Tennessee - Name Change, Driver License, Social Security, and State Dept Letter Template
Just wanted to post my experience with name change, social security, and driver license for anyone who might find it helpful.
I am located in East TN, and have had only top surgery (as far as SRS goes). That being said, I WAS NOT BORN in Tennessee, so experiences may vary with this, though nothing I did today involved my birth certificate.
Tiny bit of region-specific info: All of my adventures take place in East TN. Carter County and Elizabethton, TN for the courthouse and DMV, and neighboring Johnson City for the closest social security office. This is a small, rural(ish) community.
Name Change:
Documents I ended up using: Passport, driver license, name change forms acquired from Clerk/Master.
3 days before court day (Thursday, in this case), I went down to the Clerk and Master and picked up the name change forms. The women there were very helpful and explained the forms to me, told me I needed to have the last page notarized when I signed it, and needed a copy of my birth certificate when I turn in the forms.
I had a problem in that I was not born in TN, and was born a US citizen abroad in Germany, so my birth document is the State Department's "Consular Report of Birth Abroad". I did NOT have a copy of this, but I do have my passport (still marked with F in the gender marker, for what it's worth), and called the office to see if that would suffice. They said it WOULD suffice and to just bring it and my driver license with me when I turn in the papers.
I think, if you are a TN-born resident, you have to have your birth certificate so they can do their "visibly striking through the birth certificate" thing and amend it with your new name above the old name (Don't get me started on this policy...). I did not confirm this specifically, but they did tell me it was so they could change the birth certificate.
I filled out the papers, got them notarized, and then took them back to the courthouse. I paid the $197.00 fee when I turned in the papers.
On a side note, the name change papers had a blank spot to put "Gender:" in, and I put Male. None of my other documents were changed, even the copies of my passport and driver license I submitted for ID. I do have a letter from my surgeon from top surgery, which is very nonspecific and posted below.
I turned in the papers and they told me to show up on court day (the next day) at 9am and just go on in to the courtroom.
I showed up, went in, and was the very first (and only name change) person to be called up to the podium right at 9am. He called me by my "petitioner's" (previous female) name. I swore that I wasn't trying to commit fraud. The judge was friendly, commented on my birth place (Germany), and then casually asked why I was changing my name. I just said something like "I've just been using it for years, figured I might as well make it legal, your honor." and he said he was happy to grant my name change and asked me to take my file back downstairs to the Clerk and Master's office and they would send me on my way. One of the bailiffs walked me downstairs and left me at the office, where the ladies made me 2 certified copies of the court order and I was on my way!
Social Security:
Documents I ended up using: passport (for ID, drive license will work too I believe), SRS letter, court order name change, and printed off FAQ/policy from ss.gov website.
My next stop after exiting the courthouse was to go to the social security office in Johnson City and get my stuff changed there, because I thought it might help with my driver license. I brought with me my name change order, my still unchanged passport and driver license, my SRS letter, and a paper I had printed off from the SS.gov website FAQ stating the requirements to change gender on a SS card. I had also filled out the SS-5 form (with both names and sex:M) and printed it beforehand to save time and because my handwriting could be better.
The man who helped me was professional, courteous, treated me with respect and did everything he could to help me. It definitely made things far less awkward for me, anyway. He wasn't sure what needed to be done to change the gender, and thought that I needed an amended birth certificate in order to do it. I politely offered him the webpage I had printed off, and he was actually relieved that I had taken the time to do it, and took it and went to confirm with his supervisor that all I needed was my SRS letter and the court order name change.
He came back a couple minutes later, and everything was fine and he changed everything for me and sent me on my way.
DMV:
DMV was my next stop of the day to get my new driver license. It gave me the most trouble, and took me quite a while to get my new license, but I WAS successful.
I showed up and presented my court order name change and SRS letter, and filled out the application for a driver license. The ladies there, as was my experience earlier in the day with everyone else, were very helpful but a little clueless about how to do the gender change. They said they wanted to help me, and could definitely do the name change, but wanted to confirm about the gender change because they didn't have experience with it. I waited about 40 minutes, and after some difficulties they said they were waiting on the main guy in Nashville (where the big DMV office is), who was on his way back to the office to look at my faxed paperwork to confirm. The lady I dealt with said that policy stated that I needed a letter saying my "sex change" was "complete", and so I asked her if the trouble was with the specific language of my letter.
