If you are signing USPS Form 1583 for a mailbox company, a notary is only one of your options. Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 508.1.8.3a(3) lists three routes. You can sign before the company's staff in person, sign before them on live video, or use a US-commissioned notary.
We read DMM 508, PS Form 1583 (June 2024 edition) and three Federal Register (FR) notices on October 31, 2026. In these documents, the mailbox company is called a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA). The form itself calls the company the "Agent."
The rule lists three ways to sign, and only one uses a notary
The sentence that decides this question is DMM 508.1.8.3a(3). Here it is in full:
"The mail addressee (the applicant) must sign or confirm his or her signature in the physical or virtual (in real-time audio and video) presence of the CMRA owner or manager, or authorized employee, or acknowledge his or her signature in the physical or virtual (in real-time audio and video) presence of a notary public commissioned in a United States state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia."
The word "must" covers the whole list. The notary is the last option, joined by "or." "Acknowledge" is the legal term used for the notary route. In plain terms, you tell the notary that the signature on the form is yours.
Page 2 of PS Form 1583 repeats the rule in a NOTE: "The applicant must sign or confirm their signature in the physical or virtual presence (in real-time audio and video) of the Agent or the Agent's authorized employee or acknowledge their signature in the physical or virtual presence (in real-time audio and video) of a notary public commissioned in a United States state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia."
Put together, the rule gives you three routes:
- Sign or confirm your signature in front of the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee, in person.
- Do the same in front of the same people over real-time audio and video.
- Acknowledge your signature before a notary commissioned in the United States, in person or over real-time audio and video.
The form defines an authorized employee as "An employee of the CMRA who is authorized to act on the CMRA's behalf."
The three signing routes differ in who watches you sign
| Route | Who watches you | How | Which part of the form | What you bring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMRA, in person | CMRA owner, manager, or authorized employee | Physical presence | Item 14a, Signature of CMRA or Authorized Employee | Two IDs |
| CMRA, live video | CMRA owner, manager, or authorized employee | Real-time audio and video | Item 14a, Signature of CMRA or Authorized Employee | Two IDs |
| US notary | A notary commissioned in a US state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia | Physical presence, or real-time audio and video | Notary Public box at the bottom of page 2 | Two IDs |
The form tells the agent to complete "items 14a and 14b if necessary (i.e., if the agent is the witness)". Footnote 15 covers the other case: "If the Notary Public box at the bottom of page 2 has a seal, the Notary Public completes the box." So the CMRA routes use the agent's signature line, and the notary route uses the box on page 2. Page 1 of the form has no notary box at all.
The ID rule is the same on every route. Footnote 9 says: "Two types of identification are required for both the Applicant and, if listed, the Authorized Individual. One ID must be a government-issued photo ID. The second must confirm the Applicant's or Authorized Individual's address listed on this form." The six proof-of-address checkboxes are where the form is narrowest. We list them in why USPS Form 1583 gets rejected.
The word "notarized" does not appear in the current rules
We counted the words in each document. We searched for "notarized" as a whole word and for "notar" anywhere inside a word.
| Document | "notarized" | "notar" (any form) | Where "notar" appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMM 508.1.8, the CMRA section | 0 | 1 | The notary alternative in 508.1.8.3a(3) |
| DMM 508, the whole page | 0 | 1 | The same sentence |
| PS Form 1583 (June 2024) | 0 | 5 | All on page 2: footnote 15 twice, the NOTE once, the notary box twice |
| 89 FR 35716, the 2024 final rule | 0 | 16 | Throughout the rule |
For comparison, the same CMRA section of the DMM uses the word "must" 63 times. The notary appears once in the whole of DMM 508, and only as an alternative.
One USPS document we read does use "notarized." The 2023 final rule, 88 FR 32112, answered a public comment this way: "The Postal Service requires either that: The PS Form 1583 be notarized, or The applicant's identity be verified in person by a CMRA employee." Even there, the word sits inside a choice between two routes.
The May 2024 final rule clarified who can act as the notary
The current wording comes from a final rule titled "Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies Clarification," printed at 89 FR 35716. The rule was published on May 2, 2024. Its stated effective date is May 1, 2024.
The rule's summary says its purpose was "to clarify Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRA) notary responsibilities for the addressee's signature." The rule made these changes:
- The notary must be commissioned in the United States. The rule says: "This clarification is needed to establish that the notary public is domestically commissioned and to address particularities of some state notary public laws that do not authorize notaries public to attest a signature."
- The notary recognizes an acknowledged signature. The rule says: "The revision allows notaries public to recognize the PS Form 1583 applicant's acknowledged signature."
