Effective January 22, 2023, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), sections 608.10.3 and 608.10.4, to reflect changes in the types of identification that the Postal Service accepts as primary and secondary forms of identification.
The Postal Service is updating section 608.10.3, “Acceptable Primary Forms of Photo Identification,” to add territory- and tribal-issued driver’s licenses as acceptable primary forms of identification. The Postal Service is also clarifying the types of non-driver’s identification cards that are acceptable as primary forms of identification (state-, territory-, or tribal-issued). Additionally, revisions to the section reflect that the Postal Service has replaced the U.S. Armed Forces card with the U.S. Department of Defense Common Access card (CAC) and added the U.S. government-issued USAccess card and other Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards as acceptable forms of primary identification.
The Postal Service is revising section 608.10.4, “Acceptable Secondary Forms of Identification,” to reflect that the Postal Service no longer accepts utility bills as an acceptable form of secondary identification. This new policy is based on concerns that utility bills cannot be accurately traced to the bearer. This change is also for consistency regarding acceptable forms of non-photo identification.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the DMM until January 22, 2023, the standards are effective immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services
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608 Postal Information and Resources
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10.0 Forms of Identification
10.3 Acceptable Primary Forms of Photo Identification
[Revise the second sentence of the introductory text of 10.3 to read as follows:]
***Postal Service customers may provide the following as acceptable primary forms of photo identification:
[Revise the introductory text of item a. and the text of 10.3a(1) through 10.3a(3) to read as follows:]
a. U.S. Government I.D.: U.S. government I.D. may be federal-, state-, or tribal-issued. Customers may provide the following:
1. State-, territory-, or tribal-issued driver’s license.
2. State, territory, or tribal non-driver’s identification card.
3. U.S. Department of Defense Common Access card (CAC).
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[Add new 10.3a(8) to read as follows:]
8. U.S. government-issued U.S. Access card, including a USAccess card or Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card.
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10.4 Acceptable Secondary Forms of Identification
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[Delete item d. and renumber current item e. as item d.]
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the January 22, 2023, edition of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 12-15-22