She agreed that it sounded kind of dumb if language is the reason keeping me from changing my driver license. We looked at my SRS letter together and I told her it was the exact letter required by the State Department to change my birth certificate and passport, and that it did mean that the medical aspects of my transition were complete. She went back and called the big buy again and came back to me after about 20 more minutes of trying to call him, apologizing profusely that I had had to wait so long. She asked if it was ok if she took my phone number and called me when he had had a chance to get back, so I didn't have to sit around waiting so long. I did, and went home.
About an hour later she called me back and wanted to make sure my court order was an original or court certified copy (which has nothing to do with my gender, but whatever) and I went back to the DMV where she told me to go into the Exit door and just come straight up to the desk instead of waiting on a number to be called. It was super busy when I went back, so I'm glad she gave me that courtesy.
After that, the same lady helped me and changed all my information for me with no trouble, and I paid the $8 for a replacement license. I also was changing my address to reflect my current address, and she joked that she's never had to change so much on a person's information before. She again apologized for this whole process taking so long, and thanked me for my patience and said it was refreshing to have someone in the DMV not screaming and pitching a big childish fit for having to wait for longer than 5 minutes. I thanked her for taking the time to get the proper policy for me and helping me change my information. She said that she hoped I wasn't offended that they made me wait so long to find policy, but that they had never had anyone with my request before in that particular office. I thanked her again and walked out with my new licence!
The total time I spent in the courthouse was about 20 minutes for the actual court date including the time it took to wait on copies.
Social Security office, after my name was called, was about 15 minutes.
DMV, round 1 was about 1 hour counting the time I had to wait on them to play phone tag with the big guy in Nashville.
DMV round 2 when I went back, after a technology malfunction on all their computers, was about 20 minutes.
The wording of my surgeon's letter, taken directly from the State Dept template:
I, (physician’s full name), (physician’s medical license or certificate number), (issuing U.S. State/Foreign Country of medical license/certificate), (DEA Registration number or comparable foreign designation), am the physician of (name of patient), with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whom I have treated (or with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whose medical history I have reviewed and
evaluated). (Name of patient) has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (specify new gender male or female). I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the forgoing is true and correct.
Signature
Typed Name
Date
Hope that helps any TN folk who are not sure where to go or what to do for name/gender changes. There is no information on the TN Driver License website about gender change, so I just showed up and told them what I wanted and went from there. I hope any other TN folks who have dealt with or deal with these departments in the future have as positive an experience as I did, because to be honest I was surprised at how easy this was and how few (meaning none) negative issues I had.
I am located in East TN, and have had only top surgery (as far as SRS goes). That being said, I WAS NOT BORN in Tennessee, so experiences may vary with this, though nothing I did today involved my birth certificate.
Tiny bit of region-specific info: All of my adventures take place in East TN. Carter County and Elizabethton, TN for the courthouse and DMV, and neighboring Johnson City for the closest social security office. This is a small, rural(ish) community.
Name Change:
Documents I ended up using: Passport, driver license, name change forms acquired from Clerk/Master.
3 days before court day (Thursday, in this case), I went down to the Clerk and Master and picked up the name change forms. The women there were very helpful and explained the forms to me, told me I needed to have the last page notarized when I signed it, and needed a copy of my birth certificate when I turn in the forms.
I had a problem in that I was not born in TN, and was born a US citizen abroad in Germany, so my birth document is the State Department's "Consular Report of Birth Abroad". I did NOT have a copy of this, but I do have my passport (still marked with F in the gender marker, for what it's worth), and called the office to see if that would suffice. They said it WOULD suffice and to just bring it and my driver license with me when I turn in the papers.
I think, if you are a TN-born resident, you have to have your birth certificate so they can do their "visibly striking through the birth certificate" thing and amend it with your new name above the old name (Don't get me started on this policy...). I did not confirm this specifically, but they did tell me it was so they could change the birth certificate.
I filled out the papers, got them notarized, and then took them back to the courthouse. I paid the $197.00 fee when I turned in the papers.
On a side note, the name change papers had a blank spot to put "Gender:" in, and I put Male. None of my other documents were changed, even the copies of my passport and driver license I submitted for ID. I do have a letter from my surgeon from top surgery, which is very nonspecific and posted below.
I turned in the papers and they told me to show up on court day (the next day) at 9am and just go on in to the courtroom.
I showed up, went in, and was the very first (and only name change) person to be called up to the podium right at 9am. He called me by my "petitioner's" (previous female) name. I swore that I wasn't trying to commit fraud. The judge was friendly, commented on my birth place (Germany), and then casually asked why I was changing my name. I just said something like "I've just been using it for years, figured I might as well make it legal, your honor." and he said he was happy to grant my name change and asked me to take my file back downstairs to the Clerk and Master's office and they would send me on my way. One of the bailiffs walked me downstairs and left me at the office, where the ladies made me 2 certified copies of the court order and I was on my way!
