GUWonder

Even after the 1996 law to deny/revoke passports of "seriously delinquent"-type debtors owing child support, people with greater than $2,500 in debt were still able to get passports for several months due to administrative procedure implementation requirements.

And I don't recall those issued passports from the last quarter of 1996 and early 1997 being generally revoked due to that provision in the 1996 welfare reform law unless and until the passports were brought in to the hands of State Department employees as part of seeking passport or other services from the State Department at some point after the US CFR was publicly updated.

Adult passports are generally valid for ten years. The IRS statute of limitations for collection after assessment is ten years unless fraud is involved. The IRS statute of limitations for assessment is also not greater than ten years when fraud is not involved.

There may still be an opportunity (if an OIC, installment plan, or tax court trial is less than ideal, if even possible) for people who may be subject to collection efforts (exceeding $50,000) to have a passport for nearly the entire ten year period if they act now to get a new passport. And getting a new passport is possible still even if your passport is several years from expiring.

Act now if you want to try protect your travel rights for the better part of the next ten years: apply for, or renew, a passport -- before the bureaucrats catch up with the new law.