U.S. State Department Begins Revoking Passports For Parents Owing Child Support Over $100,000

The U.S. Department of State will begin revoking American passports for parents with child support arrears on Friday, starting with those who owe $100,000 or more.

“The United States will revoke passports for parents with child support arrears”

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The State Department said the first group would include about 2,700 U.S. passport holders, based on figures provided by the Department of Health and Human Services.

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The revocations mark a shift from a system that previously applied mainly to renewing documents, because the State Department will be able to revoke passports already issued based on information shared by state and federal agencies.

The policy is part of the Passport Denial Program, a federal mechanism for enforcing child support, and it will later expand to parents who owe more than $2,500, the threshold set by a 1996 federal law.

Under the new enforcement phase, the State Department will focus first on parents with delinquent payments of $100,000 or more, and it said that would affect about 2,700 American passport holders.

The program is then expected to expand to parents who owe more than $2,500 in overdue child support, and as of Thursday it was not clear how many passport holders would fall into that category because the HHS was still collecting data from state agencies.

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The State Department said that HHS will inform it of all overdue payments above $2,500, and parents in that group who have a passport will see their documents revoked.

Mora Namdar, Under Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, said the department is expanding a common-sense approach that has proven effective in getting those who owe child support to pay their debts.

The State Department said people whose passports are revoked will be notified that they cannot use those documents to travel and must apply for a new passport once the debt is paid.

For passport holders who are abroad at the time of revocation, the State Department said they should go to a U.S. embassy or consulate to obtain an emergency travel document that will allow them to return to the country.

The policy also relies on reporting from state agencies, because the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services can report noncustodial parents with arrears over $2,500 so that the State Department denies passport services.

The State Department told AP that since February, when the intention to expand the program became known, hundreds of parents took steps to resolve their arrears with state authorities, and it said the measure aims to incentivize compliance with family obligations.