AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is encouraging Mainers to renew their licenses and State IDs ahead of the grace period deadline, to avoid long waits and renewal delays.

The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, per a news release, will soon resume sending out notices to those with expired licenses and upcoming renewals, encouraging them to renew now rather than wait until the renewal grace period ends, which is currently Aug. 9.

“We encourage drivers and ID holders to be proactive about renewing, so we don't have a flood of people all trying to renew at the last minute,” said Secretary Dunlap. “Gov. Mills’ order gives people a good window of time to get this done, but we hope to avoid a situation where everyone waits until the deadline and we cant get all the renewals processed before the end of the waiver period.”

The online license renewal service is available to most license and ID holders, within six months prior to your credentials expiration date.

The driver license vision test requirement is waived during this time, to allow more people to use the online service.

Those who cannot use or access the online service should call the Bureau of Motor Vehicles License Services Division at 624-9000 Ext. 52114. Phone lines are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and calls are answered in the order received. BMV staff will process renewals over the phone whenever possible or set up in-person appointments at your local BMV branch as necessary.

Per Gov. Mills Executive Order No. 18, Maine drivers licenses and State IDs that expired during the emergency period (since March 15, 2020 and later) are extended until 30 days after the end of the civil emergency.

Gov. Mills extended the state of emergency on Wednesday, June 10 for an additional 30 days. Thus, the deadline to renew expired licenses and IDs is Aug. 9.