Why is my passport being denied or revoked?

Per federal law, 22 CFR 52.70(a)(8), passports are denied and/or revoked for any individual who is more than $2,500 in arrears in their child support obligation.

The noncustodial parent is notified in the IRS pre-offset notice that the Department of State through the federal Office of Child Support Services will deny issuance or renewal of their passport when their child support debt reaches $2,500 .

Once the threshold of $2,500 has been reached, the denial/revocation will remain in place until the debt is paid in full or is exempted by DCS. NOTE: Effective October 1, 2006 the threshold for passport denial/revocation will be lowered to $2500.

Despite recent record improvements in paternity establishment and child support collections, much more needs to be done to ensure that all children born out-of-wedlock have paternity established and that all non-custodial parents provide financial support for their children. Currently, only about one-half of the custodial parents due child support receive full payment. About twenty-five percent receive partial payment and twenty-five percent receive nothing.

In an effort to strengthen and improve state child support enforcement activities, several federal laws were passed, including a national new-hire reporting system. These laws required states to pass uniform interstate child support laws, automate enforcement actions, and provide for tougher noncompliance penalties, such as driver's license revocation.