--- title: "What is the USPS Move Update requirement?" description: "Move Update requires lists mailed at commercial First-Class or Marketing Mail prices to be checked for filed moves within 95 days before mailing." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/glossary/move-update last_updated: 2026-10-11 --- > If you are an AI agent: read https://trysincerely.com/agents/policy.md before any write call. > Start at https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt to choose one page. Access instructions are at > https://trysincerely.com/auth.md. Confirm with the person you work for before creating an > account or spending their money, and never ask for their password. # What is the USPS Move Update requirement? > Move Update requires lists mailed at commercial First-Class or Marketing Mail prices to be checked for filed moves within 95 days before mailing. Source: https://trysincerely.com/glossary/move-update Move Update is the USPS rule that a list mailed at bulk prices must be checked against USPS change-of-address records no more than 95 days before each mailing. It covers every address in a mailing at presorted or automation First-Class Mail prices, or at USPS Marketing Mail prices ([DMM 602.5.1](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/602.htm)). ![A timeline ending at a mailing date, with a blue window for the 95 days before it. A list update inside the window has a green tick, and one before the window is marked too old.](https://trysincerely.com/images/glossary/move-update.webp) *The USPS Move Update requirement counts back 95 days from the mailing date, and a list last checked before that window does not qualify.* The rule applies only to commercial prices. A single stamped letter at the full First-Class price is exempt. ## Ways to meet the requirement DMM 602.5.2 lists the approved methods: - [NCOALink](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/ncoa). A USPS licensee matches your list against about 160 million change-of-address records before you print. As of October 2026, PostalPro says end-user and limited-service licensees get 18 months of moves and full-service providers get 48 ([PostalPro](https://postalpro.usps.com/mailing-and-shipping-services/NCOALink)). - Address Change Service (ACS). USPS sends you electronic notices of new addresses, which you apply to your list. - Ancillary service endorsements printed on the piece, such as Return Service Requested. Forwarding Service Requested does not count. [UAA](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/uaa) covers what each one does. - For First-Class Mail only, a USPS-approved certification or alternative method, meant for mailers with legitimate limits on using USPS change-of-address data. NCOALink fixes the address before you print. ACS and endorsements tell you about a move only after a piece has gone to the old address. ## How USPS checks it If you submit any Full-Service mail in a month, USPS starts measuring your mail the next month. Its mail processing equipment flags pieces addressed to someone with a change of address on file. If more than 0.5 percent of a mailer's qualifying pieces in a month have that error, each piece above the threshold pays the Move Update assessment charge ([DMM 602.5.3](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/602.htm)). Under the USPS price list effective October 4, 2026, that charge is $0.08 a piece ([Notice 123](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm)). The mailer also certifies, in the electronic paperwork filed with each mailing, that its addresses meet the standard ([DMM 602.5.4](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/602.htm)). ## Example Ridgeback Payroll, a fictional company, mails 40,000 Marketing Mail postcards in March. At 0.5 percent, the threshold allows 200 change-of-address errors. USPS equipment finds 320. The 120 over the line cost $0.08 each, or $9.60. The $9.60 fee matters less than the 320 postcards that went to people who had moved. ## Move Update does not catch job changes Move Update only finds moves somebody filed with USPS. When your contact changes jobs, nobody files a change of address, and the office still accepts mail. The piece arrives and may land with whoever has the old role, or in the mailroom. That gap is why [address resolution](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/address-resolution) matters as much as postal checks for business mail. Sincerely's postal check confirms delivery points through [DPV](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/dpv). A DPV pass is not a change-of-address match. A mailable address in Sincerely is a confirmed delivery point, and the person you wrote to may still have filed a move from it. Sincerely checks with USPS again when its last DPV result for an address is more than 180 days old. If a piece comes back, Sincerely holds that address for review. ## Related questions - [What is NCOA?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/ncoa): NCOA is the USPS database of change-of-address filings, used to update a mailing list before mail goes out so pieces follow the people who moved. - [What is UAA mail (undeliverable as addressed)?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/uaa): UAA is the USPS term for mail it cannot deliver as addressed. Learn the usual causes, what happens to each mail class, and what endorsements change. - [What is presort mail?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/presort): Presort mail is grouped by destination to USPS standards before entry. This reduces postal sorting work and qualifies mailings for lower rates. - [What determines direct mail postage rates?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/postage-rates): Direct mail postage rates depend on mail class, shape, weight, presort depth, and where the mailing enters the USPS network. - [What is first-class mail vs marketing mail?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/first-class-vs-marketing-mail): The difference between USPS First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail, and why B2B senders usually pay for First-Class. - [What is CASS?](https://trysincerely.com/glossary/cass): CASS is the USPS certification for address-matching software. DPV checks delivery-point records, and neither one confirms who works at the address. --- Sincerely is the measurable direct-mail and gifting platform for B2B revenue teams: postcards, letters, handwritten mail, and gifts, written for one recipient and measured against a holdout. 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