Changing your address: mail, ID, voting, taxes and every account

File the USPS change early, change your license and registration inside your state's window, update your voter registration and federal records, then every account.

The order, and why it matters Understand

Your address lives in dozens of records: the Post Office's, the DMV's, the election office's, several federal agencies', your insurers', your bank's, your employer's, every store that has ever shipped you something. None of them updates the others. USPS says its change of address only changes your mailing address with the Post Office (USPS, Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address). New York's DMV says a USPS change does not update its records (New York DMV, Change Your Address). The IRS may pick up a USPS change through the postal database, and still tells you to notify it, because not every Post Office forwards government checks (IRS, Address changes). So the work is a list, and the list has an order.

We put the changes in the order below because each step makes the next one easier or is due sooner. This manual's convention

Two of our state examples show why the license comes before the car. Pennsylvania gives new residents 60 days for a license and 20 days to title and register a car, but needs a valid Pennsylvania ID for the car, so in practice the license is due by day 20 (PennDOT, Motor Vehicle Information for New Residents). New York, for someone leaving the state, wants the New York plates surrendered before the New York insurance is cancelled; otherwise the DMV can suspend the registration and may suspend the license, even after you leave (New York DMV, Moving to or from New York State). Both rules are examples. Your state's DMV page says whether it has one like them. Ask the authority

The change of address checklist follows this order. Each row has a group, where the address lives, the deadline, the date you made the change and a confirmation number. Setup adds the rows that fit your move: the new-resident rows for a move to another state, school rows for children, Medicare for an older relative, the landlord row for a renter. The move calendar carries the dated rows (USPS two weeks before, AR-11 and the license 10 days after, and so on), so the deadlines sit beside the rest of the move.

Mail: the USPS change of address

A change of address (COA) order tells the Postal Service to send mail addressed to you at the old address to the new one. That is mail forwarding, and it is a bridge, not a substitute for telling each sender. USPS's own advice is to notify senders at least two weeks before you move (USPS, Change of Address: The Basics).

Two ways to file

• In person, free. At any Post Office, fill out PS Form 3575 (the change of address form) and show photo ID. There is no fee; the Postal Inspection Service says the change is free in person (USPIS, Change of Address Scams). In person is the route for a move abroad, for a change filed for someone else, and when online identity checks fail.
• Online, $1.25. On usps.com, with a phone code and a $1.25 identity verification fee charged to a card whose billing address matches the old or the new address. The fee is in USPS's price list, Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026 (USPS Notice 123). Older official pages still give $1.10 or $1.05; those figures are out of date.

Online, you choose Individual, Family (people with the same last name) or Business; anyone not covered files their own.

When to file, and the gap

USPS takes a change up to 90 days before the move and up to 30 days after it. Forwarded mail starts arriving 7 to 10 postal business days after the start date you choose, and USPS says that during that period your mail is inaccessible; you cannot collect it at the old Post Office. Filing two weeks ahead, with the start date on the first day you will be living at the new address, is our suggestion: early enough that the confirmations arrive before you leave, close enough that little mail is forwarded while you are still at the old home. Our suggestion

After you file, three things arrive. A Move Validation Letter goes to the old address, so a change you did not make shows up where you still live. A Customer Notification Letter reaches the new address about 5 business days before the start date. A Welcome Kit carries a 16-digit confirmation code, which you need to change or cancel the order without a visit; write it in the checklist's confirmation column.

What is forwarded, and for how long

Sources: USPS, Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address: The Basics. The last row is why a new license, a voter card or a replacement bank card can go missing after a move: the sender marks it not to be forwarded. Change those addresses directly, before the documents are mailed. USPS rule

Informed Delivery

Informed Delivery is a free USPS service that emails you grayscale images of the address side of letter-size mail due to arrive, and package status (USPS, Informed Delivery). After a move it shows what is reaching the new address. Two catches: it needs a mailbox with a uniquely coded address, which some apartment buildings and condominiums do not have, and USPS suspends it on the account for security when a change of address goes through, until you restore it.

License, ID and vehicle: five state examples

Every state sets its own window for changing the address on a driver's license or ID and on a vehicle's registration, and a separate window for a new resident, someone who has moved into the state and must get that state's license and plates. "Thirty days" is a common guess, and in our examples the windows run from 10 to 90 days. The five states below are examples, chosen to show the range. Ask the authority

Sources: California DMV, Driver's Handbook, changing your license and New California Resident, and Vehicle Code 12505; New York DMV, Change Your Address and Moving to or from New York State; PennDOT, Moving Within PA and Information for New Residents; Texas Transportation Code 521.029 and 521.054, DPS, Moving to Texas and TxDMV, New to Texas; Florida Statutes 322.19, FLHSMV, New Resident and Motor Vehicle Registrations.

