USPS Form 1583 for Your Virtual Mailbox

What a CMRA is and why Form 1583 exists

USPS defines a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency 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" (DMM 508.1.8.1). Virtual mailbox providers, private mailbox stores and many business centers are CMRAs. The mailbox you rent there is a private mailbox, or PMB (USPS FAQ).

Normally only you, or someone you authorize, can collect your mail. Form 1583 is that authorization in writing: you name the CMRA as your agent, prove who you are with two IDs, and sign in front of a witness. USPS says plainly that a customer applying for a PMB "will be required to fill out PS Form 1583" and show "two forms of ID (one with a photo)" (source).

If there's no signed form on file for an addressee, the CMRA can't keep that mail. It returns it to the Post Office endorsed "Undeliverable, Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, No Authorization to Receive Mail for this Addressee" (DMM 508.1.8). That's why every mailbox provider, including ours, asks for the form before your address goes live.

Who files the form, and who signs it

The form has two sides: the customer (the applicant) and the CMRA (the agent). USPS splits the work between them.

How many forms you need

• Personal use: a separate form for each adult using the PMB. Spouses each complete and sign their own (DMM 508.1.8).
• Business use: one form for the business, with item 7 completed. An officer signs and gives their title (form footnote 14).
• Children: a parent or guardian lists a minor's name on their own form, and "the minor's ID is not required" (footnote 13).
• Someone collecting mail for you: name them as the authorized individual in item 5. They then need their own photo ID and address ID in items 10 and 11 (footnote 9).

Names matter too. Write your legal name as it appears on your ID. If you receive mail under a trade name or a second company, ask the provider how it wants that listed: item 7 has room for one business, and each person or entity getting mail must be covered by a form.

The two IDs USPS accepts, and the ones it doesn't

Form 1583 asks for two types of identification: "One ID must be a government-issued photo ID. The second must confirm the Applicant's… address listed on this form" (footnote 9). Both must be current, not expired, and you attach a copy of each (DMM 508.1.8). Only the types printed on the form count.

Rules that trip people up

• One license, one slot. A driver's license appears on both lists but "may be used for only one of the IDs… not for both" (footnote 10).
• The address must match. Your home address in item 4f "must match document provided in item 9b" (footnote 4). If the application doesn't match the ID, the CMRA must deny it (DMM 508.1.8).
• Never accepted: Social Security cards, birth certificates, credit cards "and other similar items" (DMM 608.10.5).
• Not on the list: utility bills and bank statements. They're common proof-of-address documents elsewhere, but Form 1583 has no box for them.

What goes on the form

The June 2024 edition runs from item 1 to item 14 on the first page, with instructions, the agreement and the notary block on the second. Most of it is your own details copied from your IDs.

Witness or notary: the ways to sign

USPS doesn't require a notary. The rule, printed on page 2 of the form and in the Domestic Mail Manual, is that you "sign or confirm" your signature "in the physical or virtual (in real-time audio and video) presence" of the CMRA or its authorized employee, or acknowledge it in the physical or virtual presence of "a notary public commissioned in a United States state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia" (DMM 508.1.8, form).

The video option is recent. USPS added "virtual (in real-time audio and video)" presence and the US-commission requirement for notaries with a standard effective May 1, 2024; the text reached the online manual on July 14, 2024 (Postal Bulletin 22648).

• A notary commissioned outside the US doesn't meet the rule, even if the notarization is valid locally.
• Have both original IDs with you on the call, and don't sign in advance: the witness has to see you sign or confirm your signature.
• Providers can choose which routes they offer. If yours only takes its own video session or only notarized forms, that's its policy, not a USPS rule.
• Notary fees are set by state law and platforms, not by USPS. Ask the provider or notary for the cost before you book.

Filing for an LLC or corporation

When a company receives mail at the PMB, tick Business/Organization Use in item 3 and complete item 7 (footnote 2). The company doesn't hold an ID, so the officer who signs gives their own two IDs in items 8 and 9 and adds their title next to the signature (footnote 14). For an LLC, that's usually a member or manager.

1. 1
   7a, business nameThe legal name exactly as it appears on your formation document, including "LLC" or "Inc.".
2. 2
   7b, type of businessThe entity type, such as LLC or corporation.
3. 3
   7c–7g, business street addressUSPS may verify that the applicant "conducts business at the home or business address listed in items 4f or 7c" (form, page 2), so use a real address you can stand behind, not the mailbox address itself.
4. 4
   7i, place of registration"The county and state (if domestic), or the country (if foreign)" (footnote 8). For a US LLC, that's where it was formed.
5. 5
   12, other recipientsList the people who will receive mail at the PMB. Each "must, upon request, present two forms of valid ID to the Postal Service" (footnote 13).

Because item 7 needs a legal name and a place of registration, the business form comes after the company exists. If you're still forming it, see formation for non-residents or the LLC formation guide first.

After you sign: your PMB address, the USPS database and updates

You don't mail Form 1583 to the Post Office. The CMRA "uploads the original completed signed PS Form 1583 to the Postal Service's CMRA Customer Registration Database and retains the completed signed copy" (form, page 2), along with clear copies of both IDs (DMM 508.1.8). The CMRA then certifies in that database every quarter, by January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15, that its forms are current (source). That's the provider's job, not yours.

How your address is written

Mail to a CMRA must carry "PMB" or "#" and your box number (DMM 508.1.8). A typical address reads:

That example follows the one USPS gives. Use the same format everywhere you publish or register the address, so mail isn't delayed or returned.

When to file a new form

• When anything on it changes. "When any information required on PS Form 1583 changes, the addressee must complete a new application" (DMM 508.1.8). That covers a new home address, a name change, a renamed company or a new recipient.
• When an ID expires. The form itself has no expiry date, but the IDs on file must be current, so expect a request for a new ID when one runs out.
• When you close the mailbox. Neither you nor the CMRA files a USPS change-of-address order (agreement). The CMRA re-mails your mail for at least 6 months after the closing date and keeps your form for at least 6 months (DMM 508.1.8).

How it works with a Registate mailbox

With a Registate virtual mailbox you complete Form 1583 online from your dashboard, without printing anything. The USPS rules above apply in full; the flow just collects everything in one place.

1. 1
   Add each recipientEveryone who should receive mail at the address gets their own invitation, form and record.
2. 2
   Fill the form in stepsPurpose, company information, photo ID and address ID. Each step saves on its own.
3. 3
   Upload two IDsA foreign passport is accepted as the photo ID, so founders outside the US can apply.
4. 4
   Choose how your signature is witnessedOur staff can witness your signature over live video, or you can use online notarization if you prefer.
5. 5
   Track the statusDraft, submitted, in review, needs revision or completed, for each recipient.

How many recipients a mailbox covers depends on the plan; the virtual mailbox page lists recipient limits and the pricing page lists prices. Once the form is complete, incoming mail can be scanned, forwarded or stored. Your details go to USPS and stay with us; they aren't published (see privacy).