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<p>In 2020 the Government concluded a review of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) following
a consultation in 2018. It remains the Government’s view that the balance struck in
the legislation is correct in that there are proper checks and balances in the system
and also support for people who want to change their legal sex.</p><p>The policy of
the UK Government since the passage of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004 has been
to enable people with legal gender recognition from overseas countries whose systems
are considered to be at least as rigorous to benefit from the simpler track for a
UK Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The list was last updated in 2011 and a commitment
was made to keeping it under review. There are now a number of countries and territories
on the list who have made changes to their processes and would not now be considered
to have at least as rigorous systems. An update is therefore required. Since the announcement
in 2020, the Government prioritised making changes to the GRC process to make it modern
and affordable. Applicants for a GRC are now only required to pay £5, making the process
more affordable, and the newly developed digital application process for GRCs launched
on 29 June last year.</p><p>It should not be possible for a person who would not satisfy
the criteria to obtain UK legal gender recognition to use the overseas recognition
route to obtain a UK Gender Recognition Certificate. This would damage the integrity
and credibility of the process of the GRA. The Government is committed to ensuring
that this outcome of the GRA consultation is followed through and upheld, and the
overseas list will be updated via Statutory Instrument more regularly in future.</p><p>We
are undertaking a thorough investigation to verify our understanding of each overseas
system in question, and comparing overseas systems with the UK’s requirements. We
are finalising details of overseas countries and territories to be removed from the
list via an affirmative Statutory Instrument. This follows similar processes to the
2011 update.</p><p>People who have received UK GRCs already on the basis of legal
gender recognition from a country on the list will not be affected - the change will
not have retrospective effect. More widely, anyone can apply for a UK GRC through
the UK standard route, irrespective of whether they already have legal gender recognition
from overseas.</p><p>As is standard practice, we are conducting an equality impact
assessment alongside the development of the Statutory Instrument to inform decision-making.</p>
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