Three patterns repeat across the examples. First, the shortest window is usually for a resident who moves within the state, not for a newcomer. Second, a new address does not mean a new card in every state: California and New York let you keep the card (New York lets you write the new address on its back), while Texas and Florida require a duplicate or replacement. Third, the clock for a new resident starts at residency, and states define residency their own way: Florida names a job, a child in public school, or more than six months in the state; California asks whether you intend to stay six months or more in a year, among other tests. When residency starts is a question your new state's DMV answers.

Car insurance. Tell your insurer the new address and the date as soon as you know them. A new state can require its own coverage: Florida asks for insurance from an agent licensed in Florida, and Texas puts insurance first in its registration order. Ask the authority

Finding your own state's rule. Search your state's DMV (or motor vehicle department) site for "change of address" and, if you are new, "new resident." Write three things on the checklist: the license window, the registration window, and whether a new card or a visit in person is required, with the page and the date you read it.

Voter registration

A move means updating your voter registration, whether you moved within your state or to another one; after a move to another state, you register in the new state. Deadlines are set by each state and can be as early as 30 days before Election Day; some states register voters on Election Day; there is no national deadline (Vote.gov, Register to vote). Your state's election office says who may register and what proof it asks for. Ask the authority

Two state examples show the range. California's deadline is 15 days before Election Day; after it, you can register conditionally and vote at the county elections office. California's DMV also registers eligible people when they get or change a license or ID, unless they opt out (California Secretary of State, Voter Registration). In Texas, a voter who moves within the county updates the address in writing or online; a voter who moves to a new county re-registers there, with new registrations due at least 30 days before the election. A Texas voter who moved to a new county and missed the deadline may be able to vote a limited ballot during early voting only, and the Texas voter certificate is not forwardable mail (VoteTexas.gov, FAQ).

Two federal rules matter to movers. If you move within 30 days before a presidential election and miss the new state's deadline, you may vote for President and Vice President in your old state, in person or absentee (52 U.S.C. 10502). And a USPS change of address does not register you anywhere: election offices may use USPS change data to update a record within the same registrar's area or to start a confirmation process, not to register you in a new place (52 U.S.C. 20507).

To update, use your state's own election site, which the Election Assistance Commission links for every state with its registration check (EAC, Register and Vote in Your State). The National Mail Voter Registration Form also records a change of address, in every state except New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming (EAC, National Mail Voter Registration Form). Check your registration status after the change, and write the date on the checklist.

Federal records and taxes

Federal agencies keep separate address records. Which ones you need depends on who you are. Two have a 10-day deadline; the rest set none.

USCIS: the 10-day report

USCIS says noncitizens in the United States report a change of address within 10 days of moving, with exceptions for A and G visa holders and visa waiver visitors (USCIS, How to Change Your Address). The online change in a USCIS account meets the requirement and updates pending cases almost immediately, if you enter each case's receipt number. A paper Form AR-11, the change of address card, also meets it but does not automatically update the case systems (USCIS, AR-11). There is no fee. This manual gives no immigration advice; USCIS and an immigration attorney answer questions about a particular case. Ask the authority

Selective Service

A registrant who registered with Selective Service after July 1, 1980 is required by regulation to tell it of a change in name, mailing address or permanent address within 10 days (32 CFR 1621.1). Selective Service says registration closes at 26 (Selective Service, FAQ). Its page for updating information loaded with no form when we checked on November 2, 2026, so we cannot describe the current method; ask Selective Service, and write the answer on the checklist. Ask the authority

IRS, Social Security and VA

IRS. Form 8822 changes your home mailing address with the IRS; the IRS says processing generally takes 4 to 6 weeks. A child who files a return needs a separate form. Joint filers who now live apart each notify the IRS.

Social Security. SSA says you can update your mailing address only if you already get benefits (SSA, Update contact information). Medicare is the exception: Medicare's official address is changed through SSA even if you get no Social Security benefits (Medicare, change your address).

VA. A change in your VA.gov profile updates health care (including prescriptions), disability compensation, pension, education, and claims and appeals. Home loans, life insurance, CHAMPVA and the Foreign Medical Program each need their own contact.

