In a landmark move, a 28-year-old woman, who underwent the male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, will receive her gender-corrected passport from the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru, soon after the police complete her residence verification. This is the first such instance of gender correction in the case of conversion from man to woman or vice-versa in the Bengaluru office since digitalisation of the process.
Minor hiccup
Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Lalbagh, received an application a few months ago from the Bengaluru resident, seeking change of gender details in their passport.
As per the Passport Act and Rules, persons seeking gender correction must produce a report from the surgeon who performed the sex reassignment surgery or vaginoplasty. The Bengalurean had done the surgery at a Chengalpattu hospital in Tamil Nadu, but it had shut down in the pandemic, and the passport officials could not complete the verification.
“Despite this hurdle, we were keen on issuing the passport without disappointing the applicant who was then advised to contact a government hospital in Karnataka where a qualified doctor could certify her status,” added Krishna K, IFS, RPO.
The woman went to Government General Hospital in Nelamangala where a senior doctor certified her new gender status, which was in turn submitted to the passport office. The gender change from male to female was recorded as per the applicant's request on the passport, which has now been sent for police clearance as part of the final stage, sources in the know said.
Past instance
In May 2021, Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru received an application from a 57-year-old man for gender correction on his passport to transgender. Authorities processed the application and issued a fresh passport within a few days with X marked under the gender column to denote transgender. This was the first time in Bengaluru that an applicant had opted for change of gender information to transgender, sources added.
An applicant opting for change of sex to transgender to be displayed on the passport (printed as X) when he/she has not undergone a sex-change surgery need not produce any supporting documents; mere self-declaration is enough.
