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Address Standards

Address Standards

Last updated: May 8, 2023

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The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) uses a U.S. Postal Service (USPS)-certified software product to validate certain U.S. physical and mailing addresses upon entry. SEVIS validates U.S. addresses on these pages:

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  • This article explains how to use the SEVIS address modal. To finalize the addition of the address to the SEVIS record, follow the directions in the appropriate article above.
  • SEVIS does not validate foreign addresses.

The SEVIS Add Address modal is the same for U.S. physical and U.S. mailing addresses. It has five fields: Street Address, Other, City, State, and Zip; with only the Street Address and Zip fields being required.

Example

The address fields are described in the following table:

U.S. Address Field Name Description
Street Address*

* Required field

  • U.S. Physical Address:
    • SEVIS validates field text for a valid street number and name within the indicated Zip Code area.
    • Add any floor, apartment, room, or suite numbers in the Street Address field.
  • U.S. Mailing Address: SEVIS validates the field text for a valid PO Box within the indicated Zip Code area.
  • Follows USPS street and secondary unit abbreviations.
  • 64-character limit.
Other
  • For either U.S. Physical or Mailing Address

    • SEVIS does not validate Other field text.
    • Allows university names, building names, hotel names, company names, PO Box numbers (if entering a physical address), or any non-standard address designations.
    • 64-character limit.
    Note: If the street address is accepted, the Other field text never rejects.
City
  • SEVIS validates field text for a valid city name.
State
  • SEVIS validates field text for a valid U.S. state or possession name.
  • Follows USPS states and possessions abbreviations.

Note: The State field is a drop-down list selection.

Zip*

* Required field

  • Zip Code must be five digits.

Note: SEVIS will automatically add the plus four zip routing number, where available.

  • If the Zip Code is incorrect, the address will be considered invalid, even if all the other address fields are correct.
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  • Only the Street Address and Zip Code fields are required for address validation.
  • Letters may be upper or lower case.
  • Building numbers in a street address should always be entered numerically. For example: One Nassau Place should be entered 1 Nassau Place.
  • PO Box numbers:
    • U.S. Physical Address: Can only be in the Other field of a U.S. Physical Address modal.
    • U.S. Mailing Address: Can be in the Street Address field of a U.S. Mailing Address.

To enter a U.S. physical or mailing address:

Example 2
  1. Click Add/Edit Address link under the address type you are adding.(If you are adding an address for the first time, the option is Add Address.) The Add/Edit Address modal opens. (If choosing the U.S. Mailing Address, the modal name will be Add/Edit Mailing Address.)
Edit Address

2. Enter the address in the Add/Edit Address modal, following the guidelines in the SEVIS Address Fields table above.

3. Click Submit. SEVIS uses its address check software to verify if the address is valid. The Add/Edit Address selection modal opens.

Edit Address 2

a. If the address is recognized, the designated school official (DSO) can:

  • Select: Accepts the SEVIS Suggested Address (default address).
  • Over-ride Suggested Address: Allows the DSO to choose the originally entered address.
  • Edit Address: Allows DSO to change the address.

Note: The Over-ride Suggested Address link displays only for addresses with a valid City, State, and Zip Code.

b. If the Zip Code or street address was not entered, an error message displays, “The zip code is required as part of the address.” SEVIS displays an Add Mailing Address modal, and the DSO must either Cancel the address or enter the Zip Code and click Submit.

Edit Address 3

c. If the address cannot be found and SEVIS does not suggest an address but displays an Edit Address The DSO can:

Add Address Pittsburgh 2
  • Cancel: Allows the DSO to cancel this Edit Address attempt and return to the Registration
  • Submit: Allows the DSO to edit the Street Address, Other, City, State, or Zip Code fields.
  • Over-ride Validation: Allows the DSO to maintain the entered address.

Note: The Over-ride Validation link will only be available for addresses with a valid City, State, and Zip Code.

d. When choosing Over-ride Validation, the DSO must select a reason from the Reason for using address as entered drop-down list. The list of reasons is the same for each address type:

Add Address Pittsburgh 3
  • New address, mailing
  • New address, physical location
  • On-campus business address
  • On-campus housing address
  • On-campus mailing address
  • Other: If Other is selected, enter the reason in the Explanation field for over‑riding the address validation with between 5 and 200 characters

4. Click Submit.

Icon - Pay attention to an important point
  • To finalize the addition of the address to the SEVIS record, follow the directions in the appropriate article listed in the Overview.
  • The validated address will appear on whatever page the DSO opened the address modal from. In this case the address displays in the U.S. Address section of the Student Information page.
Add Address Pittsburgh 4

Special Cases

Campus Addresses (Physical Addresses)

Some campus addresses may not be recognized by the SEVIS address check software. Many large schools have their own Zip Code. The Zip Code is associated with a specific street address or set of addresses. Typically, this is the main mailing address for the school, the president’s office, or the emergency address used in the 911 system. If one of those “official” street addresses is not entered, the address is not recognized. Campus addresses validate if entered in the following format:

U.S. Address
Field Name

Description

* Street Address

Official street address

Other

Residence hall name and number

City

City

State

State

* Zip

Zip Code

Example:

U.S. Address
Field Name

Description

* Street Address

2131 Frist Center

Other

123 Scully Hall

City

Princeton

State

New Jersey

* Zip

08544

Or

U.S. Address
Field Name

Description

* Street Address

3700 O Street, NW

Other

Georgetown Univ., 123 Kennedy Hall, Box 550077

City

Washington

State

District of Columbia

* Zip

20057

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Icon- best practice

Since the Other field does not validate, the school name, the residence hall address, and the mailbox can be entered here. To find the U.S. Postal Service’s address for your school:

  1. Go to the USPS web site.
  2. Click Quick Tools.
  3. Click Look Up a Zip Code. The Zip Code look up tool displays.
  4. Click Find By Address.
  5. Enter:
  • School name
  • Street address that you have
  • City
  • State

Click Find.

When entering a U.S. mailing address, SEVIS validates the field text for a valid PO Box within the indicated Zip Code area. (See below.)

PO Box1

When entering a PO Box, enter the correct PO Box number in the Street Address field and the correct Zip Code; and SEVIS will recognize the city and state in the Suggested Address.

PO Box 2

Once a U.S. physical address is entered in a student SEVIS record, it will appear on the Student Information page. The address status and type that are displayed in the Address Status field help to classify the address.

Student Info Override

Address Status

The address status indicates whether the address was recognized immediately by SEVIS as an existing, valid address or if a DSO had to override the default address to enter it.

Address Status Explanation
Valid

SEVIS verified the address upon initial entry.

Override:

  • Campus business address
  • Campus housing address
  • Campus mailing address
  • New address, mailing
  • New address, physical location
  • Other (When selected, the DSO must enter an override explanation between 5 and 200 characters in length.)

DSO requested an override of the SEVIS address. This confirms that the address is valid based on the chosen reason.

Un-validated; no override

Address was entered during an outage of the SEVIS address check and must be validated later.

Address Type

The Address Type indicates the type of mail receiving facility or dwelling to which the address belongs.

Address Type Definition
B Mailbox at a building
F Mailbox at a company or firm
G General delivery address
H High-rise default address
L Mailbox at a large volume receiver
M Military address
P Post office box in the address
R Rural route mailbox
S

Mailbox at a street address

U Unvalidated

If you have any questions about the address standards, e-mail SEVISTechnicalFeedback@ice.dhs.gov.

See the SEVIS Help Icons on the SEVIS Help Hub for a quick-reference of the icons used in this article.

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