Taxes: the moving deduction

For federal income tax, moving expenses are deductible only for active-duty members of the Armed Forces moving under a military order for a permanent change of station, and, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, employees and new appointees of the intelligence community moving for a change of assignment. A July 4, 2025 law made the suspension for everyone else permanent (26 U.S.C. 217; IRS Topic 455). Moving costs an employer pays are taxable wages under the same rule, with the same exceptions (26 U.S.C. 132). States can differ: California still allows a deduction for a move to a new main place of work that meets a 50-mile distance test and a 39-week time test (FTB 3913 instructions, 2025). This manual gives no tax advice; whether you qualify is for the IRS, your state's tax agency or a tax professional. Ask the authority

Health, school and prescriptions

Health plans

A move can open a special enrollment period: a window outside the yearly enrollment season in which you may change health plans. Two federal programs describe theirs.

• Medicare Advantage and drug plans. Each plan covers a service area, the area where it is offered. Moving out of a plan's service area, or within it to a place with new plan options, lets you switch. Medicare says the chance to switch begins when you move and continues for 2 full months after; if you tell the plan before you move, it begins the month before the month you move. Medicare also says that if you move out of the area and choose no new plan, you are enrolled in Original Medicare when the plan drops you (Medicare, Special Enrollment Periods). Ask the plan whether the new address is in its area before you move.
• Marketplace plans. A move to a new ZIP code or county can qualify for a special enrollment period within 60 days; a move only for medical treatment or a vacation stay does not (HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period). Within a state, you update your application; after a move to a new state you cannot keep the plan, so report the move and apply in the new state (HealthCare.gov, When you move).

For an employer plan, ask the plan administrator or human resources whether the new address changes your network. For Medicaid, ask your state's Medicaid agency how to report a move; we did not find a federal page we could read on it. Ask the authority

Medical records

If you change doctors, ask each one for a copy of your records. Under the HIPAA right of access, a provider has up to 30 days to act on your request, with one extension of up to 30 more, and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee; HHS says an unpaid medical bill is not a reason to deny you access (HHS, Right to Access; 45 CFR 164.524). Get your own copy and give it to the new doctor. HHS's guidance on sending records straight to a third party is limited by a 2020 court decision, so do not count on a capped fee for that route.

Prescriptions

Refill before you go; the move calendar dates it 10 days ahead. Moving an ordinary prescription is governed by state pharmacy rules; ask the new pharmacy how it takes a transfer. Controlled substances move under narrower federal rules. An electronic prescription for a Schedule II to V controlled substance can be transferred for its first fill once, at your request, pharmacist to pharmacist (21 CFR 1306.08). Refills of a Schedule III to V prescription transfer one time only between pharmacies, unless the pharmacies share a real-time database (21 CFR 1306.25). State pharmacy rules apply as well, and whether a prescriber in the old state can keep prescribing after a move to a new state is a question for the prescriber. Ask your pharmacist which of your prescriptions is controlled before you leave. Ask the authority

School records

Under FERPA, the federal student privacy law, the old school may send a child's records to the new school without the parent's consent, and a parent cannot block it but can ask for a copy (U.S. Department of Education, A Parent Guide to FERPA (PDF)). Timelines are state law. In Texas, as an example, a district sends requested records within 10 working days, and a parent provides the birth certificate and the prior school's records within 30 days of enrollment (Texas Education Code 25.002). Children, pets and older relatives covers timing a school move and telling children.

Home, money and every account

Utilities

Each utility sets its own notice for stopping service at the old address, under state rules. Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission, as an example, says to tell the utility at least seven days before your moving date or you may pay for service at the old address, to keep proof of the notice, and that old balances are still owed (Pennsylvania PUC, Your Rights and Responsibilities (PDF)). A new utility may ask a new customer for a deposit; Pennsylvania limits when and how much. If you rent and keep the old home past moving day, stop its service on the day you return the keys. Learn First Home Basics: setting up utilities, internet and your change of address covers starting service at the new home.

The landlord and the deposit

Give your old landlord your forwarding address in writing before you return the keys. The deposit return runs on a state clock, and in Texas a landlord need not refund the deposit until the tenant gives a written forwarding address. The four states below are examples. Ask the authority

Two cautions from the same statutes. Texas presumes bad faith if a tenant withholds the last month's rent against the deposit, so pay the last month. And the clocks start at different events, so write on the checklist the day you vacated or returned the keys, and keep the photos from the last walk-through; Moving day covers it.

