How To Use the USPS Change of Address Online Form
Moving is a big enough event without throwing your mail on top of it. Fortunately, as long as you have an established account with the United States Postal Service (USPS), you can change your address online as a great alternative to dropping off a physical form to the local post office.
The USPS makes it convenient to change your address online if you’ve recently moved. The USPS Change of Address Form is easy to use and available through the USPS official website. If you’re looking for a straightforward guide on how to use this online form, read on for a step-by-step- guide or read more from our blog on Facts, Reviews or Learn more about selling your home to cash home buyers near me.
Steps to Fill Out the Form
Here are six quick and easy steps to changing your address using the USPS online form.
Step 1: Identify Who’s Moving
First, identify who is moving into your new home. There are three types of address changes you can do online: individual, family, or business. If you have a spouse or children who will be living in the home with you, select the family icon to help mail get delivered to the right address.
Information Needed
- First name
- Middle name
- Last name
- Suffix
- Email address
- Phone number
- Previous address
Step 2: Establish the Type of Move and When
Next, you’ll have to establish whether it’s a permanent or temporary move. A permanent move means you’ll be living at the new residence for six months or more. For our customers who just purchased a home, we’re assuming that you just got your dream house. So, you’ll need to select the permanent option.
After establishing whether the move is permanent or temporary, you’ll need to indicate the move-in date. This determines when USPS should begin forwarding your mail. This is especially helpful for those who are not closing escrow for the next thirty days and won’t be moving just yet.
Take note that USPS also offers a free service that lets you track and manage all your mail and deliveries online. You can sign up for their Informed Delivery option if you won’t be moving to your new address within the next 30 days to six months.
Step 3: Review All the Details
This step is the easiest but the most often overlooked. Make sure to review all the information you’ve provided before submitting the form. Ensuring that everything is correct is crucial. Trust us, mail being sent too soon or to the wrong address can cause unwanted headaches!
Take your time in filling out the form. Check to see if you’ve populated all of the required fields. Double check entries that include numerals such as the move-in date and house number. One mistake with a single digit could create a great deal of inconvenience for you and cause unnecessary delays.
Step 4: Verify Who You Are
With every online process, verifications are necessary to ensure the legitimacy of transactions. This is especially true for changes in personal details.
For this step, USPS will ask you to select the address that’s associated with your debit or credit card. If you have a different address associated, you have the option to enter a different one to match the one associated with your card. This allows USPS to properly verify your identity to prevent mail fraud.
Step 5: Pay the Small Fee
The great part about this service from USPS is that they only charge a very small processing fee of $1.05. This is due to the large number of address changes they process online, keeping the cost minimal for all its customers.
Types of Payment Accepted by USPS
- American Express
- Mastercard
- Visa
- Discover
Step 6: Check Your Email for the Confirmation Code
After paying the processing fee, you will receive an email confirming the details of your request, along with a confirmation code. For a family move, the primary registrant who submitted the request will receive a welcome kit. The rest of the members will receive a change of address confirmation letter.
It’s important to remember that changing your address through USPS does not change the address you have registered with your bank, insurance provider, mail subscriptions, and such. USPS is not a centralized service, so you’ll have to change your address separately with all those other organizations.
Hassle-Free Submission
Filling out physical forms and taking them to the local post office may seem convenient enough for some. However, it’s not always the best option. If you want a fast and efficient way of updating your address, submitting an online USPS form is the way to go. Think of all the time you’ll save on having to print the form and dropping it off yourself.
Where to Start
The U.S. Postal Service offers an easy way to change your address via their website. You can update your address now by accessing the website here. However, if you still prefer the traditional method, you can always opt out of using the online process and print out a form instead.