USPS Form 1583: Rules, ID List & How to Notarize It

What is USPS Form 1583?

USPS Form 1583 — officially PS Form 1583, Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent — is the form you complete to authorize a mail-receiving agent to accept mail addressed to you. That agent is almost always a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) — the USPS Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 508.1.8.1) defines a CMRA as “a business that, in whole or in part, accepts the delivery of U.S. Mail on behalf of another person or entity as a business service.” Virtual mailbox services, mail-forwarding companies, and retail mail-center storefronts all operate as CMRAs, and every box they rent is a private mailbox (PMB) — the DMM requires the address to carry the “PMB” designation or the alternative ”#” sign.

The completed, signature-verified 1583 is what makes a private mailbox or virtual business address work. Under DMM 508.1.8, a CMRA must not deliver mail to an addressee who does not have a current PS Form 1583 on file — mail without one goes back to the Post Office. That rule, not the mailbox company’s preference, is why your provider will not activate your box until it holds your verified form.

The Postal Service requires the 1583 so it can confirm your identity when mail is delivered to a third party on your behalf. For residential use, a separate PS Form 1583 is completed for each adult who will use the PMB; for business use, the applicant lists in box 12 the members who will receive mail there, and an officer signs the application with their title.

The 2023 rule changes behind the current form

USPS rewrote its CMRA standards in 2023, and most older Form 1583 guides still describe the paper-era process. The revision, announced in Postal Bulletin 22624 and incorporated into the Domestic Mail Manual on July 9, 2023, moved the whole system onto a central digital record:

1. The CMRA Customer Registration Database (CRD) became the system of record. The CMRA “must enter the information provided on each PS Form 1583 and upload a clear and legible copy of each identification document into the USPS CMRA Customer Registration Database.”
2. ID images live in the database, not the shop. “Images of the primary and secondary forms of identification are not required to be retained at the CMRA after they are uploaded into the CMRA Customer Registration Database.”
3. The CMRA keeps a digital copy of your 1583 at its business location, available at all times for examination by Postal Service representatives and inspectors.
4. Quarterly certification. The CMRA must certify in the database each quarter — due January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15 — that every 1583 it submitted is current, all termination dates have been updated, and no identification documents are expired.

The June 2024 edition of the form reflects this regime, which is why a 1583 template saved from a pre-2023 guide can bounce: the boxes, the ID checklists, and the verification language have all changed.

Does USPS Form 1583 have to be notarized?

Your signature has to be verified, but notarization is only one of two ways to do it. The June 2024 form spells out both paths in its instructions:

“The applicant must sign or confirm their signature in the physical or virtual presence (in real-time audio and video) of the Agent or the Agent’s authorized employee or acknowledge their signature in the physical or virtual presence (in real-time audio and video) of a notary public commissioned in a United States state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia.”

In plain terms, either the CMRA witnesses your signature itself, or a notary public does. When a notary handles it, they recognize your acknowledged signature and complete the notary box at the bottom of page 2. A notary completing PS Form 1583 must be commissioned in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia — a commission from any one of those jurisdictions is valid for the form, regardless of which state your mailbox is in.

Verification path	Who witnesses	Where it happens	When it’s used
CMRA witness	Owner, manager, or authorized employee signs box 14a	In person or via real-time audio/video at the CMRA	You visit or video-connect with the mailbox store directly
Notary public	Commissioned notary completes the notary box (page 2)	In person or online (RON)	Setting up remotely, or the CMRA requires a notarized form

A practical note from the form’s own instructions (footnote 15): the agent or an authorized employee may sign box 14a, and if the notary public box has a seal, the notary public completes that box instead. In other words, one path or the other applies — not both. Some virtual mailbox providers route every applicant to a notary because their staff never meets you face to face; others witness signatures themselves during onboarding. If yours requires a notary, an online notarization session completes the box without a trip to a notary’s office.

What notarial act is used on PS Form 1583?

