TRENTON – With the overwhelmingly high number of United States passports being processed with the Mercer County Clerk’s office and across the country, Mercer County Clerk, Paula Sollami Covello, Esq. suggests Mercer County residents apply for their passports well ahead of their planned date of travel. Records show that the US Department of State Consular Affairs processed 15,556,216 passports with 9,782 of those passports being processed right here in Mercer County, NJ.

The high volume of passports being processed by the Mercer County Clerk’s office is due to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in 2007. This law stated that citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, & Bermuda have a passport or other acceptable document when entering or departing the United States. Those individuals that were issued 10 year passports are now up for renewal. "Due to an increase of international travelers, I urge Mercer residents to apply early for their passports or passport renewals before the turnaround times grow longer. We don't want to see anyone miss a scheduled trip," said Clerk Sollami Covello.

The Office of the Mercer County Clerk will continue to host Passport Days across the county to make it more convenient for constituents. Individuals can also, visit the Office of the Mercer County Clerk Monday – Friday from 8:00am – 4:00pm with late night hours on Wednesdays until 6:30pm to process their applications. The Mercer County Connection in Hamilton also processes passports Monday – Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm with late night hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7:00pm and on Saturdays from 10:00am – 2:00pm.

Both offices take photos at their locations and have applications, but applications can also be found in advance online with more information at travel.state.gov.

You can also, visit the County Clerk’s office at www.mercercounty.org and click on County Clerk or call (609) 989-6464 for more information.