TN 16 (04-18)

Date: January 12, 2018

A. PR 18-041 Name Change Based on Same-Sex Mexican Marriage

1. Syllabus

In August 2014, the Mexican State of Quintana Roo passed Legislation legalizing same-sex marriage effective August 2014. Marriage documents validly issued and executed by Mexico’s State of Quintana Roo Register of Deeds to same-sex couples for marriages taking place in August 2014 or later in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo are acceptable evidence of a name change.

2. Opinion

QUESTION PRESENTED

You requested a legal opinion regarding whether a marriage certificate issued by the Register of Deeds in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo to a same-sex couple is acceptable evidence to change the name of a replacement SSN card applicant.

SHORT ANSWER

Because it appears that the Mexican State of Quintana Roo permits same-sex marriages, the marriage certificate issued by the Register of Deeds should be accepted as evidence of the applicant’s name change for purposes of a replacement SSN card.

BACKGROUND

On August XX, 2017, the Civil Registry for Isla Mujeres in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico, issued a marriage certificate to N~ and J~. Based on this marriage certificate, J~ (applicant) has requested a replacement SSN card that will display her name as J~.

DISCUSSION

POMS RM 10212.050B provides that, for purposes of a name change, the agency should accept a foreign marriage document involving a same-sex couple if it is issued by a foreign government that permits same-sex marriages. Accordingly, we consulted the Law Library of Congress for guidance on whether Quintana Roo, Mexico, permits same-sex marriages.¹

The Civil Code of the Mexican State of Quintana Roo governs civil status registration and family law.² And, Article 680 of the Code, which provides a list of formal requirements for marriage, uses the term “person” and not “man and woman,” although many other articles dealing with family issues, such as parental authority (art. 944), separately-owned property (art. 756), alimony (art. 857), and filiation (arts. 868–917), refer to “father and mother” and “husband and wife” (or “husband and woman”).³ Article 680 also states that “persons” intending to marry must submit a letter to the officer of the Civil Registry before whom they celebrate the marriage, providing the information required by the article.⁴ This indicates that same-sex marriage is not inconsistent with the Civil Code of Quintana Roo.

Other evidence further indicates that same-sex marriage is permitted in Quintana Roo. For example, in November 2011 two same-sex couples married in the locality of Kantunilkin, in the Municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo.⁵ On April XX, 2012, the General Directorate of the Civil Registry annulled the marriages. Id. But, on April XX, 2012, the State Secretariat of Governance (Secretaría de Gobierno del Estado) revoked the annulment of these two marriages, and announced that the Secretariat recognized the legal validity of these and future marriages between persons of the same sex, “as there is no legal impediment.”⁶

In August 2014, another same-sex couple married at the Civil Registry of Tulum, Quintana Roo, pursuant to a judicial ruling issued by the Third Collegiate Court of the Twenty-Seventh Circuit.⁷ The Court annulled the previous refusal of the Civil Registry to celebrate the marriage.⁸ In addition, the Court ordered the Civil Registry of Quintana Roo to adapt the marriage formats of the Registry to make them compatible with registering the marriages of same-sex couples.⁹ The General Directorate of the Civil Registry (Dirección General del Registro Civil) of Quintana Roo complied with the Court’s order and made the appropriate modifications to the marriage format used in the Civil Registry.¹⁰

CONCLUSION

For the reasons discussed above, we conclude that the Mexican State of Quintana Roo permits same-sex marriages, and thus the marriage certificate issued by the Register of Deeds should be accepted as evidence of the applicant’s name change for purposes of a replacement SSN card. We further conclude that the beginning date for recognition of same-sex marriages is likely August 2014, the date that the Third Collegiate Court of the Twenty-Seventh Circuit ordered the Civil Registry of Quintana Roo to adapt the marriage formats of the Registry to make them compatible with registering the marriages of same-sex couples.

Kathryn Caldwell

Regional Chief Counsel, Region V

By Cristine Bautista

Senior Counsel

Footnotes:

[1]

^. See Norma C. Gutierrez, Letter to U.S. Social Security Administration Regarding Legality of Same-Sex Marriage in Quintana Roo, Mexico, LL File No. 2017-015380 (September 2017) (Law Library of Congress Letter).

[2]

^. Law Library of Congress Letter, at 1.

[3]

^. Id.

[4]

^. Id. (citing CÓDIGO CIVIL PARA EL ESTADO LIBRE Y SOBERANO DE QUINTANA ROO, PERIÓDICO OFICIAL DEL ESTADO, Oct. 8, 1980, http://documentos.congresoqroo.gob.mx/codigos/C1520170704073.pdf, archived at https://perma.cc/73B7-RYVY).

[5]

^. Law Library of Congress Letter, at 1.

[6]

^. Id. (citing Aplican Matrimonios Gay en Quintana Roo, INFORMADOR (June 5, 2012), http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2012/381075/6/aplican-matrimonios-gay-en-quintana-roo.htm, archived at https://perma.cc/7YFZ-W5GR; see also Adriana Varillas, Revocan Anulación de Bodas Gay en QRoo, EL UNIVERSAL (May 3, 2012), http://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/845171.html, archived at https://perma.cc/SG84-98YG).

[7]

^. Law Library of Congress Letter, at 1.

[8]

^. Id. (citing Primera Boda Gay in Tulum: Después de una Larga Batalla Legal, Hoy Contraerá Matrimonio Pareja Lésbica, NOTICARIBE (Aug. 12, 2014), http://noticaribe.com.mx/2014/08/12/primera-boda-gay-en-tulum-despues-de-una-larga-batalla-legal-hoy-contraera-matrimonio-pareja-lesbica, archived at https://perma.cc/4QDX-P98W).

[9]

^. Law Library of Congress Letter, at 2 (citing Matrimonio Entre Personas del Mismo Sexo. Tribunales Colegiados de Circuito [Marriage between People of the Same Sex. Collegiate Circuit Tribunales], GACETA DEL SEMANARIO JUDICIAL DE LA FEDERACIÓN, Libro 13, Diciembre de 2014, Tomo I, Tésis XXVII.3o.14C (10a.), at 833, available at https://sjf.scjn.gob.mx/sjfsist/Paginas/DetalleGeneralV2.aspx?%20Epoca=1e3e10000000000&Apendice=10000000000ff&Expresion=quintana%2520roo%2520matrimonio&Dominio=Rubro,Texto&TA_TJ=2&Orden=1&Clase=DetalleTesisBL&NumTE=5&Epp=20&Desde=-100&Hasta=-100&Index=0&InstanciasSeleccionadas=6,1,2,50,7&ID=2008173%20&Hit=2&IDs=2010037,2008173,2007819,183040,190194&tipoTesis=&Semanario=0&tabla=&Referencia=&Tema, archived at https://perma.cc/GQ7U-TM4D).

[10]

^. Law Library of Congress Letter, at 2.