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One Free Vital Record for a VA Claim — Against a $15 Counter Price

Maine charges $15 for a certified copy of a vital record and $6 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. One certified copy of any vital record is free where it is used to determine eligibility for Veterans Administration benefits — the only standing fee exception the state’s own vital records office publishes.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Maine charges $15 for a certified copy of a vital record and $6 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. One certified copy of any vital record is free where it is used to determine eligibility for Veterans Administration benefits — the only standing fee exception the state’s own vital records office publishes.

What it's worth: $15 waived on one certified copy used for a VA benefit determination

  • The $15 is the published price of the first certified copy, which includes a record search covering one year either side of the stated event date. That is the sum the exception removes.
  • Additional copies ordered at the same time are $6 each and are not covered — the exception is for ONE copy.

Who is entitled to it

  • The exception is tied to the purpose — a VA benefit determination — so anyone pursuing that claim is inside it.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Say what the copy is for when you order it. The exception is purpose-based — a record used in determining eligibility for Veterans Administration benefits — so an unexplained order is charged the ordinary $15.
  2. 2It is one free copy of ANY vital record, not only a birth certificate. Marriage and death records are inside the same wording.
  3. 3Order any second copy in the same transaction if you need one; at $6 each, additional copies bought together cost less than a fresh order later.
  4. 4Do not expect flexibility beyond this. The office states plainly that it has no authority to waive fees, so the VA exception is the whole of what is available.
  5. 5Municipal clerks hold Maine vital records as well as the state office. Ask the clerk in the town where the event was registered if you want it in person.
  6. 6A county veterans service officer files these constantly and can tell you which record the claim actually needs before you pay for the wrong one.
Form
Application for a certified copy, stating the VA benefit purpose
File with
Maine CDC, Data, Research and Vital Statistics — or the municipal clerk holding the record
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe waiver is frequently described as "free vital records for veterans". It is narrower on both sides: ONE copy, and only where the copy is used to determine eligibility for VA benefits. A veteran ordering a birth certificate for a passport pays the full $15.
Worth knowingThe $15 first-copy fee includes a search of one year before and one year after the date you give. If the date is uncertain, widening it is a second search rather than a free extension.
Known gapThe statutory basis for the exception was not identified this session, so it is not known whether the waiver is a legislative entitlement or an administrative practice the office could change. Neither the form of proof required nor whether municipal clerks apply the same exception was verified.

Sources

Why only one source type: Only the administering agency’s own fee page could be read. The statutory fee section was searched for on the Legislature’s server and not located this session — 22 M.R.S. §2761 turned out to be registration of live births, not fees — so the waiver is recorded on the agency’s authority rather than on a statute.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.