In practice they can pretty much keep you Stateside if they really want, by creating all kinds of excuses not to issue you a passport. Without a valid and current passport, virtually no country on the planet will let you enter. Here are some reasons State Department could use not to issue you a US passport or even to cancel your existing one:Winston wrote: The law can't prevent men from traveling abroad or moving abroad, for whatever reason.
- you owe child support (already a reality).
- you are being audited by IRS or you have already been slapped with a delinquent tax bill which you have yet to settle.
- you were discovered to have failed to file FBARs on overseas accounts.
- you are registered as a sex offender list.
- you are currently involved as a defendant in any criminal or even civil lawsuit.
- you are suspected of being a terrorist or you are on a no-fly list.
- you have a record for having been arrested and perhaps convicted for visiting a prostitute.
You see how easy it can be for them? Don't be naive about these things.