzFeed. Soni's application was apparently put "on hold" at a U.S. consulate in Kolkata, India, because the consulate couldn't process the transgender passport. (After the case was profiled in the Times of India, Soni was granted a visa on Thursday.)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Ironically, Soni sought the visa to attend a transgender health conference. "It's a great opportunity, and I hope I don't miss it out due to my sex," Soni told the Times of India.