General Delivery
Official owner United States Postal Service
A way to receive mail without a permanent address. USPS publishes it as "intended primarily as a temporary means of delivery: For transients and customers not permanently located." No application form exists — it is arranged with the destination Post Office.
What problem this helps solve
A way to receive mail without a permanent address. USPS publishes it as "intended primarily as a temporary means of delivery: For transients and customers not permanently located." No application form exists — it is arranged with the destination Post Office.
Who completes it: The person receiving mail, by contacting the destination Post Office. USPS publishes no application form for this.
What this does not prove
Two limits decide whether this works. Identification can be required, so it may not solve an address problem for someone also missing ID. And DMM 508.6.4 states each piece is held "for no more than 30 days" — shorter than a 60-day benefits or appeal deadline, so a notice can be returned to the sender before it is ever collected.
NOLO source confidence
Official destination checked
Domestic Mail Manual section 508.6 was opened and read in a rendered browser session, and the USPS FAQ article "What is General Delivery?" (dated 4 August 2026) was read separately. The DMM is the controlling text and is what the limits below are quoted from.
Last checked August 6, 2026. This label describes NOLO’s source knowledge, not agency quality or service availability.
No direct public document recorded
This record points to a portal or instructions page. NOLO does not substitute a directory root or search result for a direct form.
Form record
- Official title
- General Delivery
- Form number
- Not published on the checked destination
- Program
- General Delivery (Domestic Mail Manual 508.6)
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Revision date
- Not published
- Who completes it
- The person receiving mail, by contacting the destination Post Office. USPS publishes no application form for this.
- Signature
- None published for arranging it. Identification can be required when mail is collected.
- Submission methods
- Contact the destination Post Office to determine the authorised facility and its ZIP code before mail is sent, Collect in person at that one authorised facility
- Supporting documents
- • Identification: DMM 508.6.3 states a customer "can be required to present suitable identification before mail is given to the customer," and 508.6.2 lets a postmaster refuse service to someone unable to present it. What counts as suitable is decided locally — ask before relying on this.
- Languages
- Not verified by NOLO; ask the local Post Office what language assistance is available.
- Accessibility
- Not evaluated by NOLO. Collection is in person at a single authorised facility, which is itself an access constraint worth planning around.
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Source note: Two limits decide whether this works. Identification can be required, so it may not solve an address problem for someone also missing ID. And DMM 508.6.4 states each piece is held "for no more than 30 days" — shorter than a 60-day benefits or appeal deadline, so a notice can be returned to the sender before it is ever collected.
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