USPS Form 1583 Explained: How to Complete, Notarize, and Submit It From Anywhere

USPS Form 1583 is the federal form that authorizes a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) to accept mail on your behalf. You cannot legally receive mail at any private mailbox or virtual mailbox in the United States without completing it. The form asks for your identity, your home address, and two forms of ID, and it must be verified either in person or by a notary. This guide walks you through every field, every ID requirement, and every notarization option, including the ones available to Americans living overseas.

Table of Contents

1. What Is USPS Form 1583?
2. Why the Postal Service Requires It
3. The Two Forms of ID You Need
4. Completing the Form, Field by Field
5. Notarization Options, Including Online Notary
6. Completing Form 1583 From Outside the US
7. 7 Mistakes That Delay Applications
8. What Happens After You Submit
9. Frequently Asked Questions

What Is USPS Form 1583?

Form 1583, officially titled Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent, is a United States Postal Service document. It gives a mail receiving agent written permission to accept mail addressed to you. Without it, a CMRA cannot legally hand your letters to anyone, scan them, or forward them.

Every person who receives mail at a private mailbox completes one. If your spouse or business partner also receives mail at the same box, each of them files their own form. Businesses list the company name and every officer or member who will receive mail.

The form protects you. It creates a documented chain of custody between the Postal Service, the agent handling your mail, and you. Mail fraud through unregistered agents is exactly what this system prevents.

Why the Postal Service Requires It

Federal regulation requires commercial mail receiving agencies to register with USPS and to keep a completed Form 1583 on file for every customer. The agency must verify who you are before a single envelope changes hands. USPS audits CMRAs on this paperwork.

This is why a legitimate provider always asks for the form and IDs before activating your address. A provider who skips this step is operating outside USPS rules, and your mail has no legal protection there. If you want the deeper background on how the whole process works from signup to delivery, read our guide on how US mail forwarding works.

The Two Forms of ID You Need

USPS requires two forms of identification. One must include a photograph. Acceptable documents fall into two lists.

Photo ID (pick one)

• US or foreign passport
• Driver’s license or state non-driver ID card
• Uniformed service ID or military dependent ID
• Alien registration card or certificate of naturalization

Address-verifying ID (pick one)

• Current lease, mortgage, or deed of trust
• Vehicle registration card
• Home or vehicle insurance policy
• Voter registration card

Three documents people try to use and USPS does not accept: Social Security cards, credit cards, and birth certificates. Leave them out of your application.

The second document needs to show the same home address you write on the form. A mismatch between your lease and your listed address is the single most common reason applications bounce back.

Completing the Form, Field by Field

The current form is straightforward once you know what each numbered box wants. Here is the short version of the boxes that trip people up.

Applicant information

Your full legal name, exactly as it appears on your photo ID. Nicknames and shortened names cause verification failures. If you receive mail under more than one name variation, list each one where the form asks for names under which mail will be received.

Home address

Your actual residential address, not the mailbox address you are applying for. Expats list their current foreign residential address here. A foreign address is acceptable, and it does not affect approval.

Agent information

The name and address of your mail receiving agency. Your provider fills this in or gives you the exact text. At MyMailForwarder.com we send you a pre-filled copy with our facility details already entered, so you complete only your own sections. See how to apply for your mailbox address for the full signup flow.

Business information

Only for business mailboxes. List the business name, type of business, and the names of members or officers who will receive mail. If you registered an LLC using a virtual address for your LLC or corporation, the names here should match your state filing.

Signature

Do not sign until you are in front of the notary or the agent. A pre-signed form is invalid and you will complete a fresh one.

Notarization Options, Including Online Notary

USPS accepts two verification paths, and you only need one.

Option 1: in person

Appear at the CMRA with your two IDs. The agent checks your documents, watches you sign, and files the form. No notary is involved. This works if you are near the facility, and many Massachusetts locals use this path at our Tewksbury office.

Option 2: notarized

If you cannot appear in person, a notary public verifies your identity and witnesses your signature. Three ways to reach one:

1. Local notary. Banks, shipping stores, law offices, and town halls. Typical cost runs $5 to $25 depending on your state’s fee cap.
2. Remote online notarization (RON). You connect to a commissioned online notary by video, show your ID to the camera, and sign electronically. Sessions typically cost $25 or less and take ten minutes. Most states now authorize RON, and USPS accepts remotely notarized 1583 forms.
3. US Embassy or Consulate. For Americans abroad. Notarial services at US posts require an appointment and a fee, and they satisfy the requirement fully.

Completing Form 1583 From Outside the US

Most of our subscribers complete the entire process from another country. The sequence looks like this.

