Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) · rules checked October 22, 2026
Your CNA certificate must be renewed every 2 years. The Registry mails a renewal form about 45-60 days before expiry (you can also renew online), and you must submit documented proof of at least 8 hours of paid employment as a CNA within the last 24 consecutive months, under the supervision of a registered professional nurse in a health care setting, using the Registry's current Employment Verification Form, which your employer — not you — must complete. By rule (10-144 CMR ch. 128), DHHS may not charge any fee for application or biennial renewal.
If you have never worked for pay since certifying, use your certification date.
| Credential | Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) |
|---|---|
| Registry | Maine Registry of Certified Nursing Assistants and Direct Care Workers (Maine DHHS, Division of Licensing and Certification) · 207-624-7300 |
| Training required | 130 hours |
| Exam | See registry — Not published — confirm with the registry |
| How renewal works | A calendar renewal and a paid-work rule both apply. Renewal fee: $0. |
| Keep-active work rule | Your CNA certificate must be renewed every 2 years. The Registry mails a renewal form about 45-60 days before expiry (you can also renew online), and you must submit documented proof of at least 8 hours of paid employment as a CNA within the last 24 consecutive months, under the supervision of a registered professional nurse in a health care setting, using the Registry's current Employment Verification Form, which your employer — not you — must complete. By rule (10-144 CMR ch. 128), DHHS may not charge any fee for application or biennial renewal. |
| Continuing education | No continuing education is required to renew; staying active rests on the 8 hours of qualified paid work and a record free of disqualifying annotations. |
| Who reports your work | You do — nobody files it for you |
Changing soon: Training hours changed on the current DHHS page (130 hours; older sources say 150-180) — re-verify the training rule before launch.
First: if you worked the qualifying hours but the verification was never filed, submit the renewal with the employer-completed Employment Verification Form. Otherwise: Failure to notify the Registry of at least 8 hours of employment during the 24 months from your competency test results in immediate removal from the list of active CNAs, and you may not work as a CNA until you successfully complete the test for non-traditional CNAs, submit a new application for placement, and the Registry determines you are eligible. A CNA who has been inactive for more than 2 years files the full CNA application (the same form used by new and out-of-state applicants).
Failure to notify the Registry of at least 8 hours of employment during the 24 months from your competency test results in immediate removal from the list of active CNAs, and you may not work as a CNA until you successfully complete the test for non-traditional CNAs, submit a new application for placement, and the Registry determines you are eligible. A CNA who has been inactive for more than 2 years files the full CNA application (the same form used by new and out-of-state applicants).
Maine's training requirement is well above the federal floor — the current DHHS registry page requires a 130-hour approved course (older guides citing 150 or 180 hours are stale). Private-duty / independent CNA work is not permitted in Maine, so private care cannot build qualifying hours. The current exam vendor and exam fees could not be confirmed on a primary page and are left blank rather than guessed.
Application fee: $0 · typical processing: About 2-4 weeks for processing (30 days for the Registry to determine eligibility).. Apply online or by PDF application with a copy of your current photo ID and verification from every state in which you currently hold or have held CNA certification; your application name must match your government ID exactly. Placement requires official documentation of formal CNA training that meets Maine's rule requirements and federal regulations — if your training cannot be documented as equivalent, you must qualify through the Non-Traditional CNA Competency Testing Evaluation instead. Processing takes about 2-4 weeks. No fee to apply for listing by endorsement — Maine law bars DHHS from charging a fee for application or renewal listing.
The table below is computed for an active aide in good standing, trained to the origin state's standard hours. Your own hours or status can change your row — run the transfer checker with your real facts.
| Certified in | Verdict for Maine | Fee | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Alaska | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arizona | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arkansas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| California | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Colorado | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Connecticut | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Delaware | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| District of Columbia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Florida | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Georgia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Hawaii | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Idaho | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Illinois | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Indiana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Iowa | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kansas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kentucky | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Louisiana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Maine | Same state — no transfer needed | ||
| Maryland | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Massachusetts | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Michigan | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Minnesota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Mississippi | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Missouri | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Montana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nebraska | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nevada | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Hampshire | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Jersey | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Mexico | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New York | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Ohio | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oklahoma | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oregon | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Pennsylvania | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Rhode Island | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Tennessee | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Texas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Utah | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Vermont | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Washington | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| West Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wisconsin | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wyoming | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Maine accepts active certifications with a possible exam, decided on your file. |
The kit carries Maine's full recovery path — the forms, the order to file them, the phone scripts — plus transfer checklists for every destination. See the kit →
