• What Happened: The State Department finalized a rule March 11 requiring all visa applicants to list their biological sex at birth, effective April 10. The requirement applies even if their foreign passport lists a different sex.
  • Why It Matters: The rule follows a Supreme Court ruling upholding the administration's right to require biological sex on passports. It aligns with Trump's January 2025 executive order restoring biological truth across federal government.
  • Bottom Line: Common sense is back in American immigration policy. If you want to come to this country, you tell the truth about who you are.

The days of fictional gender markers on U.S. visa applications are over. The State Department finalized a rule on March 11 requiring all visa applicants to list their biological sex at birth, with the policy taking effect April 10.

The rule is straightforward. "The marker reflected in the 'sex' field on any visa application, including the entry form, should match the applicant's biological sex at birth, even if that differs from the sex listed on the applicant's foreign passport or other identifying documentation," the regulation states. The federal government will recognize only two categories: male and female.

The rule was initially framed as part of an update to the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, the green card lottery that awards up to 55,000 visas annually. But the State Department confirmed in response to public comments that the biological sex requirement applies to all visa applications.

The policy aligns with Trump's January 2025 executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which directed federal agencies to treat sex as a fixed biological classification and remove references to gender identity from government policy.

It also follows a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the administration's right to require accurate biological sex information on passports. In Orr v. Trump, the majority ruled that "displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth — in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." Liberal Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson dissented.

The Biden administration had allowed visa applicants to select "X" as a gender marker. That option is gone.

LGBT groups immediately cried foul. LGBTQ Nation warned that "trans immigrants" face a "heightened risk" and that "discrepancies in documentation will no doubt bring confusion and also increase the potential for the administration to target trans immigrants in its deportation crusade." The Advocate claimed the rule could lead to visa denials and deportations.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously put it plainly when the administration moved to recognize only two sexes across immigration forms: "President Trump promised the American people a revolution of common sense, and that includes making sure that the policy of the U.S. government agrees with simple biological reality."

April 10. Biological sex. Two options. Common sense restored.