The notarization on PS Form 1583 is an acknowledgment, not a jurat. The notary block on page 2 reads, verbatim:

“the applicant, ______, who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed to the application, appeared before me, and acknowledged their signature.”

With an acknowledgment, you confirm to the notary that the signature is yours and that you signed willingly — you acknowledge signing the form. That is different from a jurat, where a signer swears the contents are true and signs in front of the notary. The distinction matters in practice: the form’s certification (footnote 14) already carries its own legal weight — by signing, you certify the information is “accurate, truthful, and complete” and accept that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information “may be subject to criminal and/or civil penalties, including fines and imprisonment.” The notary’s job is not to administer that oath; it is to verify who you are and confirm the signature is yours, then complete the state, county, date, signature, commission-expiration, and seal fields in the notary block.

What ID do I need for PS Form 1583?

Two forms of identification are required for the applicant, and the rules are specific. Per footnote 9 on the form:

1. One ID must be a government-issued photo ID. Acceptable photo IDs listed in box 8e are: a U.S. state, territory, or tribal driver’s or nondriver’s ID card; a uniformed service ID; a passport; a Certificate of Naturalization; a U.S. Access Card; a Matricula Consular; a U.S. Permanent Resident Card; a U.S. University ID card; and a NEXUS card.
2. The second ID must confirm the address you list on the form. The acceptable address IDs in box 9g are: the driver’s/nondriver’s ID card, a current lease, a home or vehicle insurance policy, a mortgage or deed of trust, a vehicle registration card, or a voter card. The document must contain the home address you entered in boxes 9b–9f, and the home address you list in box 4f must match it (footnote 4).
3. A driver’s/nondriver’s ID counts for only one slot. Footnote 10 is explicit: although it appears on both lists, it “may be used for only one of the IDs (either photo ID or address ID), not for both.”
4. Copies of both IDs are attached to the form. Footnote 9 requires a copy of the photo and address ID documents, and DMM 508.1.8 requires the CMRA to upload “a clear and legible copy of each identification document” to the Postal Service’s database.

Note what the June 2024 form does not list: utility bills do not appear among the acceptable address IDs in box 9g, even though older guides still recommend them. Stick to the printed list — a lease, insurance policy, mortgage, vehicle registration, or voter card — and you avoid a round of rework with your provider.

If you list an authorized individual — someone permitted to pick up mail for you — they provide two forms of ID under the same rules (boxes 10 and 11, footnotes 9 and 12). For an online notarization, you will also need a device with a camera so you can appear on live video with the notary.

How to fill out PS Form 1583 before the notary session

The form’s instructions divide the work cleanly: the agent (CMRA) completes boxes 2a–2e — and 14a/14b only if the agent is the witness — and the customer completes all the other items. Work through your side in this order before you meet the notary:

1. Box 1 — PMB information. The date your private mailbox opened (your provider supplies this and the box 2 details if you’re unsure).
2. Box 3 — type of service. Check Business/Organization Use or Residential/Personal Use. Business use requires box 7 as well.
3. Box 4 — applicant. Name, phone, email, and your home street address — not the mailbox address. Per footnote 4, this address must match the address ID document you present. Box 4k asks whether you are a court-ordered protected individual; if yes, attach a copy of the court order.
4. Box 5 — authorized individual (optional). A person authorized to pick up mail for you. They need their own two IDs (boxes 10–11).
5. Box 6 — transfer address (if applicable). Where mail is transferred, mailed, shipped, or emailed onward — the heart of a mail-forwarding setup.
6. Box 7 — business information (business use only). Legal name, type of business, street address, and place of registration — the county and state if domestic, or the country if foreign (footnote 8).
7. Boxes 8–9 — your ID details. ID number, issuing entity, and expiration date for the photo ID; the matching address for the address ID. The form records the photo ID’s expiration date in box 8d, so present a current ID.
8. Box 12 — additional recipients (business use). List members who will receive mail at the PMB; each must, on request, present two forms of valid ID to the Postal Service (footnote 13).
9. Box 13a — your signature. Wait. Sign or confirm your signature only in the physical or virtual presence of the CMRA or the notary — that presence requirement is the entire point of the verification step.

