​​Forwarding Inside NIH

Whether moving between positions or moving between locations at NIH, providing a forwarding address to the Division of Mail Management Services (DMMS) and updating your NIH NED page are two important steps in ensuring the continuity of your mail.

Internal address updates can be sent to DMMS via the Change of NIH mailing address page on their website.

Since DMMS uses NED to look up addresses for mail that is insufficiently addressed, it is also helpful if your NED page is up to date.

​Forwarding Outside of NIH

Only First-Class mail is forwarded without cost by the U.S. Postal Service.  To forward First-Class mail to persons no longer assigned to NIH activities or employed by NIH, a forwarding address should be used on each mail piece to avoid having the mail returned to sender.  Using a black or blue pen, draw a single diagonal line through the address and write the following statement, along with the desired forwarding address directly above the top address line, then place the mail piece back into the mail stream via your outgoing mail.

     FORWARD TO: (write the desired forwarding address here)

As an alternative to hand-writing the forwarding address, many NIH offices produce forwarding and return labels on printer-friendly ​labels and utilize them as needed to save time and maintain accuracy.

RETURNING FIRST-CLASS MAIL

First-Class mail of a non-official nature, addressed to persons no longer assigned to NIH activities or employed by NIH and who have not left a forwarding address with their former office should be returned to sender.  Using a black or blue pen, draw a single diagonal line through the address and write the following statement, directly above the top address line, then place the mail piece back into the mail stream via your outgoing mail.

    RETURN TO SENDER:  No longer at NIH/address unknown​