Child Support And American Passports – What Are The Legal Issues That May Come Up?
Nothing is more important to a parent than the safety and wellbeing of their child and this is one of the reasons the government has instituted regulations concerning the issuance of passports to children. While there is an added difficulty, this is also a benefit when you consider the number of children abducted by parents as well as the increased divorce rate amount parents of children. In the past, pasports have actually been used to create division between a parent and a child and in messy divorces, used as a threatening weapon. When a parent has neglected to pay court ordered child support and yet attempt to acquire a passport for their child, the process comes to a quick halt, thanks to new regulations.
In Section 51.70 (a) (8) of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, it completely outlines how a parent owing more than $2500 in child support is not able to receive a USA passport. So many parents in the United States struggle with getting child support payments, so it’s no surprise that this is the number one reason that keeps people from getting passports. This law is a dramatic stride towards enforcing child support payments.
In order to rectify this situation, a parent who owes child support needs to contact the local county probation agency in order to arrange for payment. The State Child Support Enforcement Agency then reports to the The US Department of Health and Human Services with proof that an acceptable form of payment has been made. The Department of Health and Human Services then removes the name of the parent from the list of overdue payments, and the Department of State then gets an updated list. Passport services must also receive this list from the Department of Health and Human Services. Passport Services must then validate and verify the fact that the parent’s name has been removed. Only after all of this has been completed can a passport application be processed for the parent.
Many other laws exist that aim to help enforce safety when it comes to children getting passports. One of these is the Two Parent Consent Law. This law, enacted in 2008, requires that both parents give their consent when applying for a passport. The Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program, or CPIAP, is another service established to protect children. This program lets the parents or guardians know that a passport has been filed for their child before the passport is actually issued. The Office of Children’s Issues charges itself with providing information to foreign countries and creates programs and policies in order to track down parents who have abducted their child.
These programs, policies, and laws combine to create a powerful tool of justice against parents who are negligent of their children. Hopefully, other areas of American life can follow suit and find ways to further crack down on parents who refuse to support their children. Also, the parent who supports her child can rest easy that the neglectful parent won’t be able to skip town in order to head to Cancun with his new girlfriend. Because the parent won’t be able to obtain a United States passport, he will be forced to pay the child support he has been ignoring, down to every cent.
To find out more about pass port eligibility requirements, visit USPassportNow.com.
