USPS Form 1583 is the authorization that lets a mailbox company legally receive your mail for you. Its official name is the Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent, and USPS requires it before any Commercial Mail Receiving Agency — a virtual mailbox service, a mailbox rental storefront, a coworking space that takes your mail — can accept a single envelope addressed to you. You complete it, prove who you are with two forms of ID, sign it in front of a witness, and hand it to the mailbox company. Here’s what most guides get wrong: under the current June 2024 revision, a notary is optional.
Key Takeaways
- Form 1583 authorizes an agent — it is not a forwarding request. It doesn’t move your address, and USPS bars you from filing a change of address when the arrangement ends.
- The current version is PS Form 1583, June 2024 — two pages, items 1 through 14, free to download. Older printouts with different box numbering are out of date.
- Notarization is optional. You may sign in the physical or virtual presence — real-time audio and video — of the mailbox company’s owner or an authorized employee. A notary is the alternative.
- Two IDs are required, and one rule trips everyone up: one must be a government-issued photo ID, the other must show your home address. A driver’s license satisfies one of the two — never both.
- Form 1583-A is not your form. It’s what the mailbox business files with the postmaster to operate as a CMRA.
What Is USPS Form 1583?
PS Form 1583 is titled Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent, and the title describes it exactly. Normally USPS delivers your mail to you. Form 1583 is the written permission that lets USPS hand it to somebody else — an agent — who holds, scans, or forwards it on your behalf.
That agent’s formal name is a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, or CMRA. Domestic Mail Manual 508.1.8 defines one as a business that accepts delivery of U.S. Mail on behalf of another person or entity as a business service — virtual mailbox providers, mailbox counters inside shipping stores, many coworking spaces. The strictness is fraud prevention: the two-ID requirement and witnessed signature tie a verified person to every private mailbox in the country. For how this fits everything else, see our USPS shipping guide.
When Do You Need Form 1583?
Any time a third-party business will receive mail addressed to you. In practice:
- You’re renting a private mailbox. This is the big one — you’ll file Form 1583 when you rent a private mailbox at a shipping store or mailbox center. The rental agreement is between you and the store; the 1583 is what makes it legal with USPS.
- You’re signing up for a virtual mailbox. Services that scan your envelopes into an app are CMRAs, so expect the form as step one of onboarding.
- You’re using a commercial address for your business. If your LLC’s registered address is a mailbox service rather than your home, the form covers it — and an officer must sign.
- Someone else will pick up your mail. A spouse, assistant, or partner you authorize gets listed on the form and must supply their own two IDs.
When you don’t need it: a PO Box rented directly from the Post Office is not a CMRA, since USPS delivers to its own facility rather than to an agent (that’s PS Form 1093). Our guide to sending mail to a PO Box covers how the addressing differs. And to redirect mail from an old address to a new one, see USPS change of address — Form 1583 will not do it.
How Do You Fill Out Form 1583?
The June 2024 revision has fourteen numbered items, and you don’t fill in all of them. USPS assigns items 2a–2e to the agent, plus 14a and 14b if they witness your signature. You complete the rest.
- Items 1 and 2 — mailbox and CMRA details. Dates the box was opened and closed, the delivery street address, your PMB number, city, state, ZIP+4. Agent-completed.
- Item 3 — Type of Service Requested. Business/Organization Use or Residential/Personal Use. Business means you must also complete item 7. Residential carries a rule people miss — each adult using the mailbox files a separate Form 1583.
- Item 4 — Name of Applicant. Name, phone, email (4a–4e), then your actual street home address including apartment or suite number, city, state, ZIP+4, country (4f–4j). Item 4k asks whether you’re a court-ordered protected individual; if yes, attach the court order.
- Item 5 — Authorized Individual. Optional: whoever besides you may collect mail, with their name, contact details, and home address. Leave blank if it’s just you.
- Item 6 — If Transferring PMB Mail to Another Address. Only if mail will be forwarded, shipped, or emailed onward. Most virtual mailbox customers do.
- Item 7 — Business/Organization Information. Required for business use: name and type of business, address, phone, and place of registration (7i) — county and state for a domestic business, or the country for a foreign one.
- Items 8 through 11 — the ID blocks. Items 8 and 9 record your photo ID and address ID: name, ID number, issuing entity, expiration date, and a type checkbox. Items 10 and 11 repeat that for the authorized individual — skip if item 5 is blank.
- Item 12 — Exceptions for Additional Recipients. For business use, list members receiving mail at the box; each must present two valid IDs on request. For residential use, a parent or guardian lists a minor’s name here — the minor’s ID isn’t required.
- Items 13 and 14 — Signatures. 13a is your signature, 13b the date. Signing certifies the information is accurate, truthful, and complete, and acknowledges that false answers carry criminal and civil penalties. For business use, an officer signs and gives their title. The CMRA signs 14a and dates 14b.
Read the agreement on page two before signing. Its first term surprises people: when the relationship ends, neither you nor the agent may file a change of address order with USPS. Instead, DMM 508.1.8 requires the CMRA to remail your mail for at least six months after termination, with new postage applied. You must also file an updated form whenever any information on it changes.
Does Form 1583 Need to Be Notarized?
Not necessarily — the most commonly misstated fact about this form. Plenty of guides still say flatly that it must be notarized. The current instructions give you two acceptable paths:
- Sign in front of the agent. You may sign or confirm your signature in the physical or virtual presence — USPS specifies real-time audio and video — of the CMRA owner or an authorized employee. No notary at all.
- Acknowledge your signature before a notary public, also in physical or virtual presence over real-time audio and video, provided the notary is commissioned in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia.
