What Felonies Disqualify You From Getting a Passport?

Most felony convictions will not stop you from getting a U.S. passport. The only felony category that carries a mandatory, automatic bar is international drug trafficking. Beyond that, what disqualifies you from getting a passport is usually a current legal status, such as an outstanding felony warrant or a court order restricting travel, rather than a past conviction on your record. Sex offenses against minors are handled differently: you can still get a passport, but it will carry a printed identifier.

The One Felony That Triggers an Automatic Bar

Federal law blocks the State Department from issuing a passport to anyone convicted of a federal or state felony drug offense if the person used a passport or crossed an international border while committing that crime.¹ Both pieces have to be present. A domestic drug felony with no international element does not trigger this bar.

The disqualification runs only as long as you are imprisoned or on parole or supervised release for that specific offense. Once the sentence is fully completed, the bar lifts.¹ The Secretary of State has narrow authority to issue a passport during this period for emergency or humanitarian reasons, but that exception is rarely used.

Outstanding Warrants and Court-Ordered Travel Restrictions

Your current legal status matters more than your conviction history. The State Department may refuse to issue a passport if you have an outstanding federal, state, or local felony arrest warrant, including a warrant issued under the Federal Fugitive Felon Act.² If law enforcement is actively looking for you on a felony, expect a denial.

A court order forbidding you from leaving the United States, or a condition of probation or parole that prohibits departure, is separate grounds for refusal.² Read the qualifier carefully. Being on probation or parole does not by itself disqualify you. The rule targets people whose specific release conditions forbid them from leaving the country. If your probation officer and the court have not restricted your travel, this provision does not apply. Many people on supervised release assume they cannot even apply, and that assumption is wrong.

Other current legal statuses that can block a passport under the same regulation include a federal felony subpoena, a pending extradition request, a military restraining order, or a civil commitment to a mental institution.² These are discretionary. The State Department “may refuse,” not “must refuse.” They also end when the underlying legal issue is resolved.

Sex Offenses Against Minors

A conviction for a sex offense against a minor does not result in an outright denial, but it changes what passport you can get. Under International Megan’s Law, anyone classified as a “covered sex offender” — someone convicted of a sex offense against a person under 18 — must carry a passport book bearing a printed endorsement identifying them.³ The endorsement reads: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 USC 212b(c)(1).”⁴

The State Department cannot issue a passport to a covered sex offender without the endorsement. It also cannot issue passport cards to covered sex offenders at all, only full passport books carrying the identifier. The Department of Homeland Security’s Angel Watch Center determines who qualifies and notifies the State Department.⁴ If you already hold a passport without the endorsement and should have one, the State Department can revoke it.

National Security and Foreign Policy Grounds

The Secretary of State has broad discretionary authority to deny a passport when the applicant’s activities abroad are causing, or are likely to cause, serious damage to national security or U.S. foreign policy.² This is not tied to any specific felony. It functions as a catch-all that could apply to convictions for espionage, treason, or terrorism-related offenses, but it requires a forward-looking judgment that the person’s future travel would harm U.S. interests. It is rarely invoked based on a criminal record alone.

Felonies That Do Not Disqualify You

Everything outside the categories above is, in practice, not a passport disqualifier. A completed sentence for a domestic drug offense, a violent felony, theft, fraud, DUI, or almost any other crime does not by itself block issuance once you are off supervision and free of any active warrant or court-ordered travel restriction. The passport rules focus on a narrow set of statutory bars and on your current legal status, not on the broader question of whether you have a felony record.

One boundary worth flagging: some non-felony holds can still block a passport. Unpaid child support of $2,500 or more, a “seriously delinquent” federal tax debt certified by the IRS, and unpaid emergency repatriation loans from the State Department each trigger denials that have nothing to do with a criminal conviction.⁵⁶² If you have a felony record and a passport is denied, the reason may not be the felony at all.

What the Application Asks and What Gets Checked

The standard passport application, form DS-11, does not ask whether you have ever been convicted of a felony. It does contain a declaration in which you affirm that you are not currently required to register as a sex offender for a sex offense against a minor, that you have not been convicted of a federal or state drug offense or a sex tourism crime, and that you are not subject to an outstanding felony arrest warrant or a court order forbidding your departure.⁷ If any of those conditions apply, you must attach an explanatory statement under oath.

The State Department runs background checks on every applicant regardless of what the declaration says. A primary tool is the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, which gives law enforcement access to more than 50 million criminal justice records.⁸ Answering falsely on the declaration will not get you a passport. It can add a fraud exposure to whatever problem you started with.

If Your Passport Is Denied

You have the right to request a formal hearing. The request must be in writing and must reach the State Department within 60 days of when you received the denial notice. Miss that deadline and the denial becomes final with no further review.⁹

If you file on time, the Department makes reasonable efforts to schedule the hearing within 90 days. You will receive the date, time, location, and copies of the evidence used against you in advance. You or your attorney can request one continuance of up to 90 additional days, but the request must arrive at least five business days before the scheduled hearing.⁹

A hearing is the right path when the denial rests on a discretionary ground you want to contest. If the denial is based on an outstanding warrant, a travel-restricting court order, or an active drug trafficking sentence, the fix is resolving the underlying legal issue, not the hearing itself.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 2714 – Denial of Passports to Certain Convicted Drug Traffickers
2
eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 – Denial and Restriction of Passports
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 212b – Unique Passport Identifiers for Covered Sex Offenders
4
U.S. Department of State. Passports and International Megan’s Law
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 652 – Duties of Secretary
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7345 – Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies
7
Department of State. DS-11 Application for Passport
8
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Passport Information Sharing with the Department of State
9
eCFR. 22 CFR 51.70 – Request for Hearing to Review Certain Denials and Revocations