Per federal law, 22 CFR 52.70(a)(8), passports are denied and/or revoked for any individual who is more than $2500 in arrears in their child support obligation.
The noncustodial parent is notified in the IRS pre-offset notice that the Department of State (DOS) through the federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) will deny issuance or renewal of their passport when their child support debt reaches $2500.
Once the threshold of $2500 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.