In Land Out of Status application with unique issue

[Andym]

My partner is a US citizen. I am a Canadian citizen. We met while he was here on a student visa 13 years ago. My partner is transgendered. That is, he was born female and transitioned to male. The state where he was born did not allow for changes to birth certificates. As such the birth certificate will probably always remain female.

Twelve years ago we were legally married in Canada. Because his birth certificate stated female this was not an issue even though same sex marriage was not allowed at that time. The student visa expired and he has been living here out of status.

We have been working to rectify the out of status issue. Medical and police checks are done. We had an issue obtaining his US passport. Ironically, even though the birth crtificate states female they would only issue a male passport with documentation from a physician. They stated this was because the passport needed to accurately reflect his current appearance. Anyway, the passport was issued as male. We were pleasantly surprised at the progress that has been made in this area by the US government.

However, this does leave documents a bit jumbled:
-female birth certificate
-male passport
-marriage license before same sex marriage was allowed

I suspect we will need to explain some issues that are not really addressed in any of the forms ;D Otherwise it may become more than a little confusing for the person reviwing the documents. Is it acceptable to attach a letter to the application that addresses these issues but is not specifically answer any questions within the application?

 

[Isometry]

Yes, definitely attach a letter explaining this, along with any supporting documentation you have. In general, if something is going to cause confusion or questions, it's best to explain it right off the bat.

The bit I'm most concerned about is getting married before same sex marriage was allowed. Was he legally considered male at that point? (I am assuming that you are female)

 

[Andym]

I am male.

His birth certificate stated female and will probably always state female. Because we have birth certificates that state opposite gender we were allowed to marry. In the interim society has changed a bit. For example the US issuing him a male passport.

 

[Kiwi12]

Yes it is acceptable and I would get supporting documentation from a physician that has knowledge about it. It is most important to disclose the gender dates and names for security purposes. Best of luck to you.