If you have to leave the country because of a business trip or a family event, such as a wedding, it is important to understand how child support arrears could affect your ability to go overseas. If you have fallen behind on your child support obligations, the government could take away your passport privileges.
It is important to understand how passport denial due to unpaid child support works and review your options.
Passport denial and back child support
Information published by the Office of Child Support Services covers passport denial because of unpaid child support. According to their site, you could have your U.S. passport application denied if your child support arrears exceed $2,500. Once your arrears reach this amount, the state could inform the federal government and put your name on a list that prevents the government from processing your application.
Passport revocation because of child support
Not only could the government reject your passport application over child support, but they could take away your current passport if you owe arrears. In fact, the government revokes passports belonging to parents who owe more than $2,500 in back child support if they give it to a passport agent while trying to change their name, add more pages or repair a passport.
Whether you have to attend an important business meeting or want to enjoy a trip that you have planned for many years, make sure you address child support arrears as soon as you can in order to protect your passport privileges.
