The US Department of State announced last week it will begin to revoke the passports of Americans who have a significant outstanding child support debt.
“U.S. law requires Americans to comply with child support obligations in order to receive a U.S. passport and allows the Department of State to revoke the passport of an individual who owes more than $2,500 in child support,” said the State Department in a press release.
The State Department will initially target people who owe $100,000 or more
Officials said about 2,700 passport holders fall in that range and parents whose passports are taken away can’t get a new one until all the child support debt is paid.
Passports could be revoked while the passport holder is abroad, the State Department said. If that happens, the passport holder must visit a U.S. embassy or consulate for an emergency travel document that allows them to return to the United States.
“This action supports the welfare of American children by exacting real consequences for child support delinquency under existing federal law,” the State Department said in a statement.
Even before expanding the policy, the department said the program has been a “powerful tool” to get parents to pay what they owed. Since it began in earnest in 1998, states have collected some $657 million in arrears, including more than $156 million in over 24,000 individual lump-sum payments over the past five years.
