Postal Standards and Abbreviations

Address Formatting Standards

The U.S. Postal Service requests:

1. Name and Address must be in UPPERCASE.
2. No punctuation.
3. Space Between Words/Abbreviations and Numbers (ie. APT 1)
4. Zip code is REQUIRED.

BYU requires:

1. Do not print clear text Social Security numbers in an address block.
2. Do not put ANYTHING after the Zip code on domestic addresses.
3. Do not put ANYTHING after the country name in foreign addresses.
4. Do not put double quote marks ("") around text inside fields in WordPerfect merge files or DOS (ASCII) text comma delimited files.
5. BYU/Church Office Building needs city, state, and zip.

Examples:

PRESIDENT CECIL O. SAMUELSON
D-346 ASB
PROVO UT 84602-4321

ELDER HENRY B. EYRING
47 N TEMPLE FLOOR 5
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84150-1234

Foreign addresses

• The country must be the last thing on the last line or in a separate field.
• The postal code does not go in the zipcode field.
• Some postal codes go before the city name.

Example:

SCOTT FUNG
RM 1021 FOO WAI HSE
SUN TIN WAI ESTATE
90210 SHATIN
HONG KONG

• Do not put "USA" in the country field for domestic addresses.

Address Labeling Standards

• ALWAYS include a Return Address
   
• Addresses must be laser printed or typewritten.
• No WordPerfect or Word barcodes.
• Print your address parellel to the long side of the envelope.
• Or, if you are using a self-adhesive address label, stick the label on the envelope parallel to its long side.

Correct example:

 

Incorrect example: