Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

[pnnd]

I've been working in China as a teacher for the past 6 years & recently, when I went to have new pages added to my passport in Guangzhou, the US Consul there revoked my passport on the grounds that I owed over 2500 in back child support.

The claim was unjust from the beginning, but I don't deny that this much or more money could be left in arrears. The child is over 21 at this point.

The legal problem I have is that the Consulate's revocation, along with the lack of a timely response to my efforts to resove the money issue with the Ma. state DOR, has now resulted in the expiration of my China residence permit, such that now I am vulnerable to fine and/or arrest by the Chinese authorities.

And of course I am being left in a foreign country without a passport, which those of you who have lived abroad will probably understand as a frightening situation.

It doesn't look like the DOR is legally bound to act quickly in this matter and may even be trying to put me on the hot seat. Further, the US Consulate takes no responsibility for any consequences--- the consular official saying merely "Those are the rules" in response to my questions of "What am I supposed to do now?" and "You're actually going to leave me in a foreign country without a passport?".

It seems to me that deliberately subjecting me to a dangerous situation abroad while these "negotiations" with Ma. DOR are going on is denying me fundamental due process. I was given no prior notice of the potential revocation; and despite continuing emails and phone calls to the DOR subsequently to try to resolve this, no one there has responded to my official offer of an initial payment, etc.

My friends say just keep calling them; but, the problem is becoming that as every day goes by, I am in more and more danger of arrest here.

Are there any resources available to me to help resolve this?

I do not wish to return to the US, either in terms of the expenses I would no doubt incur & also because my employment is here in China. Going directly home on a limited travel passport (as the Consulate might allow) is not the solution. I would soon in the US have less means and less savings to pay back the arrears that brought about this situation in the first place.

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

This is a prime example of how child support and the extreme lengths the states will go to to "punish" a father who is in arrears. It violates a person's constitutional rights.

With the money one has to shell out just to abide by the "laws" enacted by the "powers that be" that passport should be the exclusive property of the owner who paid the money to receive one.

You're in a very dangerous position. I'd be on the blogs and every social media possible - getting as much exposure as possible - looking for an attorney who wants to become famous for fighting this in a very public way.

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

I don't blame you for not wanting to return to the U.S. Who would after it hung a citizen out to dry like that?

Might as well become a citizen of the country you're now living in and renounce your U.S. citizenship. What's it good for? You're finding out it's good for absolutely nothing.

[Friend In Court]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

"The claim was unjust from the beginning, but I don't deny that this much or more money could be left in arrears."

*If you felt the amount was unjust, then you should have appealed the decision at the time.

Since you have been in China for six years, you must have left when the child was 14 or 15 and failed to pay support despite the fact you were working [in China.] Six years is a long time, especially out of a child's life -- and your son at the age when a father's guidance is needed most, when he is in his teens, becoming a man. Something you failed to mention or even consider, most likely, when you chose to leave the country and work abroad for six years.

"The legal problem I have is that the Consulate's revocation, along with the lack of a timely response to my efforts to resove the money issue with the Ma. state DOR, has now resulted in the expiration of my China residence permit, such that now I am vulnerable to fine and/or arrest by the Chinese authorities."

From what you state in your post, you have had six (6) years to "resolve the money issue" of your back support and failed to do so.


It doesn't look like the DOR is legally bound to act quickly in this matter and may even be trying to put me on the hot seat. Further, the US Consulate takes no responsibility for any consequences--- the consular official saying merely "Those are the rules" in response to my questions of "What am I supposed to do now?" and "You're actually going to leave me in a foreign country without a passport?".

You have not "acted quickly" to keep up support to your son but you expect the Consulate and everyone else to double and triple time, jump over hoops, now for you that you are bearing the consequences of your dilatoriness and failure to pay your support obligations.

It seems to me that deliberately subjecting me to a dangerous situation abroad while these "negotiations" with Ma. DOR are going on is denying me fundamental due process. I was given no prior notice of the potential revocation; and despite continuing emails and phone calls to the DOR subsequently to try to resolve this, no one there has responded to my official offer of an initial payment, etc.

An offer to pay it in full, now, might bring a more rapid response.

