""If the travel document presented by a traveler for an international flight to or from the United States has a sex indicator other than 'M' or 'F' or does not otherwise indicate the sex of the traveler, the carrier or the traveler should select either 'M' or 'F,'" the CBP bulletin reads. "Submitting 'M' or 'F' in the sex field, in place of the value reflected on the travel document, will not subject the carrier to penalty.""
"The CBP requires airlines to enter personal information for all passengers into the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) prior to their arrival at customs. That system will no longer accept nonbinary markers. While the bulletin makes it clear that the airline won't be held at fault for providing information that differs from a passenger's travel documents, it is unclear how a traveler might be treated if their documents do not fully match what is shown in the CBP's system."
"The CBP first brought the policy into effect on July 14, 2025, but it entered a 90-day informed compliance window. During that time, airlines could provide gender markers other than "M" or "F" without any issue. As of October 12, 2025, that informed compliance window has now expired, and entering a nonbinary gender marker will result in an error and need to be altered."
U.S. passports with an "X" gender marker remain valid, but Customs and Border Protection now requires airlines to submit either 'M' or 'F' for all passengers in the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). APIS will no longer accept nonbinary or other sex indicators, and carriers may enter 'M' or 'F' in place of a travel document's marker without penalty. A 90-day informed compliance window that began July 14, 2025 ended October 12, 2025; entering a nonbinary marker now triggers an error. The policy leaves uncertainty about how travelers with nonbinary or mismatched documents will be treated at customs. The Biden administration began issuing passports with 'X' markers in 2021.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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