How to Locate a Forwarding Address
People and businesses relocate all the time. Many times when people move they submit a change of address form to the United State Postal Service (USPS) so that any mail sent to their old address will be forwarded to their new address. The current practice of the USPS allows for the forwarding of all standard, priority, and first-class mail at no additional charge to either the sender or receiver for 12 months after the change of address is submitted.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Address an envelope as normal, using the old delivery address of the business or person whose forwarding address you would like to locate. Label your sent mail with the proper "ancillary service endorsement" that best suits your needs.
-
2
Use the "Return Service Requested" ancillary service endorsement to have the U.S. Postal Service return your mail with either a label of the person's or business's new address adhered to the envelope, or with a stamp on the envelope indicating the reason why the mail could not be delivered. Write "Return Service Requested" on the envelope in one of the following locations: beneath the return address, right above the delivery address, or to the left of or directly beneath the postage stamp. Use the "USPS: Ancillary Service Endorsement Positions" resource link to see a picture of the specified locations.
-
-
3
Use the "Address Service Requested" ancillary service endorsement to have the U.S. Postal Service forward your mail to the new address at no additional charge, and send a separate notice of the new address to you. Write "Address Service Requested" in one of the following locations: beneath the return address, right above the delivery address, or to the left of or directly beneath the postage stamp. Use the "USPS: Ancillary Service Endorsement Positions" resource link to see a picture of the specified locations. You will be charged a "correction fee" for this separate notification. This fee varies but generally costs less than a dollar.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The United States Postal Service is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal law which gives the public the right to access government records. Therefore, you can also locate a forwarding address by submitting a FOIA request with the central U.S. Post Office in your town; however, since the U.S. Postal Service does not maintain a current database of all of its customers, the FOIA law cannot be used by the public to request Change of Address (COA) information unless a COA form was submitted by the customer whose forwarding address is requested. The U.S. Postal Service does maintain a last known address database.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit post office, ottawa, canada image by Richard McGuirk from Fotolia.com
