Job Discussion Forums

Dougb · Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject: passport issues

I have pretty bad credit.(unpaid bills, unpaid taxes etc..) Will that hinder me from getting a Passport or from leaving the country?

tedkarma · Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:44 am Post subject:

Taxes might. Particularly federal taxes. Probably not state taxes.

Start here:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Sgt Killjoy · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 438

Taxes are going to be the next bogeyman on getting passports, not yet but soon. Bad credit? No bearing on getting a passport. Taxes? Maybe not now, but who knows the future? Is it big time tax money or little? I owed back taxes of about $2500 from 1995 and when I went back to the states I was kind of scared about getting wages garnished or who knows what. I called up the IRS and they said I didn't owe anything. I had them double check it and then they told me about a statue of limitations. Like 7 years from the date the return was due and only applies if the return was filed on time. It was cool for me, but I will always watch out for my taxes anyways now.

Dougb · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:57 pm Post subject: Answer

I called the State department and only unpaid child support and a felony will stop a person from getting a passport.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

What about a court judgement against you in a bad credit case? Just to round this story out a bit...

Dougb · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:33 am Post subject: visa

getting a visa and actually leaving might be different.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Can you really be denied a passport in the US for things like that? I'm amazed, but I'm also from a country where an adult who doesn't have a passport, i.e. has never left the country before, is quite a rarity.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I read a report a few months back that stated that about 25% of Canadian adults had a passport, and about 12% of Americans. It would be interesting to know the percentages for other countries.