Bring both original IDs to the session. An online notary verifies your identity on camera before you sign; an in-person notary examines the physical documents.

PS Form 1583 at a glance

Item	Requirement
What it does	Authorizes an agent (CMRA) to receive your mail
Form edition	PS Form 1583, June 2024
Governing rule	USPS Domestic Mail Manual 508.1.8
Signature verified by	CMRA owner/manager/employee or a notary public
Notarial act	Acknowledgment of the applicant’s signature
ID required	Two forms — one government-issued photo ID, one address-confirming ID (copies attached)
Notary eligibility	Commissioned in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or D.C.
Remote option	Form allows real-time audio/video (virtual presence)
Who files it	One form per adult (residential); officer signs for a business
After signing	CMRA uploads it to the USPS CMRA Customer Registration Database

Can PS Form 1583 be notarized online?

Setting up a virtual mailbox remotely is exactly why many people notarize PS Form 1583 online — and the current form is built for it. The June 2024 edition explicitly authorizes the applicant to acknowledge their signature in the “virtual presence (in real-time audio and video)” of a notary, so a remote online notarization (RON) session squarely fits the form’s own language.

The legal footing runs deeper than the form. Under the federal ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001, electronic signatures and records may not be denied legal effect solely because they are electronic. The authority for a notary to perform RON, though, comes from state commissioning law — most states’ RON statutes are modeled on the Uniform Law Commission’s Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) — and a federal floor, the SECURE Notarization Act (S.1212), has been introduced in Congress but not enacted. So in 2026, RON on a 1583 rests on two things that both check out: the USPS form’s own virtual-presence language, and the state law under which the online notary is commissioned.

On USA Notary, online notarization costs $25 per document, sessions are available 24/7, and remote online notarization is legally valid in all 50 states as a consumer service. A typical session takes 15–30 minutes: the platform verifies your identity — including credential analysis of your government-issued photo ID — you appear on live video with a commissioned online notary, the notary takes your acknowledgment and completes the notary box, and the session produces a tamper-evident notarized PDF and digital audit trail you download and hand to your mailbox provider. (Notary commissioning law is a separate, per-state matter: some states do not yet authorize their own notaries to perform RON, which is why the online notary you connect with may be commissioned in a different state than yours.) If you want to see the flow before you start, the step-by-step walkthrough covers ID verification and the video session, and you can notarize your Form 1583 online in one sitting.

One caution stands apart from the notarization itself: acceptance of a remotely notarized 1583 depends on the mailbox provider, not on USA Notary. Ask your provider before your session so the verified form you produce is the version they will file.

Can a non-U.S. resident complete Form 1583?

The June 2024 form anticipates applicants outside the United States — a detail that matters to foreign founders and expats setting up a U.S. mailing address. Three things on its face say so:

• The photo-ID checklist says “Passport” — with no U.S.-only qualifier. Other entries on the same list carry the U.S. prefix (U.S. Permanent Resident Card, U.S. Access Card, U.S. University ID card); the passport entry does not. The list also includes the Matricula Consular, a consular-issued ID.
• The address fields include Country boxes. The applicant’s home address (box 4j), the address-ID address (box 9f), and the authorized individual’s address (boxes 5j and 11f) each provide a country field, and the address ID you present must contain the address you list there.
• Foreign businesses are contemplated too. Footnote 8 defines a business’s place of registration as “the county and state (if domestic), or the country (if foreign).”

One caution bounds all three: the CMRA — not you — is the acceptance gatekeeper. Under DMM 508.1.8, “the CMRA owner or manager must verify the documentation to confirm that the addressee resides or conducts business at the permanent address shown on PS Form 1583” — so confirm with your provider which foreign documents it will accept before you file.

