Can you get a passport if you owe child support?

When applying for a passport, you have to submit some identification documents like a recent passport or proof of identification(birth certificate), The State Department uses the information on the documents to check if have any court orders or other reasons for which you should not get a passport, The department also works with child support enforcement agencies to check if you have pending child support.

Your passport will be rejected if you owe more 2,500$ in child support, even if you are a U.S citizen you will not be able to get a passport if the child support arrears beyond the threshold amount (the threshold of child support has been reduced in the past and could be reduced again ) . But can you renew your passport when you owe child support? If you have been holding on to child support payments, the relevant child support enforcement agency can send your name to the state department, then you cannot renew or get a new passport until you clear the payments.

How to find out if you are on the passport denial list

To check if you are on the passport denial list or not, you can call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.

Before the passport application is denied, a notice is mailed to the parent who owes child support explaining the passport denial and the parent will have 30 days to :

• Pay the due amount for combined cases which is 2,500$ or less.
• Prove that the amount was less than 2,500$ at the time when the Department of State issued the notice.
• Contact the child support enforcement agency to solve the issue.

If the parent owes more than 2,500$ but has to travel outside of the U.S for the below reasons contact the child support agency as soon as possible :

• Medical emergency or death of a close relative.
• Job-related travel.
• Court order.
• Active duty on military member.