When an obligor who owes $2,500 or more applies for a passport, he or she is denied and advised to contact the state child support agency.
- A passport will not be issued until the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) certifies to the State Department that the obligor has repaid the debt or made appropriate arrangements to repay the debt.
- If Child Support Services (CSS) enters into an agreement with the obligor for repayment of the debt, CSS notifies OCSS that it withdraws its request for passport denial.
- If an agreement is entered and CSS withdraws its request for passport denial, and balances remain above the threshold, the next time the analyzer runs it will re-refer the passport denial to OCSS. The authorized staff should update the CSEAS screen to exclude passport denial on the NCP’s case(s) from the analyzer process.
Per OAC 340:25-5-214(d), CSS may request withdrawal of a noncustodial parent from the passport denial process if the noncustodial parent:
- Pays the entire child support debt; or
- Enters into a repayment agreement by:
- Paying the child support debt down to the $2,500 threshold amount; and
- Entering into a repayment agreement or order to retire the remaining child support debt in not more than 36 equal monthly payments; and
- Providing CSS with a verified source of future income for which an income assignment may be issued for payment of all current support and arrears.
Note: All three bulleted criteria above must be met in order to withdraw the passport denial. If an NCP has multiple cases, the combined principal and interest balances for all cases must be less than the threshold.
The local office is under no obligation to negotiate with the NCP to withdraw a passport denial. Each circumstance should be considered on a case-by-case basis and discussed with office management.
A passport may be released from the passport referral process at the discretion of the CSS Director. The district office may request a director’s exception under certain circumstances. See the article Passport Denial – Exceptions to Release Criteria for more information.
Legal Authority
OAC 340:25-5-214 provides CSS policy regarding passport denial and release.
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