USPS Form 1583: Execution Rules for CMRA Operators

PS Form 1583, Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent, is the addressee's written authorization for your CMRA to receive their mail. Without a properly executed form on file for an addressee, you have no authority to accept mail for them, and every piece you accept is a compliance deficiency waiting to be found.

The form was substantially revised in June 2024. If you are still handing customers an older revision, replace it: the current form is the one the CRD workflow and USPS reviewers expect.

Under DMM 508.1.8.3, the addressee must sign Form 1583 in one of three settings:

• Physical presence of the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee, who witnesses the signature at your location.
• Virtual real-time audio and video presence of the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee. A live video call counts; a recorded video or an emailed scan does not.
• Acknowledgment before a commissioned notary, including a remote online notary. RON-witnessed forms are fully USPS-accepted, despite the persistent myth that notarization must happen in person.

Whichever path you use, the witness is attesting that the person signing is the person on the IDs. That is why the ID review happens at execution time, not after.

Every addressee needs their own Form 1583. A married couple sharing one PMB files two forms. A business with three people authorized to receive mail files a form for each individual, plus the entity information on the form itself. The only carve-out is minors, who are listed on a parent's or guardian's form rather than executing their own.

This is one of the most commonly failed rules in practice, because a single form per box feels reasonable. It is not what the DMM says.

The CMRA must verify that the home or business address the applicant wrote on the form matches the address on their ID documents. No discrepancy means verified; a mismatch means the form is not ready to accept. Two related rules trip operators up:

• A customer's home address may be a foreign address. USPS does not require a U.S. home address.
• A CMRA address is never acceptable as the applicant's home address. The form exists to link a real residence or business location to the box.

The full ID rules, including which documents can prove an address, are on the ID requirements page.

A signed form is the start of the record, not the end of it:

1. Enter the form data and upload both ID images to the Customer Registration Database.
2. Keep a digital copy of the completed form at your business location. Paper is optional once the digital copy exists.
3. Keep the form current. Address changes, name changes, and changes to authorized recipients all require the record to be updated.
4. When the customer leaves, follow the termination and retention rules: record the date, keep the form at least six months, and honor the remail obligation.