If you owe $2,500 or more in past-due child support, you cannot get a U.S. passport. Federal law requires the State Department to deny your application once your state child support agency reports your arrears to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the same law lets the government revoke or restrict a passport you already hold.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 652 – Duties of Secretary Below that $2,500 line, a passport is not blocked on child support grounds. At or above it, you’re stuck until your state agency clears you.
The $2,500 Threshold and What Triggers It
The Passport Denial Program runs under 42 U.S.C. § 652(k). When your state child support agency certifies that you owe more than $2,500 in arrears, the Office of Child Support Services at HHS forwards your name to the State Department, which must then refuse to issue you a passport and may revoke, restrict, or limit one you already have.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 652 – Duties of Secretary
States track your payment history through automated systems and submit your case to OCSS when arrears hit that mark.2Administration for Children & Families. How Does the Passport Denial Program Work? Once OCSS has your file, the referral to the State Department is automatic unless the state specifically requests an exclusion. The threshold is a combined figure — arrears owed to the custodial parent and arrears owed to the state (for periods when the custodial parent received public assistance) both count toward it.
You Get a Warning First
Before denial takes effect, you receive a Pre-Offset Notice. It states the amount you owe, lists the enforcement actions the government can use, and explains how to contest the figure.3Administration for Children & Families. Passport Denial Program 101
This notice matters far more than it looks. It arrives with other child support correspondence and is easy to skim past, but it’s your best opportunity to fix a wrong number, flag mistaken identity, or document payments that weren’t credited. Challenging the arrears after your name has already been certified to the State Department is significantly harder than catching the problem here.
Paying Below $2,500 Does Not Restore Eligibility
This part surprises people. Bringing your balance under $2,500 does not automatically remove you from the denial list. According to HHS, you stay on the list until one of three things happens: the state that submitted your case specifically requests your removal, your support debt is reduced to zero, or the case is deleted entirely.2Administration for Children & Families. How Does the Passport Denial Program Work?
So partial payment alone won’t get you a passport. You need the state child support agency to act. After the agency notifies HHS, HHS removes your name, and the State Department verifies the removal before processing your application. The chain of notifications typically takes two to three weeks.4U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport
How to Regain Passport Eligibility
Several paths can move you off the denial list. Which one fits depends on how much you owe and whether the amount itself is accurate.
Pay the Full Balance
The cleanest route is paying your arrears in full. Your state child support enforcement agency then notifies HHS, HHS removes your name, and the State Department clears the block. Build in at least two to three weeks for the notifications to complete before you apply.4U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport The State Department does not have access to your payment records, so questions about status go to your state agency, not to State.
Negotiate a Payment Plan
If a lump-sum payoff isn’t realistic, contact your state child support enforcement agency about installments. Some states will also work with you on reduced penalties or interest as part of the arrangement. A payment plan on its own doesn’t automatically restore passport eligibility, though. The state still has to request your removal from the denial list, and each state handles that decision differently.
Ask the Court to Modify Your Support Order
If you’ve lost your job, become disabled, or seen a substantial drop in income, you can petition the court to modify your ongoing child support obligation. A modification won’t erase existing arrears, but it can stop new arrears from piling on. File quickly. Courts generally will not reduce support retroactively before the date you filed the modification request, so every month you wait is another month accruing at the old amount.
Ask About a Compromise of Arrears
Some states run programs that let you settle arrears for less than the full amount. These typically apply only to debt owed to the government — arrears that built up while the custodial parent received public assistance. Debt owed directly to the other parent usually cannot be reduced this way. Eligibility varies by state; your local child support agency can tell you what exists in your jurisdiction.
Contest the Arrears Amount
If the reported figure is wrong, challenge it. The Pre-Offset Notice includes instructions for doing so.3Administration for Children & Families. Passport Denial Program 101 Submit the challenge in writing with documentation of any payments made. The sooner you respond, the more time your state agency has to correct the record before the denial locks in.
If You Have Travel Coming Up
Don’t cut it close. The removal chain — state agency to HHS to State Department — runs about two to three weeks under normal conditions, and that’s before standard passport processing time.4U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport After you pay, call your state agency to confirm they actually sent the notification. That single confirmation call is often what separates people who make their trip from people who don’t.
What Happens If You’re Already Abroad
The statute lets the State Department revoke or restrict an existing passport, not just refuse new ones. Historically the government rarely used that power on its own initiative and mostly acted when someone applied for a renewal or came in for consular services. That’s shifting. In 2025, the State Department announced it would begin actively revoking passports based on data shared by HHS, starting with people who owe more than $100,000 in past-due support.
If your passport is revoked while you’re overseas, federal regulations allow the State Department to issue a limited passport valid only for direct return to the United States.5eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 – Denial and Restriction of Passports You won’t be stranded, but you won’t be able to continue traveling either. The child support rules include no humanitarian or emergency exception; the direct-return passport is the only carve-out.
Interest Keeps the Balance Moving
Roughly two-thirds of states charge interest on unpaid child support, with rates commonly between 4 and 12 percent annually. A few states tie the rate to market benchmarks. If your partial payments don’t cover the accruing interest, your balance can grow even as you pay. That’s why acting early matters: the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to get below the $2,500 line — and until you’re off the denial list, no passport is coming.