Social Security:
Documents I ended up using: passport (for ID, drive license will work too I believe), SRS letter, court order name change, and printed off FAQ/policy from ss.gov website.
My next stop after exiting the courthouse was to go to the social security office in Johnson City and get my stuff changed there, because I thought it might help with my driver license. I brought with me my name change order, my still unchanged passport and driver license, my SRS letter, and a paper I had printed off from the SS.gov website FAQ stating the requirements to change gender on a SS card. I had also filled out the SS-5 form (with both names and sex:M) and printed it beforehand to save time and because my handwriting could be better.
The man who helped me was professional, courteous, treated me with respect and did everything he could to help me. It definitely made things far less awkward for me, anyway. He wasn't sure what needed to be done to change the gender, and thought that I needed an amended birth certificate in order to do it. I politely offered him the webpage I had printed off, and he was actually relieved that I had taken the time to do it, and took it and went to confirm with his supervisor that all I needed was my SRS letter and the court order name change.
He came back a couple minutes later, and everything was fine and he changed everything for me and sent me on my way.
DMV:
DMV was my next stop of the day to get my new driver license. It gave me the most trouble, and took me quite a while to get my new license, but I WAS successful.
I showed up and presented my court order name change and SRS letter, and filled out the application for a driver license. The ladies there, as was my experience earlier in the day with everyone else, were very helpful but a little clueless about how to do the gender change. They said they wanted to help me, and could definitely do the name change, but wanted to confirm about the gender change because they didn't have experience with it. I waited about 40 minutes, and after some difficulties they said they were waiting on the main guy in Nashville (where the big DMV office is), who was on his way back to the office to look at my faxed paperwork to confirm. The lady I dealt with said that policy stated that I needed a letter saying my "sex change" was "complete", and so I asked her if the trouble was with the specific language of my letter.
She agreed that it sounded kind of dumb if language is the reason keeping me from changing my driver license. We looked at my SRS letter together and I told her it was the exact letter required by the State Department to change my birth certificate and passport, and that it did mean that the medical aspects of my transition were complete. She went back and called the big buy again and came back to me after about 20 more minutes of trying to call him, apologizing profusely that I had had to wait so long. She asked if it was ok if she took my phone number and called me when he had had a chance to get back, so I didn't have to sit around waiting so long. I did, and went home.
About an hour later she called me back and wanted to make sure my court order was an original or court certified copy (which has nothing to do with my gender, but whatever) and I went back to the DMV where she told me to go into the Exit door and just come straight up to the desk instead of waiting on a number to be called. It was super busy when I went back, so I'm glad she gave me that courtesy.
After that, the same lady helped me and changed all my information for me with no trouble, and I paid the $8 for a replacement license. I also was changing my address to reflect my current address, and she joked that she's never had to change so much on a person's information before. She again apologized for this whole process taking so long, and thanked me for my patience and said it was refreshing to have someone in the DMV not screaming and pitching a big childish fit for having to wait for longer than 5 minutes. I thanked her for taking the time to get the proper policy for me and helping me change my information. She said that she hoped I wasn't offended that they made me wait so long to find policy, but that they had never had anyone with my request before in that particular office. I thanked her again and walked out with my new licence!
The total time I spent in the courthouse was about 20 minutes for the actual court date including the time it took to wait on copies.
Social Security office, after my name was called, was about 15 minutes.
DMV, round 1 was about 1 hour counting the time I had to wait on them to play phone tag with the big guy in Nashville.
DMV round 2 when I went back, after a technology malfunction on all their computers, was about 20 minutes.
The wording of my surgeon's letter, taken directly from the State Dept template:
I, (physician’s full name), (physician’s medical license or certificate number), (issuing U.S. State/Foreign Country of medical license/certificate), (DEA Registration number or comparable foreign designation), am the physician of (name of patient), with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whom I have treated (or with whom I have a doctor/patient relationship and whose medical history I have reviewed and
evaluated). (Name of patient) has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender (specify new gender male or female). I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the forgoing is true and correct.
Signature
Typed Name
Date
Hope that helps any TN folk who are not sure where to go or what to do for name/gender changes. There is no information on the TN Driver License website about gender change, so I just showed up and told them what I wanted and went from there. I hope any other TN folks who have dealt with or deal with these departments in the future have as positive an experience as I did, because to be honest I was surprised at how easy this was and how few (meaning none) negative issues I had.