Child Support Arrears and Passport Restrictions
Owing child support arrears may affect your ability to get a passport to travel abroad. The United States Department of State’s rules and regulations require that a passport application be denied if the applicant is in arrears on his or child support payments. Arrears in excess of $2,500.00 will result in the denial of a passport, and that threshold can drop to as low as $1 depending on the state in which the applicant resides.
The limit for New York residents is the federal limit of $2,500.00.
If your application is denied because of child support arrears, the only way to address this issue is to reduce the arrears to an acceptable level. Once that is accomplished, your state child support agency will notify the federal government (the Department of Health and Human Services). The State Department advises passport applicants that they will need approximately 5-10 business days from the date the arrears are reduced for your name to be removed from the list of person to be denied a passport.
