Passport Help

I called the Senator's office and they are on the phone with the passport office now. fingers crossed. and thanks for listening!!

@victoria...yes...and the thing that really stinks is no tranfers...meaning I could not fill G's seat with a friend who has their passport.

I called the Senator's office and they are on the phone with the passport office now. fingers crossed. and thanks for listening!!

We have been calling everyday several times a day...have called the State Department...have called our congressman's office. Nobody is helping. They told us it would be 10 days when we started the end of February and now nobody at the passport office will do anything to help us. I have our itinerary to prove we are leaving on Thursday--God willing...Do you know anyone that can HELP us.

What kind of "release" was sent to the passpport office on March 6? Who sent it? Maybe you need an order from the court that ordered the child support in the first place. Maybe they need some kind of assurance that he won't get behind on the payments again.

The release was sent from Dept of Revenue in Tallahassee stating that his passport should be released. We had another release form sent from Washington DC this week. They say it is there but needs to be processed. And nobody can say when it will process...they told us 24 hours day before yesterday and still nothing.

Debbie, this is tough, but a few things here. I can't speak to the passport issue itself, not being American I have no idea who what or where to go to get this moving, so will just address some other ideas/options. First ,, look at your airline tickets, are they refundable, even if you lose out 100-200 bucks it may be better then nothing, or , if not refundable, some airlines will allow a date change, move the dates. There is often a fee for that, but as opposed to loosing everything this is preferable. Another option, can name on his ticket be changed, you could bring a friend,, even if they pay you a reduced amount, anything is better then losing everything. Next , contact your hotel, I always book hotels with good cancellation policies,, if you are lucky you can cancel with little or no fee usually up to 48 hrs ahead. Check! Lastly, do not discount going by yourself,, I sure would( and have). Why lose the whole investment. Paris is a wonderful city for a solo woman traveller, many here will attest to this, and I love my solo visits, sure its fun to go with someone, but going solo has certain advantages. Lastly, and you won't like this free advice, but bf needs to pay his child support regularily till kid is 18 ( or in some cases 21). If he is just forgetful, remind him, because it will affect your life with him,, and if you marry you take on your partners debts(in most cases) so... and if he didn't pay for other reasons,, then good luck( go to paris alone and find another guy, lol ( just kidding)

Thanks..
no refunds/no cxl/no transfers! BF does pay his support--he got behind years ago when he was laid off and has been paying on the arearage in addition to the monthly payment. But it does not matter you can not get a passport if you have child support in arrears. So, even if you are making monthly payments it does not matter. I don't mind going alone...but we have been planning this trip together for a long time.

I paid the arrearage so he could go. That makes him not being able to go even worse.

Well, it looks like you have done all you can do if the correct papers have been sent and just need time to be processed. That must be terribly frustrating and you feel helpless. You might keep calling, once you determine which office actually has the power to move this along. You might get lucky and get a sympathetic clerk who will find it and move it along. It might be better if BF calls instead of you since its his passport. You might also ask if there is a way you can pick it up at the office (on Monday maybe?) or pay for overnight express shipment.

Ugh,, no chance then for changes either, that sucks,, just curious , did you book a package with air and hotel? They can be really inflexible. Hope it comes through last minute!

Please post here to let us know what happens. Just curious. :-)

I have messages in to my Senators now.

Any word yet?

I have faxed the receipts to both the Senator and Govenor. Fingers and toes!!!

Fingers and toes crossed for you Debbie... I would hate to have to do the trip without my guy too.....hold good thoughts that it will work out as it is supposed too...keep us posted..

Here's hoping it works out. But if worst comes to worst and it coes not, even "nonrefundable" tickets can usually be changed to another date, with a change fee. It may be a fairly steep fee, but you won't lose what you've alreadly paid. After all, emergencies come up and they must have a policy for dealing with it. But I have a feeling it's going to turn out oK for you.

We got such a good deal on this package that there are NO changes allowed. We knew that walking into the deal. I do think they should have signs where you fill out passport applications with the IF YOU fill in the blank>>> NO PASSPORT FOR YOU... LOL!!!

You mean there's a question on the form where they ask about child support payments? I don't remember anything like that. I imagine they do a background check for warrants, criminal record, and court orders before they issue a passport. Did the court that ordered the support say he could not leave the country? It does seem odd that the passport agency would get involved in this.

The state flags it. There is NOT a question on the form. There should be. I never saw anything about it when I filled out the applications. Had I I would have done things differently.

You can NOT get a passport if you have past due child support even if you are on a payment plan to pay it off.

OK, here it is on the State Department website. It has to be more than $2500: http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/family/family_863.html This is good for people to know.

not in the state of Florida...You can have a balance of $10.00 and they will flag the passport not to continue processing. Trust me I asked all of the questions at the Dept of Revenue. I saw the same thing. Every state is different. If you or someone you know has an issue with their support call the Dept of Rev in the state and ask DO NOT TRUST WHAT THE PEOPLE AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE TELL YOU...This week we have talked to numerous people with the same questions and got different answers...that is when they would say more than it is processing or the flag is not removed we can not do anything. When I check the status of MY passport on their website it says it is processing. It is on my dining room table.

More updates Monday. Thanks for all the support...I really appreciate it. Deb :)

I feel your frustration with the passport employees, in general. I was not born in the US, but have had US citizenship, by derivation, since the day I was born. I had to get a copy of my citizenship papers before I could apply for my passport. It took 18 months to get that copy. I applied in Charleston, they processed the app someplace in California, instead of sending it to the Detroit office which was my point-of-entry.
The Cali office kept blaming Detroit for not transferring the records - why not just transfer the application??? I missed the planned trip and it took intervention from Sen Strom Thurmond to get it resolved. Our tax dollars at work. Keep the faith - I have fingers crossed for you.