1. Choose your plan and receive the pre-filled form by email. Compare options on our mailbox subscription plans page.
2. Gather your passport plus one address-verifying document. A foreign lease or foreign vehicle registration works for the second document at most agents; confirm with your provider before booking a notary.
3. Book a remote online notarization session, or schedule a notarial appointment at the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.
4. Sign during the session, download the completed PDF, and email it to your provider with copies of both IDs.
5. Your provider verifies everything, countersigns, and activates the address.

American expats ask us constantly whether the foreign home address on the form causes problems with banks or the IRS later. It does not. The 1583 is a postal document, not a tax or banking record. The address your bank sees is your new Massachusetts street address. Our guide on mail forwarding for American expats explains how the pieces fit together.

7 Mistakes That Delay Applications

1. Signing the form before the notary session. The signature must be witnessed.
2. Using a Social Security card, credit card, or birth certificate as ID. USPS rejects all three.
3. Listing the mailbox address as your home address. The home address box means where you live.
4. Name mismatch between the form and the photo ID. Match your ID exactly.
5. Skipping household names. Anyone receiving mail at the box needs to appear on a form.
6. Sending photos of IDs that are cropped, blurry, or expired. Agents cannot accept unreadable documents.
7. Using an outdated form version. Get the current form from your provider or USPS.gov, not from an old blog post.

What Happens After You Submit

Your agent reviews the form, verifies both IDs, and countersigns. The form stays on file at the agency, available for USPS inspection. You receive your address in the standard format: your name, the street address, and your private mailbox (PMB) or suite number.

From activation, mail addressed to you at the facility is logged and you receive a free arrival notification for every item. What you do next is up to you: forward, scan, hold, or shred. Storage runs 30, 60, or 90 days depending on plan, and Silver and Gold plans include free consolidation, which typically cuts international shipping costs by 30% to 40% per batch. Our package consolidation guide shows the savings math.

One renewal note: your 1583 stays valid as long as your account is active and your details stay current. Update the form when your home address, name, or the list of recipients changes.

Special Cases: Minors, Name Changes, Trusts, and Multiple Businesses

The standard form covers a single adult with one name. Real households are messier, and the form has room for all of it once you know where things go.

Minor children

Children under 18 do not file their own forms. A parent or guardian lists them on the parent’s Form 1583 in the section for other names receiving mail at the address. College acceptance letters, savings account statements, and passport correspondence for your kids all clear properly once their names are on file. When a child turns 18, they complete their own form with their own IDs, a five-minute task worth calendaring.

Name changes and multiple name versions

Marriage, divorce, and legal name changes create a gap between your ID and the name on incoming mail. Handle it by listing every version you receive mail under: maiden name, married name, hyphenated combinations, and common misspellings that senders persist in using. The form accommodates multiple received names, and listing them upfront prevents the awkward situation where the facility holds an envelope it cannot legally release because the name on it matches nobody on file.

Trusts and estates

Mail addressed to a family trust or an estate needs the trust or estate named on the form, with the trustee or executor as the verified individual. Executors handling a deceased relative’s mail should talk to both the facility and the post office, because deceased-person mail has its own USPS procedures. We walk executors through this regularly; it is simpler than it sounds when done in the right order.

Multiple businesses at one box

Entrepreneurs often run two or three ventures from one mailbox. Each business name receiving mail belongs on the form, with the business section completed for each entity, including the state of registration. An LLC, a DBA, and an online store brand can all share one PMB legally, provided each is declared. Undeclared business names are the most common reason business mail gets held at facilities, so over-declare rather than under-declare. If you are setting up the entity itself, our guide to a virtual address for a Massachusetts LLC covers the filing side.

What Happens on the Agent’s Side of the Form

Understanding the other half of the process explains most of the delays people experience with less careful providers.

When your completed form arrives, the agent verifies four things before countersigning: the IDs match the names, the photo ID is current, the address document corroborates the home address you wrote, and the notarization (if used) is properly executed with a valid commission. The agent then registers your information in USPS systems, which is how the Postal Service knows your PMB is legitimately assigned. The agency keeps the form on file for postal inspection for as long as you hold the box, plus a retention period after you close it.

There is also a companion registration on the agency’s side: the CMRA itself registers with the Postal Service and maintains its own authorization paperwork. This two-sided registration, agency and customer both on file, is what makes a CMRA address trustworthy infrastructure rather than an anonymous drop. The full background is in our explainer on what a CMRA is.

A quality agent turns your submission around in one business day. When activation drags for a week, the paperwork is usually sitting in a queue at an understaffed reseller location, which is one more argument for choosing an operator with its own employees.

Troubleshooting: When Your Application Bounces

The notary missed a field. Notarial certificates need the date, your name, the notary’s signature, seal, and commission expiration. An incomplete certificate means redoing the session, so check all five before you leave or close the video call.

Your second ID shows an old address. Life moves faster than vehicle registrations. If your documents show different addresses, use the document matching the address you list on the form, or update the registration first. Some agents accept a current utility bill as a supporting document; ask before you book a notary.

