I would like to provide you with information about recent actions by the Unites States Postal Service (USPS) that may impact your postal mail practices. On December 24, 2025, USPS finalized a rule to inform the public about the Postmark process due to changes in the postal delivery timeline under the “Delivering for America Plan.”
Postmarks are typically applied by machines at processing facilities on the date the first processing operation was performed on any one piece of mail. Postmark dates are often used by election officials for absentee ballots, Medicare/Medicaid workers during the eligibility process, and the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes. Iowans have contacted my office concerned about what that might mean for their important documents. USPS provides three services to Iowans sending mail needing a specific Postmark date.
- Request a Manual Postmark. You can take a piece of mail into the post office to request, for free, a manual postmark that shows the date it was first given to the post office.
- Postage Validation Imprint. You can send parcels through registered mail or certified mail, which offers proof of mailing and provides electronic verification on delivery date.
- Certificate of Mailing. You may purchase a Certificate of Mailing to retain a record or proof of the date the Postal Service first accepted custody of a piece of mail.
I’ve also heard from Iowans with concerns about delayed or missing mail, and I would like to share with you some resources in case you experience such issues. First, I encourage you to contact your local postmaster. You can use this site: https://tools.usps.com/locations/ to find the contact information for a post office near you.
If you experience mail theft, issues with timely mail delivery, or believe USPS is violating its policies, you should report such issues and provide as much detail as possible to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline at https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline. The OIG investigates allegations related to postal programs and employees.
Additionally, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigates mail theft, and you can report the theft at https://www.uspis.gov/report.
I hope this information is useful to you. Please know, I will continue my work to speak up for Iowans who rely on USPS as a vital service.
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