- The CMRA route uses "confirm." The December 2023 proposal (88 FR 90137) used "sign or acknowledge" for the CMRA route. The final rule replaced "acknowledge" with "confirm" for the CMRA owner or manager. The rule explains that "Notaries in the United States are appointed by state governments." The rule adds that the Postal Service "has no authority to confer any notarial authority on any person".
- Both routes name live video. The final text puts "physical or virtual (in real-time audio and video)" into the CMRA route and the notary route. The Postal Service wrote that "remote alternatives are desirable" in its response to a comment.
The 2024 rule did not remove a notary requirement. The same rule describes the history of the witness step:
"This is a longstanding requirement, as the Postal Service required CMRA owner/managers to sign PS Form 1583 as far back as 1967. In 1973, the Postal Service required the CMRA owner/manager to witness the execution of PS Form 1583. It was not until 1982 that the Postal Service allowed a notary public to witness the execution of PS Form 1583."
By the Postal Service's own account, notaries have been allowed to witness the form since 1982. The 2023 answer quoted above also framed notarization as one of two choices. The current wording, with live video named for both routes, is the text that took effect on May 1, 2024. Our explainer on what a CMRA is covers the wider CMRA rules from 2023 and 2024.
Your mailbox company decides which routes it accepts
The DMM sentence lists the routes an applicant may use. In the paragraph we read, nothing says a CMRA must offer all three. Some mailbox company pages say you must have the form notarized. Read that statement as the company's own process. The DMM text itself gives three routes.
Video steps also vary between companies. The 2024 rule says the Postal Service "has not prescribed the steps a CMRA must follow when witnessing the execution of PS Form 1583 during a virtual session". A company may ask for ID photos or other checks during the call. The company sets those details, because the rule does not.
The route also does not soften the ID check. DMM 508.1.8.3a(4) says: "If information on the application does not match the identification, the CMRA must deny the application."
If you are outside the United States, the notary route has extra limits. A notary commissioned in another country falls outside the rule's wording, and we cover the options from abroad in our Form 1583 rejection guide.
The rules we read set no fee and no processing time. We searched DMM 508.1.8, PS Form 1583 and 89 FR 35716 for "fee," "cost," "price" and "processing." None of those words appear in the three documents. The form has no fee box. If you use a notary, ask the notary what they charge. How long review takes is up to your mailbox company, so ask them before you sign up.
How Auteur handles Form 1583
We sell virtual mailboxes, so this is the seller's view. Auteur is in pre-launch, and your exact street address is assigned the day your city opens. Our product pages say that each adult receiving personal mail "completes their own free USPS Form 1583, and we walk them through it." The same pages say we are "building it to work from outside the US." Our product pages do not yet say which of the three signing routes we will use, so we won't promise one here.
The Virtual Business Address receives mail in a business or trade name. Choose it if you are signing the form for a company under Business/Organization Use. The Virtual Mailing Address is for personal mail, in individual names only.
Both plans photograph the envelope of every piece, and we open and scan only when you ask, for one flat fee per piece. Henry, our AI assistant, explains each letter you ask us to open. USPS Form 1583 is required before any provider can receive mail for you. Pricing comes by email with the next steps, and our fees and limits are in our fair use policy.
If the mail is for your company, get your Virtual Business Address. If the mail is only for you, order a Virtual Mailing Address. Ordering is free, there's no card, and nothing is charged today.
FAQ
Does USPS Form 1583 have to be notarized? Under DMM 508.1.8.3a(3), no. You can sign or confirm your signature before the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee, in person or over real-time audio and video. A notary commissioned in the United States is the third route. Your mailbox company may still choose to accept only some of these routes.
How much does it cost to get Form 1583 notarized? The USPS rules and form we read don't set a fee. The form has no fee box. If you choose the notary route, ask the notary what they charge. If you use one of the CMRA routes, ask your mailbox company what its own process costs.
How long does Form 1583 take to process? The USPS rules and form we read don't set a processing time. The word "processing" does not appear in DMM 508.1.8, PS Form 1583 or 89 FR 35716. Ask your mailbox company how long its review usually takes.
Do I need a notarized Form 1583 to rent a PO Box? No. A Post Office box uses a different form, PS Form 1093. We read the August 2019 edition of that form. The strings "notar" and "1583" each appear zero times in it. We compare the two forms in virtual mailbox vs PO Box.
We explain the USPS rules here as we read them on October 31, 2026. This post isn't legal advice.
Bottom line
Form 1583 does not need a notary under DMM 508.1.8.3a(3). You can sign or confirm your signature before the CMRA owner, manager, or an authorized employee, in person or on live video. A US-commissioned notary is the third route, also in person or on live video. The current rule text, in effect since May 1, 2024, sets out all three and requires a US commission for the notary. Before you pay for a notary session, ask your mailbox company which routes it accepts.
