# 2025-20740: USPS Adds Rules Explaining Postmarks and When They Take Your Mail

2025-20740, Postmarks and Postal Possession, is a Federal Register rule from Postal Service published 2025-11-24, effective 2025-12-24 (as of 2026-06-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-20740
- As of: 2026-06-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2025-20740
- Title: Postmarks and Postal Possession
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Postal Service
- Citation: 90 FR 52883
- Published: 2025-11-24
- Effective: 2025-12-24
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: no
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-06-11

## In one line

USPS Adds Rules Explaining Postmarks and When They Take Your Mail

## Summary

The Postal Service is adding a new rule to explain what postmarks are, how they work, and how you can prove when your mail was accepted. This won’t change how mail is handled but will help everyone understand postmarks better, especially with new mail tracking methods coming soon. The rule kicks in on December 24, 2025, so get ready to know your mail dates like a pro!

## Abstract

The Postal Service is adding section 608.11, "Postmarks and Postal Possession," to the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). This new section defines postmarks, identifies the types of Postal Service markings that qualify as postmarks, and describes the circumstances under which those markings are applied. It also advises customers of how to obtain evidence of the date on which the Postal Service accepts possession of their mailings. This new language in the DMM does not change any existing postal operations or postmarking practices, but is instead intended to improve public understanding of postmarks and their relationship to the date of mailing.

## Effects PRIA read

- Get a Free Manual (Local) Postmark: benefit, low. You can request a manual (local) postmark at any Postal Service retail location free of charge, and that manual postmark will bear the date that aligns with the day you handed the mail to the Postal Service. The new DMM language (Section 608.11) that takes effect December 24, 2025, explicitly tells…
- Certificate of Mailing Remains Available For Purchase: mixed, low. If you want a receipt proving the date the Postal Service first accepted your mailpiece, you may purchase a Certificate of Mailing. The final rule (DMM 608.11, effective December 24, 2025) states customers may buy a Certificate of Mailing to retain proof of the acceptance date.
- Processing Postmarks May Not Show Acceptance Date: cost, medium. The rule says a postmark applied at a processing facility confirms the Postal Service had the mailpiece on the postmark date, but that date does not always match the date the Postal Service first accepted the mailpiece—this mismatch may occur more often under the Regional Transportation Optimizatio…
- IMb Scans Are Not Proof of Acceptance Date: benefit, low. Scans from Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) show that the Postal Service had possession of a mailpiece, but the rule states IMb scans do not constitute proof of the date the Postal Service first accepted the mailpiece. DMM 608.11 clarifies this point as of December 24, 2025.
- USPS Will Educate Customers and Election Officials: benefit, low. The Postal Service will publish customer-facing information on usps.com and include DMM 608.11 details in its Kit 600 communications to Boards of Election; it will do targeted outreach to election officials and other mailing communities to explain postmarks and options like manual postmarks and Cer…

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- [2026-22498](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22498): Domestic Mail Manual; Incorporation by Reference, 2026-11-04
- [2026-21265](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-21265): Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records, 2026-10-19
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## Sources
- [2025-20740 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/24/2025-20740/postmarks-and-postal-possession)
- [2025-20740 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-24/pdf/2025-20740.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2025-20727, Navigation and Navigable Waters, and Shipping; Technical, Organizational, and C…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-20727)
- [Next: 2025-20744, Regulation D: Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-20744)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-20740 (as of 2026-06-11).