PS Form 1583, explained

PS Form 1583 is the form every CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency) must collect from every customer before accepting mail on their behalf. It's short — one page — but the fields are specific, and USPS DMM 508.1.8 is unforgiving about missing fields.

This is a field-by-field guide.

Part 1 — Who the customer is

The customer fills out their name, home address, telephone, and every business name they want to receive mail for. If they rent a PMB for an LLC and a DBA and also receive personal mail, all three names go on the same form — USPS doesn't want three separate Form 1583s for one box.

Part 2 — Identification

Two forms of ID are required, full stop:

• Primary ID must be a photo ID. Usually a driver's license, state ID, or passport.
• Secondary ID must verify the applicant's home address if the primary ID doesn't. A utility bill, lease, or bank statement works.

You write down the document type, the document number, and — best practice even though USPS doesn't strictly require it — you keep a copy of each document with the form.

Part 3 — Operator attestation

The CMRA operator (that's you) signs the form, prints your name, and dates it. Your signature is the legal attestation that you witnessed the customer sign and that you verified both forms of identification.

Common mistakes

1. Missing business names. If a customer receives mail for an LLC and that LLC isn't listed, the mail technically can't be delivered to the PMB. Capture everything up front.
2. Primary ID that doesn't show the home address. Perfectly legal — just means secondary ID must include an address proof. Most people forget this.
3. Operator signature missing. Easy to overlook; makes the form invalid.

AutoCMRA prevents all three of these by design — every required field is validated, and the operator signature step is non-optional.

See how it works →