Money, work and insurance

Change the address with each bank, card issuer and lender directly, and with any investment or retirement account; statements and replacement cards are among the documents senders often mark not to be forwarded. Give your employer's payroll the new address, so your year-end tax forms reach you. Tell your renters or homeowners insurer the move date, and ask what covers your belongings at each address and on the way; car insurance is above.

Online accounts

Every online store keeps a default shipping address, and the next order goes to it unless you change it. Go through the stores, delivery services, subscriptions and memberships you use; pharmacy delivery and prescription mail order belong on the list too. One way to find them is a sweep: read a month of bank and card statements and your email for every company that bills or ships to you, and add each to the checklist. This manual's method A pet's microchip registry and license also hold your address; Children, pets and older relatives covers them.

See it: Jun's and Walter's changes See it

• USPS, Standard Forward Mail and Change of Address: both ways to file, the fee, and what is forwarded.
• USCIS, How to Change Your Address: the 10-day rule, who is exempt, and the online change.
• California DMV, New California Resident: one state's new-resident steps, as an example of what to look for on yours.
• Medicare, Special Enrollment Periods: the window a move opens for a Medicare plan.

Practice: work the checklist Practice

Minimum: the change of address checklist with USPS, your license or ID, your voter registration and each federal record that applies to you marked done or dated, each with its deadline. Time: about an hour in all, in short sittings over four weeks. Materials: the change of address checklist (or paper with the same columns), photo ID, your state's DMV and election pages, a card for the USPS fee if you file online, and a month of bank statements and email for the sweep.

1. Open the checklist. Delete rows that do not apply to you and say why in the confirmation column ("not a registrant"). Add any row the seed missed.
2. File the USPS change. In person or on usps.com, typed in yourself. Write the date and the confirmation code.
3. Find your license and registration windows. On your state's DMV page; write each deadline and the page's date. Book a visit if your state needs one.
4. Update your voter registration. On your state's election site; check the status afterwards.
5. Do the federal rows that apply, then health, school, money, home and online, writing a date or a deadline on each.

Your move Your move

Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Did you file the USPS change on usps.com or at a Post Office, and is the confirmation code on the checklist?
• Does the license row carry your state's own window, read on its DMV page, with the date you read it?
• Is the registration row dated, and if your state needs the license first, is the license dated earlier?
• Is your voter registration updated or dated before your state's next deadline?
• Does each federal row either show a date or say why it does not apply?
• Have the landlord, the health plan, the pharmacy, the bank, the employer and the online stores each been given the new address, or dated?

Worked example

Jun's checklist passes on the rows with fixed deadlines: the USPS change and the USCIS report are done and confirmed, and the license and registration rows carry California's windows with the assumption about residency written beside them. It does not settle when Jun's residency began; the California DMV does. Walter's passes too: USPS in person, Medicare through Social Security, the drug plan's service area written as an open question with the plan as the one who answers it, and his license row waiting on his DMV's page, labelled as such.

Common mistakes

• Assuming USPS tells everyone. It changes only the Post Office's record.
• Paying a lookalike site. The online change on usps.com costs $1.25; in person it is free.
• Assuming 30 days for the license. In our examples the windows run from 10 to 90 days, and the shortest are for moves within a state.
• Waiting for a new card in the mail. A license or voter card may be marked not to be forwarded. Change the address before the document is sent.
• Skipping the plan's service area. A Medicare plan or a Marketplace plan can stop fitting after a move, and the window to switch has an end.
• Keys back, no forwarding address. Give it in writing first.

What is still unresolved

Your own state's license, registration and voting deadlines are on its DMV and election sites, not here. Questions about immigration status go to USCIS or an immigration attorney; tax questions to the IRS, your state's tax agency or a tax professional. A deposit that does not come back is a question for your state's consumer or housing agency or a lawyer. When each change falls in the move is on the move calendar, and The move calendar explains which of its rows are hard deadlines. Children's school records and a pet's microchip are in Children, pets and older relatives.

Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The USPS change of address is filed on usps.com or at a Post Office, with the confirmation code on the checklist.
• My license or ID change is done, or dated inside my state's window as its DMV page gives it.
• My voter registration is updated at the new address, or dated before my state's deadline.
• Every federal record that applies to me is done or dated, and the ones that do not apply say why.
• Health, school, money, home and online rows each have a date or a deadline.
• I did the statement and email sweep and added every company I found. (Go deeper; optional)