Because USPS wrote “virtual presence (in real-time audio and video)” into both options, remote online notarization is accepted where state law authorizes it. That’s how virtual mailbox providers onboard you entirely online — they either witness your signature over video or bundle a remote notary session into signup, so ask before hunting for a notary yourself. If one is used, they complete the block at the bottom of page two and apply their seal.
What ID Do You Need for Form 1583?
Two types, for you and for any authorized individual. One must be a government-issued photo ID; the second must confirm the home address on the form. Attach copies of both. The lists are closed — anything not named is not acceptable.
Photo ID options (items 8e and 10e):
- U.S. state, territory, or tribal driver’s license or nondriver’s ID card
- Uniformed Service ID
- Passport
- Certificate of Naturalization
- U.S. Access Card
- Matricula Consular
- U.S. Permanent Resident Card
- U.S. University ID Card
- NEXUS Card
Address verification options (items 9g and 11g), each of which must show the address you entered:
- U.S. state, territory, or tribal driver’s license or nondriver’s ID card
- Current lease
- Mortgage or Deed of Trust
- Home or vehicle insurance policy
- Vehicle registration card
- Voter card
The trap: a driver’s license appears on both lists and can only count once — USPS’s footnotes say it may be used for the photo ID or the address ID, not both. A license plus a passport fails too, since a passport carries no address. Pair a photo ID from the first list with a document from the second: license plus current lease, or passport plus vehicle registration. Note also what’s absent — utility bills and bank statements aren’t on the address list, the most frequent reason an application is bounced back.
Form 1583 vs. 1583-A — What’s the Difference?
Two halves of the same system, filed by different parties. Form 1583 is filed by the customer; Form 1583-A is filed by the mailbox business.
| PS Form 1583 | PS Form 1583-A | |
|---|---|---|
| Official title | Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent | Application to Act as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency |
| Who files it | The customer renting the mailbox | The CMRA owner or manager |
| Filed with | The CMRA, who uploads it to USPS | The postmaster, directly |
| Current revision | June 2024 | January 2023 |
| Signature witnessed by | The agent, or a notary public | The postmaster or designee |
| Filed how often | Once per adult using the box | Once per CMRA location |
By signing 1583-A, the business agrees to keep a Form 1583 on file for its owner and every addressee receiving mail there, to represent its delivery address as a private mailbox, and to comply with DMM 508.1.8. It also agrees to something customers rarely know: a CMRA is not authorized to accept Registered Mail from clients for mailing — the Post Office is the only acceptable mailing point.
How Do You Submit Form 1583?
You give it to your mailbox company — there’s no USPS website where an individual uploads their own. The agent uploads the completed form to the Postal Service’s CMRA Customer Registration Database and keeps the signed copy at the business location, available at all times for inspection by the postmaster and the Postal Inspection Service.
The practical sequence: download the blank PDF or use your provider’s copy, complete your items, gather clear copies of both IDs, sign in front of the agent over video or before a notary, then return everything. The provider countersigns item 14a, uploads it, and activates your box. Applications may be verified to confirm you actually reside or do business at the address in item 4f or 7c.
One addressing detail once the box is live: DMM 508.1.8 requires mail to a private mailbox to carry either PMB or the # symbol plus your box number on a separate line below your name and street address. Getting that wrong is a common cause of mail being refused. Once your mail setup is sorted and you’re sending packages rather than receiving them, you can ship with ParcelPath for free — up to 89% off USPS and 85% off UPS, no monthly fee.
Sources
- USPS — PS Form 1583, Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent (June 2024)
- USPS — PS Form 1583-A, Application to Act as a CMRA (January 2023)
- USPS Postal Explorer — Domestic Mail Manual 508.1.8
Frequently Asked Questions
Is USPS Form 1583 required for a virtual mailbox?
Yes. A virtual mailbox provider is a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, and USPS requires a completed PS Form 1583 on file for every addressee receiving mail there. Providers won’t accept mail for you until the signed form and your ID copies are in hand.
Does Form 1583 have to be notarized?
No — a notary is one of two options. Under the June 2024 revision you may sign in the physical or virtual presence, meaning real-time audio and video, of the CMRA owner or an authorized employee. Alternatively you can acknowledge your signature before a notary commissioned in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or D.C., and remote online notarization is accepted.
What two forms of ID does Form 1583 require?
One government-issued photo ID — such as a driver’s or nondriver’s card, passport, Uniformed Service ID, Permanent Resident Card, or NEXUS card — plus one document confirming your home address, such as a current lease, mortgage or Deed of Trust, insurance policy, vehicle registration, or voter card. Utility bills and bank statements are not accepted.
Can I use my driver’s license for both IDs on Form 1583?
No. Although a driver’s or nondriver’s ID card appears on both the photo ID and address ID lists, USPS states it may be used for only one of the two. Pair it with a separate address document such as a current lease or vehicle registration card.
Can I fill out USPS Form 1583 online?
You can complete and sign it entirely online, but you submit it to your mailbox provider rather than to USPS. Because the form permits signing in virtual presence over real-time audio and video, most providers run the process digitally, then upload it on your behalf. There is no public USPS portal for filing your own 1583.
What is the difference between Form 1583 and Form 1583-A?
Form 1583 is the customer’s application authorizing a mailbox company to receive their mail. Form 1583-A is the mailbox company’s own application to the postmaster for permission to operate as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency. Renting a mailbox, you file 1583 and never touch 1583-A.
Does filing Form 1583 change my address with USPS?
No. It only authorizes an agent to receive mail addressed to you at their address; it doesn’t redirect mail from your existing one. The agreement terms actually prohibit you or the agent from filing a change of address order with USPS when the relationship ends. To move mail between addresses, use the standard USPS change of address process.
Part of our USPS shipping guide. Related: Private Mailbox Rental · USPS Change of Address · How to Send Mail to a PO Box.
