English
EspañolAfraid A will take children out of the country (Children
One option to prevent a child from leaving the country while a case is pending is to “freeze” their passport or notify the government that the child should not be issued a passport. The US Department of State has a program called the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP). Under this program, a parent or legal guardian may submit a letter requesting that the Office of Children’s Issues in the Dept. of State notify them if someone requests a passport for their child. The parent who wants to join the CPIAP will also have to submit a birth certificate or court order of guardianship to show that s/he is the parent or legal guardian. Here’s a link if you want to read more about CPIAP and how to register.
You can also read about more options to prevent international child abduction, including getting a court order, contacting law enforcement, and contacting an airport directly. The State Department also has a direct phone number and email to contact for assistance preventing abduction: 1-888-407-4747 and PreventAbduction1
state.gov
If a child has dual citizenship, then s/he may be able to travel out of the country on the passport of the other country. The US Dept. of State cannot regulate passports from a different country, so you may want to contact that country’s embassy or consulate to ask if they have a similar program. You will find contact information for embassies and consulates on the State Department website.
Also, if you are currently involved in a custody case in court, you might be able to ask the judge to hold the father’s passport and/or the children’s passport.
Another possibility is that sometimes the judge may order the suspected parent to give a bond to the court (an amount of money) that would be used by the other parent if the child is taken and if the victim-parent has to spend money to find/recover the child. For advice on whether or not any of these options may work for you, you may want to talk to a lawyer. You can find free and low cost lawyers on our website [HYPERLINK] and also information about STATE’s custody laws. [HYPERLINK]