I do not wish to return to the US, either in terms of the expenses I would no doubt incur & also because my employment is here in China. Going directly home on a limited travel passport (as the Consulate might allow) is not the solution. I would soon in the US have less means and less savings to pay back the arrears that brought about this situation in the first place.

You took a low paying job in China where for six years you have not saved enough to pay off $2800 you owe in back support, the Consulate has offered you a passport home to the U.S. where you do not want to return, anyway.

My suggestion is you remain in China as an ex pat and beg China for a work visa in conjunction with your application for citizenship. .

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

"The claim was unjust from the beginning, but I don't deny that this much or more money could be left in arrears."

*If you felt the amount was unjust, then you should have appealed the decision at the time.

Since you have been in China for six years, you must have left when the child was 14 or 15 and failed to pay support despite the fact you were working [in China.] Six years is a long time, especially out of a child's life -- and your son at the age when a father's guidance is needed most, when he is in his teens, becoming a man. Something you failed to mention or even consider, most likely, when you chose to leave the country and work abroad for six years.

"The legal problem I have is that the Consulate's revocation, along with the lack of a timely response to my efforts to resove the money issue with the Ma. state DOR, has now resulted in the expiration of my China residence permit, such that now I am vulnerable to fine and/or arrest by the Chinese authorities."

From what you state in your post, you have had six (6) years to "resolve the money issue" of your back support and failed to do so.


It doesn't look like the DOR is legally bound to act quickly in this matter and may even be trying to put me on the hot seat. Further, the US Consulate takes no responsibility for any consequences--- the consular official saying merely "Those are the rules" in response to my questions of "What am I supposed to do now?" and "You're actually going to leave me in a foreign country without a passport?".

You have not "acted quickly" to keep up support to your son but you expect the Consulate and everyone else to double and triple time, jump over hoops, now for you that you are bearing the consequences of your dilatoriness and failure to pay your support obligations.

It seems to me that deliberately subjecting me to a dangerous situation abroad while these "negotiations" with Ma. DOR are going on is denying me fundamental due process. I was given no prior notice of the potential revocation; and despite continuing emails and phone calls to the DOR subsequently to try to resolve this, no one there has responded to my official offer of an initial payment, etc.

An offer to pay it in full, now, might bring a more rapid response.

I do not wish to return to the US, either in terms of the expenses I would no doubt incur & also because my employment is here in China. Going directly home on a limited travel passport (as the Consulate might allow) is not the solution. I would soon in the US have less means and less savings to pay back the arrears that brought about this situation in the first place.

You took a low paying job in China where for six years you have not saved enough to pay off $2800 you owe in back support, the Consulate has offered you a passport home to the U.S. where you do not want to return, anyway.

My suggestion is you remain in China as an ex pat and beg China for a work visa in conjunction with your application for citizenship. .

More personal opine instead of actual advice.

Learn to read and comprehend written communication before responding.

[grim509]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Unless you're out to change the laws, there are really only 2 feasible solutions.
1. Pay the 2500 in back support
2. Hire an attorney to fight the case for you stateside in the originating court.

[pnnd]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Thanks for the responses, especially to those who do not jump to judgement without knowing anything about the initial circumstances.

I was not married to this person. She was a short-term girlfriend who there was absolutely no intention of having a child with; in fact, on the contrary, the pregnancy was pure accident.

After the positive test and our arguments over what to do, our relationship ended. For the first trimester of her pregnancy, I agreed to therapy with her, where I begged her to either put the baby up for adoption or have an abortion.

With her answer, our relationship ended completely. Though, since she told me she'd ask nothing of me because it had been her decision to have the child, I went to the hospital for the baby's birth. She moved back to to her home state almost immediately. I felt guilty about the whole thing of course & thought I could help her informally as I had money to do so. The first year afterward, I sent her money for rent, clothes, etc without any prompting from the state.

Shortly after the child's first birthday, a policeman knocked on my door with a summons. "Do you know a so-and-so", he said. "That's a long story", I replied.
I called the girl. "I thought you weren't going to ask me for anything", I said. "What about the idea it was all your decision?"
"Things change." she answered flatly.

In court, due to the circumstances, the child support amount was not set at an outrageous amount.
The problem was more that I didn't have a career that could justify high payments anyway. I was a musician and was working freelance as a woodworker. Jobs would come and go & my employment was not always steady.

