Address Standards

Last updated: May 8, 2023

Quick Links:

Overview
SEVIS Address Fields
SEVIS Address Entry
PO Boxes (Mailing Addresses)
Address Status and Type in Student Records
Addresses-Related Resources
Icon Guide

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:

Students
- Create Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student (Form I-20): Contact and Program Information
- Create Certificate of Eligibility (Form I-20) for Transfer In: Contact and Program Information
- Student Reinstatement: Contact and Program Information
- Update Personal Information
- Add Dependent
- Update Dependent
- Registration: Initial Student
- Registration: Continuing Student

Student Employer:

Schools:
- Petition for School Certification (Form I-17): Contact Information
- Petition for School Certification (Form I-17): Add/Update Campus
- Petition for School Certification (Form I-17): Add Official
- Update School Information (Form I-17): Contact Information
- Update School Information (Form I-17): Add/Update Campus
- Update School Information (Form I-17): Update Official

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.

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.

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:

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.)

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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:

Go to the USPS web site.
Click Quick Tools.
Click Look Up a Zip Code. The Zip Code look up tool displays.
Click Find By Address.
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.)

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.

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.

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 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.

USPS State Abbreviation Job Aid
USPS Street and Secondary Unit Abbreviations Job Aid
SEVIS: Technical Guidance and User Manuals | ICE: See the SEVIS Create-UpdateStudent.xsd file for the SEVIS address schema.

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

SEVIS Help Hub