Parents who owe more than $2,500 in child support should not expect to be able to get a passport and those with passports could even have their current passport revoked, according to a press release issued Thursday by the U.S. Department of State.
Child support refers to monetary payments made by non-custodial parents – that is, parents who are not their child’s primary caregiver – to support the parent that the child or children live with and ensure their wellbeing, per the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 4.1 million parents in the U.S. received child support in the form of cash payments as of 2021 and 2.7 million custodial parents received non-cash support in the form of groceries, clothes, diapers as well as reimbursements for medical expenses, child care and more. Average monthly child support payments were around $441, totaling $20.2 billion in cash support.
As of 2018, there were 12.9 million custodial parents nationwide and 80% were mothers.
“One in three kids – nearly 24 million kids total – lives with a single parent, mostly single moms. In fact, according to 2022 Census Bureau data, of the 10.9 million one-parent families with children under age 18, 80% were headed by a mother,” said the foundation. “This makes women the more frequent custodial parent and the majority of those who need child support.”
The foundation also noted that single parent families are more likely to live in poverty than married-parent households. In 2021, nearly 21% of custodial parents contacted the government for assistance, including contact with child support enforcement offices.
Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Office of Child Support Enforcement was given authority to initiate the Passport Denial Program. It’s been a successful enforcement tool, according to the OCSE.
According to the Thursday State Department press release, the department under President Donald Trump is “using commonsense tools to support American families and strengthen compliance with U.S. laws,” including passport denials for delinquent child support payments. It said the State Department can deny or revoke passports due to substantial amounts of missing payments of $2,500 or more.
“Child support agencies submit information on parents who meet the criteria for passport denial. OCSE forwards those parents’ names to the Department of State to reject their passport applications,” the OCSE explained. “The State Department will also revoke a current passport when the parent surrenders it to a passport agent or embassy representative for service, like to add pages, change a name, update a picture, or repair or reissue a damaged passport.”
Now, the Trump administration’s State Department is “coordinating with the Department of Health and Human Services on an unprecedented scale to revoke the passports of Americans who have racked up significant outstanding child support debt,” the press release said.
“This action supports the welfare of American children by exacting real consequences for child support delinquency under existing federal law,” it added.
Non-custodial parents who owe more than $2,500 in child support should arrange payment as fast as possible to prevent passport revocation, the State Department said. Revoked passports cannot be used to travel and eligibility for new passports will only be restored after child support debt is paid to the relevant state child support enforcement agency and HHS records show they are not delinquent.
