The US government will start revoking passports from parents who owe large amounts of unpaid child support, opening a new front in a long-running effort to collect overdue payments.

The State Department told the Associated Press that revocations begin Friday and will first hit passport holders who owe $100,000 or more. Figures supplied by the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that about 2,700 Americans fall into that category. Officials plan to widen the crackdown later to include people who owe $2,500 or more, sharply expanding the number of parents at risk.

The first round targets the most serious child support debts, but the policy will soon reach far deeper into the pool of delinquent parents.

Key Facts

  • Passport revocations start Friday, according to the State Department.
  • The initial threshold applies to parents who owe $100,000 or more in unpaid child support.
  • About 2,700 passport holders fall into that first group, based on HHS figures.
  • Officials say the policy will later expand to debts of $2,500 or more.

The move raises the stakes for parents who already face penalties tied to delinquent child support, and it signals a harder edge from federal agencies that control international travel documents. Reports indicate the policy will begin with the most extreme cases before moving to a much broader population, potentially affecting travel plans, work obligations, and family arrangements for many people with unpaid balances.

The action also underscores how closely the State Department and Health and Human Services coordinate on enforcement. HHS provides the debt figures, while the State Department controls the passport consequences. That interagency approach gives the government a powerful tool: it does not just pursue payment through courts and wage actions, it can also restrict a person’s ability to travel abroad.

What happens next matters well beyond the first 2,700 cases. As the threshold drops from $100,000 to $2,500, far more parents could face passport loss or disruption. That expansion will test how aggressively the government applies the policy and how quickly affected parents try to resolve their debts before travel restrictions hit.