The first five years of payments were ok, but after that it was a struggle, with the DOR often hounding and threatening when I missed payments. Finally, I quit music altogether.

I began to paint and a few years later was invited into a show in Germany. I did a woodworking job there to pay for the travel. When I returned, DOR had frozen my bank account and taken all the money in it.

From this point on, I was forced to live like an illegal alien. I found low paying cash jobs to survive while I studied to become a teacher. I did not use banks. Any job where I was on the books, no matter how low paying, would immediately be sucked on by DOR. I was never left with a living wage afterwards.

Still, I was stubborn, in that I refused to allow DOR to dictate what I thought were some important choices in life. That is how felt at the beginning of all of it too. Being financially forced into the mold would be almost as bad as being forced to marry someone you disliked.

Anyway, when I finished training as a teacher and found that I actually liked it, I came abroad and felt free for the first time in years. And yet I was in China, a country that most people back home think of as a kind of dictatorship.

How strange.

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

China is a communist country so it's understandable people back home would think of it as a dictatorship.

The laws differ there vastly. There, child laws are frightening.

It cannot be argued with that while fathers (no matter how accidental it was) who helped to create a life should also have a hand in financially being responsible for raising that child, they should also have the same privilege of being the child's equal legal parent throughout that child's life.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Fathers are expected to pay a lot, yet only be a minimal part of their children's lives.

Since the child is now of legal age and the arrears you owe are not that exorbitant, it might be a good idea to work at paying it off so you can at least have a clear record and be able to regain your passport privileges.

[Lexus]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Whatever be your situation, as a biological father you are duty bound to pay support for your child. You cannot wash off your hands from the responsibility ‘as a father’. The best thing you can do is to give an assurance that you will pay off the back support once you reach in US. If you have any dispute in the arrears you have to raise it before the court. You have to return to US and settle the child support issue otherwise you will be trouble where ever you go. Consulate will provide you limited travel passport, so you can travel back to US. May be you do not have enough savings to pay off the arrears, but that will not an excuse before law for evading your responsibilities. It is better advised that you may consult with a Family Law Attorney who can give proper guidance in this regard.

[Friend In Court]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

I concur with Lexus' succinct answer to your dilemma. Return to the U.S., score yourself some gigs, pay off the amount due and you will have a clean slate to travel wherever you want. As to the child, whether married or not to its mother, you ARE the father. Whether you choose to parent or not, you are his father, he is your son. Whether you like him or not. He has not been given the choice to know you. And if you return to China, probably never will.

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Nobody seems to be paying attention to the OP clearly stating he has no desire or intention of returning to the U.S. so what's the point in telling him to do so?

[Naomi]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Hello,

First, I should tell you that you are not stuck in China. The Embassy is required to issue you a one-way re-entry passport which you can use to return to the United States. But remember, once you leave China you will not be able to return until you deal with the child support issue.

[Unregistered]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

Hello,

First, I should tell you that you are not stuck in China. The Embassy is required to issue you a one-way re-entry passport which you can use to return to the United States. But remember, once you leave China you will not be able to return until you deal with the child support issue.

Once more,,, he does not wish to return the the U.S. Read what he wrote in his original post.

[Unregistered]

To the OP, your situation is an increasingly common one. It's a case of violation of your basic human right to travel which has been unconstitutionally violated by legislation. There are countless others in related predicaments. First, do not return to the USA, where you may likely be apprehended and jailed. Perhaps getting a World Passport may at least buy you some time as it IS accepted as a DE FACTO passport, though not recommended for travel as it is usually not accepted by most countries as a DE JURE passport. But at least you may likely be able to continue living your life. Constitutional rights in the USA have rapidly become infringed, if not obliterated. Find your freedom wherever you can.

[parksbanyon]

Re: Emergency Abroad: Passport revoked because I "owed" back child support.

I am curious if this post is still active and what he did to resolve his situation. I have been in the exact same situation for almost 5 years trapped in a foreign country because of American greed.

1) the consulate gave me a letter saying I had 90 days to resovle this problem and claiming to be holding my passport THEN they immediately revoked it!