The notarization side is location-independent: any U.S.-commissioned notary can complete the form, and an online session connects you to one from anywhere with an internet connection — which is why expats and travelers use it to open a U.S. mailbox without flying home, the same approach that works for notarizing U.S. documents while living abroad.

If you would rather handle it in person and are checking counter options, note that a Post Office generally won’t notarize your form — postal clerks are not notaries; you’d need a notary at a bank, shipping store, or law office instead. Wherever you notarize it, the ID rules and the acknowledgment on the form stay the same.

Spouses, minors, businesses, and protected individuals

PS Form 1583 has one-per-person rules and a handful of special cases, all set out on the form and in DMM 508.1.8:

• Spouses. The DMM states that spouses must each complete and sign a separate PS Form 1583. A shared family mailbox means two forms, two ID sets, and — if a notary is used — two acknowledgments.
• Each adult in the household. Footnote 3 requires a separate 1583 for each adult using the PMB for residential use, not just spouses.
• Minors. A parent or guardian may receive a minor’s mail by listing the minor’s name on their own form — the minor’s ID is not required (footnote 13).
• Businesses. An officer must sign the application and provide their title (footnote 14), box 7 captures the business details, and box 12 lists each member receiving mail at the PMB. Each person listed must, upon request, present two forms of valid ID to the Postal Service.
• Protected individuals. Box 4k asks whether the applicant is a court-ordered protected individual; if yes, a copy of the court order must be attached. The form’s Privacy Act statement adds that information about an individual who files a protective court order will not be disclosed except by order of a court and with USPS General Counsel approval.

Common mistakes that get a PS Form 1583 sent back

Each of these traces to a specific rule on the form or in the DMM — and each one costs a second session or a re-signed form:

1. Using a driver’s license for both IDs. Footnote 10 limits it to one slot — photo ID or address ID, never both.
2. Address mismatch. The home address in box 4f must match the document presented as the address ID (footnote 4). A lease showing an old address fails the check.
3. Presenting an address document that isn’t on the list. Utility bills are not among the acceptable address IDs on the June 2024 form; use a lease, insurance policy, mortgage or deed of trust, vehicle registration, or voter card.
4. Signing box 13a early. The signature must be made or confirmed in the physical or virtual presence of the CMRA or notary. A pre-signed form defeats the verification the Postal Service requires — expect the notary to have you confirm or re-sign on camera.
5. Missing ID copies. Footnote 9 requires copies of both ID documents attached; the CMRA must upload legible copies to the USPS database.
6. Business form signed without an officer’s title. Footnote 14 requires an officer to sign and provide his or her title for business/organization use.
7. One form for two spouses. DMM 508.1.8 requires each spouse to complete and sign their own 1583.
8. An outdated edition. The current form is PS Form 1583, June 2024 — the edition that carries the virtual-presence language. Download it fresh from USPS rather than reusing an old copy.

What happens after your 1583 is notarized?

Once your signature is verified, the CMRA takes over the filing. Per the form’s instructions, the agent uploads the original completed, signed PS Form 1583 to the Postal Service’s CMRA Customer Registration Database and retains the completed signed copy at the CMRA business location — DMM 508.1.8 specifies at minimum a digital copy, available at all times for examination by the postmaster (or a designee) and the Postal Inspection Service. The Postal Service may also run verification procedures to confirm you actually reside or do business at the address you listed and that the IDs in boxes 8–11 are valid.

The form has no fixed expiration date, but it does not stay static either. The agreement you sign commits you to file an updated application whenever any information required on the form changes or becomes obsolete — a move, a name change, a new authorized individual. And when you close the box, the DMM requires the CMRA to write the termination date on its copy and retain it for a minimum of six months. On the provider’s side, the quarterly certification cycle is why mailbox companies chase customers whose ID documents are about to expire — the CMRA must confirm in the registration database that no identification on file has lapsed.

Your job ends when you hand the mailbox company a fully completed, verified form — so confirm the ID details and the verification path up front, and your provider can activate the box without a second round of paperwork.