Today’s mobile society presents many potential problems for divorced parents. Once such problem can be the unauthorized removal of the child from the United States. Depending on where the child is taken, having them returned can be time consuming and expensive. With certain countries, having the child returned is nect to impossible. One need only to review recent headlines to learn of such cases.
In an effort to provide assistance to parents, the State Department has implemented the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP) If the child is a United States Citizen and under the age of 18, a parent can register the child for the program. It is important to note that a parent does not have to have custodial rights to register a child. A parent is inky prohibited from enrolling a child in CPIAP if they have had their parental rights terminated by a court.
Once enrolled, the registering parent will be notified if a passport application has been submitted on behalf of the child. Enrolling a child in CPIAP does not prevent international travel but can be an importnat safeguard.
Additional information can be found at http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/resources