Your IDs are in a non-English language. Foreign passports work as photo ID everywhere. Foreign second documents sometimes need a simple translation attached. International shoppers from non-English-speaking countries complete this routinely; build in one extra day.

You signed in the wrong place or the wrong name format. Sign exactly as your name appears in the applicant field, in the signature box, in the notary’s presence. Any variation restarts the process.

The scan is unreadable. Photograph documents flat, in daylight, all four corners visible. A third of resubmissions are just better photos of the same documents.

The Form’s Lifecycle: Updates, Renewals, and Closure

Your form does not expire on a calendar. It stays valid while your account is active and your details are true. Three events require an update: a change in your home address, a legal name change, and adding or removing people or businesses receiving mail. Each is a short amendment, not a full redo, and updating promptly keeps every piece of mail releasable to you without friction.

When you eventually close a mailbox, ask the agency about its mail-handling window for stragglers and file your forwarding instructions before the last day. A well-run closure means the final months of mail follow you rather than piling up at an address you no longer control. If you are switching providers rather than leaving the system, open the new box and complete the new form before closing the old one, so there is never a week when your mail has nowhere legal to land.

Quick Glossary

CMRA: Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, a USPS-authorized private business receiving mail for customers. PMB: Private Mail Box, the number identifying your box within the facility’s street address. RON: Remote Online Notarization, video-based notarization accepted for Form 1583. Service of process: formal delivery of legal documents, handled by a registered agent rather than a mailbox when a business needs it. Restricted delivery: a USPS service requiring delivery to a named person, which your form’s named-recipient list supports.

A Complete Walkthrough: Maria in Lisbon

Maria is an American graphic designer living in Lisbon. Here is her actual sequence, start to finish, with timing.

Day 1. She picks the Starter Plan and receives the pre-filled form by email within the hour, our facility details already entered. She photographs her US passport and her Lisbon lease on the kitchen table, in daylight, all corners visible.

Day 2. She books a remote online notarization session for the evening, Lisbon time, which is early afternoon for the US-based notary. The video call takes eleven minutes: the notary checks her passport against her face, watches her sign electronically, and applies the digital seal. Cost: $25.

Day 3. She emails the notarized PDF and both ID photos to our team. We verify the documents, countersign, register her details, and send her the address by the end of the business day: her name, the street address, and her PMB number.

Day 4. She updates her bank, her brokerage, and the IRS to the new address, then files a USPS change of address from her old Boston apartment. Her first arrival alert lands the following week: a brokerage statement, scanned to her inbox the same afternoon she requests it.

Total elapsed time: three days. Total cost beyond the subscription: one $25 notary session. The form that intimidates people into putting this off for months took her less time than renewing a Portuguese residence card, and she never left her apartment.

One habit worth copying from Maria: she saved copies of the completed form and both IDs in her password manager’s document vault. When she added her husband to the mailbox a year later, half his form was already answered, and when her passport renewed, she knew exactly which document on file needed replacing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does USPS Form 1583 need to be notarized?

Only if you do not appear in person at the mail agency. Appear in person with two IDs and no notary is needed. Apply remotely and a notary must witness your signature, either locally, online through remote online notarization, or at a US Embassy abroad.

Can I complete Form 1583 online?

Yes. You fill the PDF electronically, verify your identity through a remote online notary by video, and email the signed form with ID copies to your provider. The entire process happens without visiting anyone in person.

What IDs are acceptable for Form 1583?

One photo ID (passport, driver’s license, state ID, military ID, alien registration card) plus one address document (lease, mortgage, deed, vehicle registration, insurance policy, or voter card). Social Security cards, credit cards, and birth certificates are not accepted.

Can foreigners complete Form 1583?

Yes. A foreign passport satisfies the photo ID requirement, and a foreign lease or registration typically covers the second document. International shoppers and founders complete the form from their home country every day.

How much does Form 1583 notarization cost?

In-person notaries charge $5 to $25 depending on state fee caps. Remote online notarization typically costs $25 or less. US Embassy notarial services charge a per-signature consular fee. Ask your provider what help they include before you pay anyone.

Does each person in my family need their own Form 1583?

Every adult who receives mail at the box completes a form. Minor children can be listed on a parent’s form. Business mailboxes list the company plus each officer or member receiving mail.

Get Your Massachusetts Address and We Will Walk You Through the Form

The form takes 20 minutes when someone hands you a pre-filled copy and tells you exactly which two documents to photograph. That is what we do for every new subscriber, and we have been doing it at the same Massachusetts facility since 2007.

Choose your mailbox plan and have your US address active within 24 hours of completing your application.

Related Guides

• How to get a US address
• Do you need a US address while living abroad?
• What to do when a bank rejects a virtual mailbox address
• Virtual mailbox vs PO Box