You likely already know that you need a passport to travel anywhere outside of the United States or United States owned lands. But, there are several facts about US Passports that you might not know. Check out a few of them below:

Parents who owe child support are denied passports.

Due to the problem of parents leaving the country as a tactic to avoid their legal responsibility of taking care of their children by paying child support, the federal government reserves the legal right to deny issuing a passport to any individual owing more than $2,500 in back pay. This measure is strictly enforced by the office of child support enforcement(OCSE) working with the State Department.

Felons who haven’t served their sentence are denied passports.

Out of concern that felons are high flight risks the federal government places their names on the denial of passports list until they have paid their debt in full to society. In fact, even after leaving prison it can take a few weeks for the parole office to inform the State Department that all legal matters are resolved.

Any significant changes in facial appearance demand passport renewal.

Individuals whose facial appearance changes significantly either due weight loss, plastic surgery or a face tattoo are required to get a new passport. Individuals who get facial piercings or have experienced major trauma to the face due to an accident are also required to get new passports so that the new photo can capture new features.

Only neutral facial expressions are allowed.

Strange as it may sound smiling or even excessive frowning is not allowed for the photo on the passport.

Passports are harder to forge than ever before.

After the 9/11 attack there was a lot of concern about terrorists entering the US using forged passports which were becoming easier to acquire every year and so a six year research program developed a new type of upgraded passports that come with a chip designed to be impossible to crack and forge. Hackers who try and copy chip data are also be out of luck because the new passports have metallic shielding to prevent digital readability until the passport is physically open.

Not all US passports are blue.

Most American citizens receive blue shaded passports but blue is not the only color issued. Government employees and contractors on official business use brown passports, while green shaded passports are issued to refugees living within the United States. State Department employees use black passports.

Jody’s Travel Inc