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v_scott
Community Member

Identity Verification When Transgender

Hi, I'm a transgender freelancer who would like to verify that I live in the US, but I don't want to use my legal name for obvious reasons and would rather use my preferred name. Is there any way I could get verified while still using my preferred name? Thanks.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi Alex,

 

There most certainly is! Upwork will make exceptions for transgender individuals who are in the process of transitioning but have not been able to obtain a name change due to legal or other barriers. Documentation may be required and so, it would be best if you reach out directly to our support team so they can assist you within a private and secure channel of communication. 

 

How do I reach a human in customer support?

 

  1. Please visit Contact Support and click the ‘Chat with Upwork' button.
  2. Type a question or topic and select ‘Send’. The bot will find relevant Help articles for you.
  3. The chatbot will ask you to confirm if you need additional help. If you confirm that you need additional help, you will be asked to confirm the account type you need help with.
  4. From there, the support options available to you will be listed. Select either of the options to be able to contact the Upwork Support Team.

 

~Andrea
Upwork

View solution in original post

192 REPLIES 192

Hello! My name is Brandi, I am  a trans woman and need to get my ID verified. But my license does not match my chosen name. Is there anyway I can work around this? Any help is appreciated! thank you.

Hello! My name is Brandi,

 

I just joined Upwork and went through the entire process. I just got to the point of needing to verify myelf with a government official ID. I came out as a transwoman a few months ago and didn't realize the name needed to be the same on the ID. Now I am stuck and cant move forward with the process because using my legal name doesn't feel right.

 

Any help would be greately appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Brandi

Hi Brandi,

 

I have checked your account and looks like it doesn't need further verification just yet. Please note that you will not be able to initiate the identity verification yourself and it cannot be requested. If the team finds the need for you to do it, you will receive an email detailing the instructions on how to complete your verification. 

 

You may want to check this help article for more information. 

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
e938c1c6
Community Member

So I tried sending out a proposal to a potential job, a pop up came up that
said I needed to verify my ID. So I went through the steps and uploaded the
ID, but because the name on my ID doesn't match my chosen name, it popped
up a screen that says: We had some trouble verifying your ID

The name on your ID doesn’t match the name on your Upwork account. Go back
and edit the name on your account so it matches your ID.
So I cannot move forward without using my legal name. But that would be
problematic. Any help is appreciated!

Brandi

Hi brandi,

 

Thank you for your confirmation and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of having this error. I have shared your report to the appropriate team and one of the members will be assisting you further via a support ticket. You can access your tickets and coordinate with the team here.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
maximchr
Community Member

Since this seems to be the right place to ask: Could I receive a corresponding ticket as well?
I'm still on here with my dead name and such; it would be great if I could change it!

Thanks in advance!

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi there!

I hope it was okay that I didn't use your dead name. Robot Happy I went ahead and shared your account information with the Customer Support Team so that they can assist you with changing your name on your Upwork account. 


~ Avery
Upwork
j_edward
Community Member

Hi, I have the same question. I'm non-binary and haven't used my dead name in years. I've actually avoided using Upwork because I see my legal name every time. I just tried to change my name earlier, and it's under review. I'm really glad I found this thread and am pleased to see the response.

 

The name that's visible now is my dead name.

Hi there,

 

Thank you for letting us look into this. We have escalated your concern to the appropriate team. Our representatives will reach out to you shortly. Let us know if you need anything else.

~ Riri

I'm transgender and need my dead name to not appear on my profile page. Any assitance would be great. Thank you.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi there!

I have shared your account information with the Customer Support Team, and they will reach out to you to assist you further.


~ Avery
Upwork
j_edward
Community Member

It's worth saying that the support I received for this was astounding. I ran into a new issue. After verifying my ID, I'm now being asked to verify my location. When I initiate the process, it needs my name as it appears on my ID. It also says that doing so will update how my name appears on my profile. I don't want to have to go through this all over again. Am I safe to just verify my location or will I need support to do so?

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Jo,

 

We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via support ticket to assist you with your verification process.

 

Thank you for your patience. 

 

~ Bojan
Upwork
j_edward
Community Member

Hi Bojan,

 

I verified my location, but my deadname is on my account again. I think my customer support agent may have misunderstood what I wanted to do and suggested I try changing my name through the account settings. That's how I wound up here in the first place. So now I need help changing back to my use-name. I'm not angry about it, just a little turned around. I'd just like to get to work as soon as possible.

isobel-m-jones
Community Member

Hello, same issue here.

 

Would really appreciate having a ticket so someone can address this for me.

 

Many thanks..

Thank you for reaching out to us, Isobel.

