One of the most important choices you will make when preparing the I-765 is the U.S. Mailing Address. This is the address to which USCIS will mail all OPT related documentation.

Current guidance published on the USCIS Instructions for Form I-765 on selecting a U.S. Mailing Address states, “You must provide a valid mailing address in the United States. You may list a valid U.S. residence, APO, or commercial address. You may also list a U.S. Post Office address (PO Box) if that is how you receive your mail. If your mail is sent to someone other than yourself, please include an “In Care Of Name” as part of your mailing address. If your U.S. mailing address is in a U.S. territory and it contains an urbanization name, list the urbanization name in the “In Care Of Name” space provided. We will send your EAD to this address. Do not use the attorney’s or other legal representative’s address.”

We recommend that you select a U.S. Mailing Address that will remain valid for at least the next 6 months. Changing the U.S. Mailing Address associated with your OPT application is not recommended if it can be avoided. Because USCIS is a huge government organization that processes thousands of requests every day, it is very difficult for USCIS to make modifications to individual requests once they are partway through the review process.

It is not required that the U.S. Mailing Address match your U.S. Physical Address. You should list your current residential address in the U.S. Physical Address. The U.S. Mailing Address, however, can be either your current address, or a different address.

If you use your current address as the U.S. Mailing Address, be sure that your name is physically placed on your mailbox.

If you plan to move during the next few months and cannot rely on your current address to be your U.S. Mailing Address on the I-765 form, we suggest using the mailing address of a friend or family member (with their permission, of course). If you use a U.S. Mailing Address that is not your address, but instead the address of a friend or family member, be sure to list the friend or family member’s name in the section titled “In Care of Name (if any)”. Make sure also that your friend or family member’s name is physically placed on their mailbox.