An x-status is a gender-neutral gender designation and is described in the family law specialty. In 2018 is er voor het eerst voor een non-binair persoon een verzoek tot het verkrijgen van een x-status door een rechtbank toegewezen. Door het toewijzen van dit verzoek is deze persoon niet meer in legitimatiebewijzen (rijbewijs, identiteitskaart of paspoort) als mannelijke of vrouwelijke geslacht geïdentificeerd. Hiermee is het voor non binaire mensen mogelijk geworden om een x-status te verkrijgen.
- We are a leading law firm for obtaining x-status
- We represent clients before all courts in the Netherlands
- We combine the first name change and x status in one application.
Learn more about the procedure for obtaining x status.
At Simmelink Law Firm, we understand the unique challenges you, as a non-binary or intersex person, face in seeking proper recognition of your gender identity.
That’s why we offer expert support in obtaining x-status in official documents. Our approach is personal and tailored to your specific situation, guiding you through the entire process.
Our approach is personalized and tailored to your specific situation. We prepare legal documents, represent you in court, and offer expert advice. Our goal is your success: obtaining x-status, ensuring that your identity is properly recognized. This success has already had a positive impact on many of our clients, and we strive to help you too in this important step.
Together we work toward the success of correctly recognizing your identity, something that can have a profound positive impact on your daily life.
Simmelink Law Firm’s expertise in x-status and first name changes
At Simmelink Law Firm, we understand these challenges and have successfully assisted numerous people in obtaining gender-neutral status, now called x status.
Since a gender-neutral request almost always involves a different first name being more appropriate, the application for x-status is combined with a first name change request. We cooperate with all courts in the Netherlands on this, no matter what your place of birth is in the Netherlands.
If you live a little further away you can call us but just as easily video call us. The quality of our service remains at the same high-quality level.
Law firm Simmelink specializes in applications for X-status
In recent years, Law Firm Simmelink has assisted several individuals in proceedings to obtain x-status. Some decisions, including those of the District Court Midden-Nederland, location Utrecht of October 28, 2021(ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2021:5054) and the Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden of September 15, 2022(ECLI:NL:GHARL:2022:8003), the District Court Noord-Holland, location Alkmaar of January 10, 2023(ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2023:2103) have been published. In this recent ruling, the court indicates (as does Minister Van Engelshoven) that a conscious choice was made by the legislature to await developments through rulings by Dutch courts before proceeding to develop new legislation.
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Procedure for applying for x status
At Simmelink Law Firm, we follow a careful five-step plan to guide you toward recognition of your nonbinary gender status, the X-status.
You begin with an intake meeting where we get acquainted and share information. We then prepare a petition that reflects your conviction and file it upon your approval. After a hearing and subsequent ruling, we ensure that the municipality processes your X-status. Thus, you are assured of expert guidance throughout the legal process.
The roadmap is as follows:
Intake interview
We begin with a personal introduction and share essential details about the procedure for obtaining X status. You will be asked for the necessary information to adequately prepare the petition.
If desired, combine the x-status request with a first name change request.
Drafting petition
We draft a petition that validates your conviction, supported by Articles 1:28, 1:28c or 1:19d of the Civil Code, and recent case law.
Filing with the court
After your approval, we file the petition with the court.
Session and ruling
After the petition is filed, the judge will make a decision.
This decision can either be communicated immediately in writing or pronounced at a hearing, depending on the circumstances of the case.
Processing at the municipality
After the appeal period, the court sends the order to the birth municipality, which processes the change in the Civil Registry. You can then request your new documents that correctly incorporate your gender.
Initial recognition and Transgender pathway
In 2014, the Transgender Act was established. This law applies to people who want to change from male gender to female gender or vice versa. This is also called a binary gender change. This change can be applied for free at the municipality where this person was born. With the binary gender change, it is also possible to have the first name changed free of charge.
Change to an x-state
The change from “male” or “female” to “x” is not (yet) regulated by law. For this reason, this change now always goes through the court. In July 2020, a letter was published from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science regarding unnecessary gender registration. In this letter, Ms. I. Van Engelshoven explains her plan to reduce unnecessary gender registration. At the end of this letter she does indicate that this topic is still very much under development and that more rulings will have to come from the courts before it is clear whether legislation is needed and if so, which one.
X-STATUS REQUIRES COURT RULING
Since the minister’s letter, there have been about fifteen cases in various courts in the Netherlands about obtaining non-binary status. Most of the requests have been granted, though on different grounds. In the case that was rejected (for an x-status for a sixteen-year-old), the appeal is pending before the Court of Appeal. However, it is clear that in all cases the personal interest in being registered with a gender-neutral gender outweighs the public interest in not changing the gender.
Although the legislation for a gender change exists only for the application of a binary change, the court in Amsterdam has ruled, in the ruling of July 21, 2021(ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2021:3732), that an application for an x-status should be treated equally to the application for a binary gender change. This court held that there is an unfair distinction between a binary and a non-binary gender change. Thus, under the Transgender Act, according to the Amsterdam court, it is also possible for non-binary individuals to change their gender.
MP Van Ginneken submitted an amendment dated Nov. 30, 2021, in response to the bill to amend Book 1 of the Civil Code in connection with changing the conditions for changing the mention of gender in the birth certificate.
The purpose of the amendment is to add a new article (article 1:28e BW) to the Civil Code that allows the registration of ‘x’ as a gender designation for non-binary persons without the intervention of a court and without an expert statement in the same way as the bill does for binary persons who identify themselves with the gender other than that in their birth certificate. Only the notification and confirmation of the inner conviction of the affected person as referred to in article 1:28 paragraph 1 of the Civil Code will then be relevant.
The amendment has been submitted to the Advisory Division of the Council of State for advice, among others. The State Council wishes to submit an independent proposal, as it deserves separate, comprehensive and careful consideration by the legislature.
Although there is still no concrete bill, there have been rulings by all courts in the Netherlands granting gender “x”.