Well if you look at that website, it isn't just the passport office that is involved. There are several different agencies, starting with the State of Florida's department of support enforcement. Once the amount is paid, they notify US Health and Human Services, who maintains a list of people with past-due support issues. If the state reports the amount has been paid, HHS takes your name off the list and reports that to the State Department. The State Department then has to get back to HHS to verify that. Who know what procedures they have for the employees who are doing all this, and how much work is piled up for them. If you want to talk about tax dollars, how good a use of that is it to have a Senator and his staff spending an afternoon working on tracking down a passport for someone who did not figure out what they needed to do ahead of time? Ii don't mean to sound unsympathetic because I'm not. I'm sorry this is happening to Debbie. . But this problem was avoidable. Someone who owe back child supprt should be aware of the consequences. I imagine that Florida has a rule like this to keep people from spending money they should be using to pay their child support on vacations instead.

'I imagine that Florida has a rule like this to keep people from spending money they should be using to pay their child support on vacations instead.' Nope, Florida can't control how you spend money - - how about a big domestic vacation or buying a Hummer? It's to keep you from hauling tail out of the country. Florida has support enforecment agreements with a bunch of other states.

If that is the reason for the rule it is very unfair to apply it to them. He is not going to leave, just taking a trip.

Trouble is they do not know that. Once you have a passport, you can go anywhere at anytime. Also my guess is that there is some public support involved and the state of Florida wants their money back. In Colorado you can lose your driver's license. Collect past child support is a big deal and the states are looking for ways to get more leverage.

....This sounds like a Judge Judy case....... It will be a Judge Judy case next year when they break up and she is claiming it was loan and he is saying it was gift.

This sounds like a Judge Judy case.

Sasha I Agee with you 100%. He was in arrears from being laid off. He has been paying his support every month for years and paying on the arrears. I paid for his vacation and paid off the arrears once we found out about the situation a month ago. I also agree that public officials have better thing to do. But I am hoping that by getting them involved they can change the procedures. We paid the money and did everything we were supposed to do with all of the correct departments. The hold up IS at the passport office. They have had the information since 3/6 and have done nothing! As I said before I checked my status for fun and they told me it is processing. I actually got my passport over a month ago. Hmmm they need to get their act together. Maybe he won't be able to go, but you bet I am going to use everything in my power to see this doesn't happen to someone else. He is not a dead beat dad just had an unfortunate financial set back. We have been together 7 years and his daughter who has been sleeping in her bedroom in our home for over a week every month and every weekend is with us isn't hurting for anything and her mother and I are friends. So please before you make accusations instead of being supportive know the facts.

Debbie let us know how it works out,, I hope it does work out for both of you.

Better find someone else to go with just in case.

LOL no Judy. Way too old for that! Thanks for the positive thoughts!!! No transfers already had my friend packing :(

Debbie, Did you insure the trip? Wonder what the parameters are regarding "no passport" when it comes to travel insurance.

I bet money that reason is not covered under travel insurance. The assumption would be that you know and had a passport. It would have to be a pretty broad policy to have that reason covered.

I am assuming you have posted this question on other travel websites? I realize the time is now REALLY short and we're all hoping that Monday will bring you good news, but since you are now the point of just getting it through processing there should be some way to get this through. My daughter used to work in the TV/film industry and they were forever having to get last minute passports. The fee was very steep ($500?)but it did happen. I will check tomorrow to see how you're going and I'll also try to contact her to see what she remembers.

Passport issues are the main thing that i hear of folks calling senators and members of congress for. Well if they do respond and are successful, i hope you are supportive of them to some degree, even if you dont vote for them due to their political views. ... Not sure i could have ever voted for Strom ...but some probably feel the same about Feinstein and Boxer...so it evens out.
Anyhow, best of luck with your fiances passport. I trust that he appreciates your work on his behalf. "For better or for worse..". Have a great time in Paris

This is not something unusual or unique to Florida. In Louisiana you cannot even get a fishing license if your child support is in arrears.

Just called and CSR says it is processed and he should be getting it. I have having him call again to the duty officer to get confirmation and see if he can get a tracking number. The CSR said he does not need to expidite???? Fingers and toes peeps fingers and toes and PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!! Positive thoughts!!!!! My faith in politicians is being restored. I am going to send the senators office a thank you card and flowers.

Just called and CSR says it is processed and he should be getting it. I have having him call again to the duty officer to get confirmation and see if he can get a tracking number. The CSR said he does not need to expidite???? Fingers and toes peeps fingers and toes and PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!! Positive thoughts!!!!! My faith in politicians is being restored. I am going to send the senators office a thank you card and flowers.

Any passport yet? Please let us know. We're concerned!

YAY! Picking up passport at UPS office this evening. Thank God for Senator Nelson's office's quick response. Thank you all for your positive thoughts and kind words. I am off Thursday to spend spring in Paris with the man that I love. Au revoir
Debbie

Thanks for letting us know,, thats great, have fun!

Bon Voyage!

that is great news... have a dream trip...you've earned it

that is great news... have a dream trip...you've earned it

I assume it went well and you've got them! Have a great time in Paris!!

Forget the flowers and send the elected officials a nice postcard from paris...or just buy it there and send it when you get home! Have a lovely time enjoying paris with your fiance.