Where in Merced can I get a passport?

Before we know it, summer will be here – a prime time to travel abroad and to escape the Valley heat while students are out of school.

If you must apply for a new passport, it’s better to do it as soon as possible. If you need it fast, you’ll likely pay a fee. Typically, it takes anywhere from three to six weeks to renew a passport.

Merced is a fairly diverse area, with many Latinos, Hmong, Southeast Asians, those from the Middle East and more.

UC Merced also has a number of international students, and about 1,200 students from abroad applied last year. All of these groups include people who likely will travel to their home countries. And this doesn’t include those native to Merced who may want to travel out of the country.

Q: Where in Merced can I get a passport?

A: Nowhere.

I’m not trying to be funny. That’s just the truth.

In August, passport services at the Merced post office were discontinued.

“The Sacramento District has realigned offices within our district that accept passport applications and have implemented passport acceptance centers to better serve customers with passport applications,” said Meiko Patton, a communications and program specialist for the Sacramento region of the U.S. Postal Service.

I’d say your best bet is to go to the Chowchilla post office, which offers passport services six days a week. The other nearby locations that accept applications are Los Banos, Mariposa, Fresno and Modesto.

Before it quit offering the service, 1,673 passport applications were accepted in Merced in 2015. Since August, other locations such as Los Banos and Chowchilla have seen an increase in applications, Patton said.

Additionally, the Merced County clerk does not process applications, though the county clerks in Stanislaus, Mariposa and Tuolumne counties all do, according to the federal government’s website for the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The AAA office on M Street also does not process applications.

Patton also noted that passport applications for first-time applicants and renewal applicants have increased in part because of the anniversary of the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The initiative is part of post-9/11 security mandates that set up plans to require all travelers, U.S. citizens and foreigners alike, to present a passport or other acceptable identification and citizenship proof when entering the U.S.

In short, more people than usual will need to apply for passports now.

The lesson here: You have to plan far in advance if you hope to travel abroad.

This story was originally published April 24, 2016 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Where in Merced can I get a passport?."