US immigration starts offering ‘third gender’ option on citizenship form

Immigrants to the US can now decide they are not female or male, but a third unspecified gender when applying for citizenship.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services revised its N-400 Application for Naturalization form to provide applicants with the option of selecting “another gender identity” labeled “X,” it announced on Monday.

“Historically USCIS forms and associated documents have only offered two gender options, ‘Male (M) and Female (F).’ This has created significant barriers for requesters who do not identify with either of those options,” immigration officials said in a news release.

“Limiting benefit requesters to two gender options also creates administrative challenges for USCIS when we receive birth certificates or other official government-issued documents with a gender other than M or F.”