Every mailbox customer at your store has a PS Form 1583 on file — or should. It is the authorization that lets you receive mail on their behalf, and every piece of information on it has to be right, current, and backed by two valid IDs. Get one detail wrong and that customer’s mail goes back to sender. Let enough details slip and USPS can suspend delivery to the whole store.
This is what the form actually requires — the ID rules, the witnessing, the traps that catch stores — checked against the current form edition and the Domestic Mail Manual.
Who files a 1583
Every adult who receives mail through your store. Spouses sharing a box each file their own form. A business files one form, signed by an officer with their title — everyone else who receives mail at that box is listed in item 12 of the form (they don’t file separate 1583s, but must be able to produce two valid IDs if USPS asks). (DMM 508.1.8.3.a; 508.1.8.3.a.2)
The store’s owner or manager also files a 1583 — you are a customer of record too. (DMM 508.1.8.3.a.1)
The two-ID requirement
Every applicant presents two forms of identification — both current and not expired — and the information on each must match the application. If it doesn’t match, you must deny the application. (DMM 508.1.8.3.a.3–5; DMM 608.10)
Primary ID (government-issued photo)
One ID must be a current, government-issued photo identification. [verify] Acceptable forms include:
- State, territory, or tribal driver’s license or nondriver’s ID
- U.S. passport or passport card
- Uniformed service ID (military)
- Certificate of naturalization
- Permanent resident card (green card)
- Matricula consular (consular ID)
- U.S. university or college ID (with photo)
- NEXUS card
(PS Form 1583, item 8e)
Secondary ID (confirms the address)
The second ID must confirm the address listed on the form. [verify] Acceptable forms include:
- Driver’s license or nondriver’s ID (if not already used as primary)
- Current lease or rental agreement
- Home or vehicle insurance policy
- Mortgage document or deed of trust
- Vehicle registration card
- Voter registration card
(PS Form 1583, item 9g)
The one-license rule
A single driver’s license cannot serve as both IDs. It can be the photo ID or the address ID — not both. This is the single most common mistake stores make on intake. (PS Form 1583, footnotes 10/12)
What is not acceptable
Social Security cards, birth certificates, credit cards, and similar items are explicitly excluded. (DMM 608.10.5)
Witnessing the signature
The applicant signs the form — or confirms their signature — in one of three compliant ways:
- In the physical presence of the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee (the standard at-the-counter signing);
- Over real-time audio and video with the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee (live video — not a recording, not async); or
- In the physical or virtual presence of a notary public commissioned in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or D.C.
Your own trained staff, over a live video call, is exactly as compliant as a notary. The notary is an alternative, not a requirement. (DMM 508.1.8.3.a.3)
For a deeper walkthrough of remote witnessing — what qualifies, what doesn’t, and the traps that catch stores — see the Remote 1583 Witnessing guide.
After signing: uploads and retention
- The completed, signed 1583 and clear, legible copies of both IDs are uploaded to the USPS Customer Registration Database (CRD). If USPS flags an upload as illegible, you must promptly re-upload. (DMM 508.1.8.3.c)
- At minimum, a digital copy of every completed 1583 must be kept at your business location, available at all times for USPS examination. (DMM 508.1.8.3.c.1)
- After a box closes, the endorsed 1583 is retained for at least six months. (DMM 508.1.8.4.a)
When a new 1583 is required
A completed 1583 does not expire on its own — but the IDs backing it do, and that is where stores get caught.
An expired ID on file means the authorization is no longer compliant. (DMM 508.1.8.3.h) The customer must present current IDs and complete a new Form 1583 — it is a fresh form, not an update to the old one. (DMM 508.1.8.3.a.5)
The same applies when anything on the form changes: a new name, a new address, a change in the business — any material change triggers a new 1583 with current IDs.
This is where the quarterly certification bites. Every CRD certification (due January 15, April 15, July 15, October 15) requires you to attest that no ID on file is expired and every form is current. A store with 300 boxes has 300+ expiration dates to track — and missing one means certifying falsely or scrambling the week it’s due.
For the full quarterly certification process — what you’re certifying, how stores fail it, and the consequence chain — see the CRD Quarterly Certification guide. For the complete compliance surface on one page, see the CMRA Compliance Checklist.
The address format (PMB)
The customer’s mailing address at your store must use the correct USPS format: PMB or # followed by the box number. (DMM 508.1.8.3.d–f)
- The PMB number goes on its own line above the street address, or appended to the street line.
- Never combine your building’s suite number with the customer’s box number (“10 Main St Ste 11-234” is prohibited).
- If your store’s address already has a suite element, the customer must use the three-line PMB format.
Wrong format risks mail returned endorsed “Undeliverable as Addressed, Missing PMB or # Sign.”
Common mistakes on intake
- Accepting a single driver’s license as both IDs. It counts as one — you need a second document confirming the address.
- Not checking expiration dates at intake. An ID that expires next month creates a compliance gap the next quarter. Capture the expiry date at signing and track it.
- Altering a signed form. A modified 1583 is invalid — mail for that customer goes back to sender until a new form is completed. (DMM 508.1.8.3.b)
- Using an outdated form edition. Always use the current PS Form 1583 — June 2024 edition — downloaded fresh from USPS: about.usps.com/forms/ps1583.pdf.
- Not listing authorized pickup persons. Anyone authorized to pick up mail (form item 5) must be listed with their own two IDs on the form. (PS Form 1583, items 10–11)
The honest part
The form itself takes five minutes to fill out. The hard part is everything around it: two valid IDs that match, a live witness, a clean upload, an expiry date that someone is watching, and a quarterly certification that depends on all of the above being true for every customer in your store. Most stores keep this in a filing cabinet and a spreadsheet. That works until the quarter it doesn’t.
How Postern fits: Postern captures the form, both IDs, the witness event, and the CRD upload in one sitting — at the counter or over live video. Every expiration date is tracked from that moment forward: the system flags approaching lapses, prompts re-verification, and turns the quarterly certification into one click. The software is free to run; Postern shares in what your store earns. If you’d like the walkthrough, book a demo.
Primary sources — always use the current USPS versions: DMM 508 §1.8 (the CMRA rules) · PS Form 1583 (June 2024) · PS Form 1583-A (January 2023)
Keep the whole compliance surface straight: the CMRA Compliance Checklist covers the full quarterly picture. For remote witnessing specifics, see Remote 1583 Witnessing. Considering a switch? PostalMate vs. Postern · PostalPoint vs. Postern.
This guide is general information, not legal or compliance advice. It was checked against the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 508.1.8, edition updated July 2026), PS Form 1583 (June 2024), PS Form 1583-A (January 2023), and DMM 608.10 — but USPS rules change, and you remain responsible for your store’s compliance. When in doubt, confirm against the current DMM.