 

One of our team members will reach out to you directly via support ticket and gladly assist you with your request.

~ Bojan
Upwork
j_edward
Community Member

Forgot to follow up. Upwork support helped me fully resolve this issue. I'm very grateful. 

epohlooskie
Community Member

Could a  moderator reach out to me for a similar issue? I want my preferred name to be displayed, but my bank account was declined because it's still under my legal name.

 

Thanks

Hi Hope,

 

I've shared your concern with the team and one of our team members will reach out and assist you directly via support ticket. Thank you!

~ Joanne
Upwork
kyjharrison
Community Member

Hello, how do I open a ticket to request a manual name review?

 

I am transgender, but have not been able to afford a legal name change yet. 

Hi Ky, 


I'll go ahead and share your account information with the Customer Support Team so that they can assist you with your concern. 


~ Avery
Upwork

Hello! Could someone please also help me to verify my identity as a transgender person who goes my a different name than that on my bank account. Thank you so much. 

Thank you for reaching out to us, Charlie.

 

One of our team members will reach out to you directly via support ticket to assist you with your request. 

~ Bojan
Upwork

I contacted support about my status as a transgender freelancer and was told via email:

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

The wesbite article however says:

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

 

Can anyone help me with this? 

 

 

 

Hi Charlie,

 

I apologize for the inconvenience this caused. I'll go ahead and follow up with the team handling your case and you can expect one of our agents to reach out to you directly via support ticket as soon as possible.

 

Thank you for your patience.

~ Bojan
Upwork
milo_o
Community Member

Hello. I'm transgender. Changing my legal name is a long, complicated, and expensive process. I use the name "Milo" on all personal and professional communications, and the only people who know the name "Mary" are my medical providers and...Upwork clients. I've been trying for months to get my name changed to Milo. I see that you've helped other transgender freelancers with this issue (https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Identity-Verification-When-Transgender/td-p/505526/page/...) but everyone I've spoken to so far has been unwilling to help. Can someone please help me get my name changed on Upwork?

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Mary,

 

We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with your request. 

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
misswatts
Community Member

Hi. I just linked my bank account information with Upwork to get paid for my future jobs. I'm a transgender and I have a name mismatch as the name appears on my bank account is different with my preferred name. I'm aware I have to contact a support to request for a manual name review but I can't figure out how. Please help. Thank you.

Hi Erin,

 

Thanks for reaching out to us. I shared your concern with the rest of our team and one of our agents already reached out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

Hi there,

I have the same concern. May I request assistance as well?
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Sev, 


I've shared your concern with the Customer Support Team and they will reach out to you to assist you further. 


~ Avery
Upwork
rrshepard
Community Member

Hi there--

 

I used upwork a couple of years back and am just returning now. In the interim I have udnergone a gender transition and would like to update my new legal name, email, and gender marker accordingly. I'm wondering what the best way to go about this is?

 

Thanks!

Finn

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi  Rebecca,

 

You can edit your account information anytime in your Settings> Contact Info. We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with your request.

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
e88e51e0
Community Member

Hi there everyone,

So after attempting to connect my payment methods I realized that since my given name does not match the name on my bank account, I've researched what I can do to amend this.

The community rules state if you are transgender this problem can be dealt with manually by contacting the support desk or help center. The community chat bot confirmed this. However everytime I try to open a link or find said help desk, I end up at the community page.

Does anyone know where I can make a request to have this amended? Thank you in advance!

hoping to fix this as soon as I am able.
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Flyn,

 

I apologize for the inconvenience this caused! It looks like you have an open ticket with our support team about this concern. I’ll go ahead and follow up with the team handling your case and you can expect to receive an update on your ticket as soon as possible. 

 

Thank you for your patience.

~ Bojan
Upwork

Hi. I'm a 3D Artist from Brazil and I want to take my first job here. However, I've seen that video verification is mandatory. I'm transgender and I haven't yet started my transition and it would be hard for me to verify via video because of my gender dysphoria. Is there some other way I can verify my identity? I can provide my government-issued ID's no problem. Regards,Amanda

Hi Amanda,

 

We’ll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with your verification process.

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
warrior2
Community Member

Hello!
So, long story short, I'm transgender, and my ID has a different name than the one I have registered here. I am on the way of changing my legal name right now, but in order to get paid I know I have to upload my ID and link my PayPal account, and both have my ID name.
Is there any issue with this? I read about it somewhere the first day I logged in, but I can't seem to find that info again. Any help would be much appreciated, I already got paid for one job and I have to upload my info soon.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thank you for reaching out to us, Samuel.

 

One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you with your request. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
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