HIBAPRESS – Agencies
The U.S. State Department is considering expanding its measures against citizens who are delinquent in child support payments, including canceling passports for certain categories of them, in a step based on a federal law in place since the nineties of the last century.
The Associated Press quoted a U.S. official as saying that people whose unpaid debts exceed $100,000 may be among the first to be targeted by the measure, noting that enrolling in regular payment plans may allow them to avoid passport cancellation. Other officials stated that the administration intends to activate the powers granted by the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" issued in 1996. This law grants the authorities the right to implement a "passport denial" program, which allows the refusal to issue or renew a passport for people whose arrears exceed $2,500. Previously, the implementation of this measure was often limited to renewal stages or when requesting consular services, but the new approach is based on directly searching for those in arrears and taking measures against them. The State Department confirmed that it is reviewing options for implementing the law with the aim of preventing those who owe large sums from evading their legal obligations towards their children, while no additional immediate comments were issued regarding the details of the step or its timeline.
