Passport Denial Legal Authority
Once a year, CSS sends a file listing all qualifying cases to the Office of Child Support Services, Financial Management Service, IRS and the Department of State (Passports). After the annual submission, additional cases are submitted automatically as they qualify for offset.
A passport can only be revoked or physically taken if the passport agency, US Embassy, US Consulate or Department of State (DoS) has the passport in hand, such as when the noncustodial parent (NCP) is renewing an existing passport or having pages added.
The federally mandated threshold is $2500. If an NCP has multiple cases, the combined principal and interest balances for all cases must be less than the threshold.
Qualifying Criteria for Passport Denial Referral
- The case is in 02, 06, 08, or 10 status.
- Past due principal and interest balance on all the NCP’s open cases exceeds $2500 at the time of the referral. If the total balance goes below the $2500 threshold the referral will not delete unless there is a zero balance.
Passport denial is automatic for NCPs that owe more than $2500 unless:
- Case information is incorrect
- Suitable arrangements are made on the case
States must provide notice to the NCP via the Pre-Offset Notice (PON) prior to submitting the case to the passport denial program. Currently, the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) issues the PON to the NCP upon initial certification of a case. NCPs have the right to contest the delinquency with the state that referred them to the passport denial program.
Only the submitting state can withdraw a NCP from the passport denial program. If a case has an intergovernmental component, the initiating state refers for passport denial, through the Federal Administrative Offset Program (which includes IRS referrals). If more than one state has certified the NCP for passport denial, all states that have referred for passport denial must withdraw the individual for them to obtain their passport.
There are Three Options for Passport Release:
- Option 1 – Total debt (principal and interest) is $0.00.
- Cases paid to zero result in automatic withdrawal of passport denial.
- Option 2 – The total debt is below $2500 and:
- The NCP has entered into a repayment agreement to retire the remaining debt owed within 36 months and
- The NCP provides CSS with a verified source of future income for which an Income Withholding Order (IWO) may be issued for payment of all current support and arrears
- Option 3 – A Director’s Exception is granted