The U.S. State Department will begin revoking passports for Americans with unpaid child support starting Friday, May 8, according to the AP and a press release from the State Department.
The first wave targets approximately 2,700 passport holders who owe $100,000 or more, based on figures the Department of Health and Human Services supplied to the State Department. The program will then expand to cover anyone owing more than $2,500, a threshold that was set by a 1996 law that had, for the most part, gone unenforced.
Until this week, only parents who applied to renew their passports were subject to the child support penalty. Under the new policy, HHS will flag all past-due balances above $2,500 to the State Department, and any passport holder in that group will have their document revoked. HHS is still collecting data from state agencies to determine how many people fall into the broader $2,500 category, but the number could balloon.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar framed the move as an enforcement of existing obligations. "We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt," Namdar said. "Once these parents resolve their debts, they can once again enjoy the privilege of a U.S. passport."
Parents whose passports are revoked will be notified that their documents are no longer valid for travel and must apply for a new passport once their arrears are confirmed as paid. Anyone abroad at the time of revocation will need to visit a U.S. embassy or consulate for an emergency travel document to return home. Since the passport denial program began in earnest in 1998, per AP, states have collected roughly $657 million in arrears.
