Changing the gender marker on a passport

Do I need a Gender Recognition Certificate?#

No. GOV.UK's guide to the certificate says you do not need one to update your passport, and HM Passport Office's guidance for its staff covers people who change their gender permanently without a certificate and without any medical procedure. A passport records the change without making it a legal one: the guidance says a passport in a new gender "does not give legal recognition of the change of gender", and that for passport purposes "the question is only whether the person has permanently adopted a new identity". Deed poll or Gender Recognition Certificate? explains what a certificate changes.

The rules below are from HM Passport Office's gender recognition guidance (version 29.0, published in February 2026) and change of name guidance (version 36.0, September 2026).

What do I send without a certificate?#

GOV.UK's summary asks for a letter from your doctor or medical consultant. The staff guidance sets out the whole application:

• a letter from you asking for the change of gender;
• a letter from a medical professional, dated and signed by hand, confirming that they know you well enough to make a diagnosis, the name and gender you use, that you use them for all purposes, and that in their opinion the change is likely to be permanent;
• evidence of your change of name, if your name has changed;
• evidence that you use the name and gender for all purposes, such as bank statements, utility bills or payslips.

If staff cannot recognise you from the photo on your previous passport, they may ask for a referee.

What do I send with a certificate?#

Your full Gender Recognition Certificate, or the new birth certificate issued after it with a letter explaining the change of gender. Staff are told not to ask for evidence of a change of name unless you apply in a different name from the one on the certificate, and not to ask for evidence that you use the name unless something suggests you do not. An interim certificate, issued to someone who must first end a marriage or civil partnership, is accepted too, with your full birth certificate if it is your first passport.

Can I change my name at the same time?#

Yes, in the same application. Apply in your new name and send your original deed poll, signed in both names and witnessed, with the other evidence. For a UK application, HM Passport Office's evidence guidance asks for one document showing the new name in use, issued within the last 12 months, such as a bank statement, a utility bill or an official letter from your employer or a government department; a driving licence can be older if it was issued after the change. Changing your name with HM Passport Office has the rules on deed polls.

HM Passport Office's 2013 leaflet for transgender customers says the new passport will not refer to your birth gender or to any previous name in it, in the book or the chip, and the staff guidance says there is "no indication in the passport of the customer's personal circumstances".

How much does it cost?#

The normal price of a new passport; GOV.UK lists no separate charge for a change of gender. An adult passport, for anyone aged 16 or over, is £102 online or £115.50 by paper form, and a child's is £66.50 or £80. Your documents come back free by second class post, or by secure delivery for usually £5 more. What a new passport costs covers the faster services.

How will HM Passport Office handle my application?#

It goes to examiners trained for these cases, who are told to deal with it sensitively and not to disclose information about your previous gender to anyone else. Before sending anything in writing about the change, they must speak to you, by phone or in person, to explain what they need, ask whether you agree to written contact and check your address and email, because "a letter could be intercepted". If three calls in a day go unanswered, the contact letter they send must not refer to the change. Counter staff are told to offer you a private interview room, and case notes are not to mention surgery or treatment.

Can a UK passport show X?#

No. The staff guidance says applications offer male or female, and the choice "will appear as the sex M or F" on the personal details page, in line with International Civil Aviation Organization standards; no passport is issued until the gender is completed. If you tell HM Passport Office you are non-binary, a team leader calls to explain that only male or female can be shown and asks for your current gender: the one assigned at birth, the one in your last British passport, or one recognised by a certificate. If you do not answer within 7 days, or will not give one, the application is withdrawn. GOV.UK says non-binary genders are not legally recognised in the UK. Titles are a separate matter: Mx and other gender-neutral titles.

Can a child change the gender on their passport?#

Yes, with more consent. Under 18, HM Passport Office needs the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility as well as the medical evidence. For a child under 16 the guidance says it has no authority to issue a passport in a different gender without that consent or a court order; at 16 and 17 there are limited exceptions. Changing a trans child's name sets out both.

What if I have another nationality?#

GOV.UK says the name and gender on a non-British passport must match what you want on your British one, so the other passport is normally changed first. If the other country does not allow or recognise a change of gender, the guidance lets staff issue the British passport anyway, and says the other passport is recorded as an observation only if it is in the same gender as the new British one. Changing your name when you have two nationalities explains the other exceptions.

What if my documents differ when I travel?#

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says transgender and gender diverse travellers "sometimes face difficulties or delays at border controls abroad" when their gender or gender expression differs from the sex stated in their passport. It advises reading the local laws and customs section of each country's travel advice before you go, carrying a letter from your medical team if facial surgery abroad changes your appearance, and asking the British embassy, high commission or consulate for help if you run into difficulties. Book travel in the name on your passport, as GOV.UK requires, and not until you hold a valid one, because a new passport has a new number.

For the other organisations, changing your name when you transition goes one by one.