• The US will start revoking passports of parents owing $100,000 or more in child support.
• Approximately 2,700 passport holders are impacted initially.
• The policy will expand to include parents with unpaid support over $2,500.

The US State Department will initiate the revocation of passports belonging to thousands of parents who owe substantial amounts in unpaid child support, starting immediately. The department has indicated that this enforcement will initially target individuals with debts exceeding $100,000, which affects about 2,700 U.S. passport holders, as per data from the Department of Health and Human Services. This effort is part of a broader initiative to improve enforcement of a longstanding federal law, initially reported by the Associated Press in February, aimed at ensuring child support obligations are met, according to Le Monde, India Times, and Los Angeles Times.

Under the revised enforcement strategy, the State Department will also extend the criteria to include parents with more than $2,500 in unpaid child support, established by a 1996 federal law. While it is not yet clear how many passport holders fall into this additional category as data is still being collated, officials indicate that this could result in several thousand more individuals facing passport revocation, according to Le Monde and Los Angeles Times.

Previously, passport revocations were largely limited to those applying for renewals. Now, the Department of Health and Human Services will actively notify the State Department of individuals with overdue payments, who will then have their passports revoked until their debts are resolved. This proactive approach is intended to pressure parents to fulfill their child support obligations, as noted by Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar who stated, "We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective," according to India Times and Los Angeles Times.

This initiative is part of the longstanding Passport Denial Program, which has generated significant revenue for child support enforcement since its inception, collecting approximately $657 million in arrears since 1998. In recent years alone, the program reportedly recovered over $156 million through lump-sum payments, contributing to the reduction of child support debts nationwide. Those whose passports are revoked will be informed of their ineligibility for travel, with stipulations requiring them to clear their debts before reapplying for new passports, according to Le Monde, India Times, and Los Angeles Times.