Passport Offices and Expedited Passports in Maine

In detail

Getting a passport in Maine

Maine has no State Department passport agency of its own, but the National Passport Center just across the border in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, takes appointments, and Boston is not far from Southern Maine. Most Mainers apply for a first passport at a post office or a town office. For urgent travel you can book an agency appointment or use a registered courier such as Allstate Passports & Visas. This page covers 24 Maine communities and explains each option.

Acceptance facilities in Maine

You apply in person at an acceptance facility for a first passport, a child's passport, or to replace a lost or stolen one. In Maine these are mostly post offices and some city or town offices. Your city page above lists the facilities nearby.

Take Form DS-11, unsigned until you are asked, a certified birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, a photo ID and a photocopy, and a passport photo. Two separate fees apply, one for the U.S. Department of State and one for the facility.

The nearest passport agencies

For most of Maine, the closest State Department office is the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about an hour from Portland. The Boston Passport Agency is another option. From Bangor and Northern Maine, either one is a long drive. Both see applicants by appointment only, and only if they travel internationally within 14 days or need a foreign visa within 28 days. How to book an agency appointment.

Birth certificates in Maine

A Maine birth certificate is available from the town clerk in the town where you were born, the town where your mother lived at the time, or the state Data, Research and Vital Statistics office at 220 Capitol Street in Augusta, which offers same-day walk-in service. The fee is the same at every office: $15 for the first certified copy and $6 for each extra copy ordered at the same time. Online orders through VitalChek add a processing fee.

Birth records less than 75 years old are restricted. To get one, you need a direct and legitimate interest, for example as the person named, a spouse or registered domestic partner, a parent named on the record, or a guardian, and you must show ID. Details are on the Maine vital records ordering page.