US to start revoking passports for parents who owe child support

US begins passport revocation for parents owing child support, AP reports

The U.S. State Department is set to start revoking the passports of thousands of parents who owe past-due child support, beginning Friday, after the department told The Associated Press that the revocations will initially target parents with arrears of $100,000 or more. Officials said the department will rely on data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to identify eligible passport holders.

The State Department said those initial revocations would apply to about 2,700 U.S. passport holders, based on figures supplied to the State Department by HHS, according to the AP report. The department did not provide an estimate on Thursday for how many passport holders owe more than $2,500, though officials said it could involve many more thousands as HHS continued collecting data from state agencies that track child-support payments.

The expansion is tied to a 1996 law that sets the more general threshold at $2,500 in unpaid child support. The State Department said it will expand the revocation program first reported by AP in February so that the $2,500 threshold applies more broadly, rather than limiting penalties to parents applying to renew their passports. Under the expanded policy, HHS will inform the State Department of past-due payments above $2,500, and parents in that group with passports will have their documents revoked, the department said.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said the policy is meant to encourage repayment. “We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt,” Namdar said in the AP report. She added that “Once these parents resolve their debts, they can once again enjoy the privilege of a U.S. passport.”

The department also pointed to its experience with the program before the expansion, describing the approach as a “powerful tool” to obtain payments. It said that since it began “in earnest” in 1998, states had collected $657 million in arrears, including more than $156 million in over 24,000 individual lump-sum payments during the past five years, according to the AP report.

In addition, the State Department said it had “seen data that hundreds of parents took action and resolved their arrears with state authorities since news broke that the State Department would start proactively revoking passports.” While the department said it could not confirm causation in all cases, it said it was taking the action to impel parents to pay what they owe and comply with U.S. law, according to the AP report.

Under the program, passport holders whose documents are revoked will be notified that they cannot use their passports for travel. The department said they would then have to apply for a new passport once their arrears are confirmed as paid.

For those already abroad when the revocation takes effect, the State Department said they would need to visit a U.S. embassy or consulate to obtain an emergency travel document that allows them to return to the United States.