US Global Mail
An expat life can be adventurous, exciting and a dream come true for most of us.
But along with the unique experiences you experience in a new place, there are times you wish things happened the way they did back home.
This is especially true when it comes to handling money! The little conveniences that are taken for granted can become nuisances if you cannot access your money as quickly as you should.
US Global Mail is the leader in virtual mailboxes since 1999. WIth hundreds of thousands of customers under its belt and award winning technology, it is on the verge of revolutionizing paper mail. With a virtual mailbox, you can access snail mail from your phone or computer, 24/7 and from anywhere in the world. Because your mailbox is in the cloud, virtual mailboxes are half the price of a PO Box. Companies like Netflix, Shell and Chubb have been trusting US Global Mail with their mailroom.
Despite the technological advances in our lives, there are still a bunch of things that are only be delivered via paper mail. These include:
When you move from one address to another, your mail needs to move too. You can either inform everyone who sends you physical mail- like your bank, the government, IRS, etc. of the new address, or you can simply forward your mail from your old address to the new one by filling out the change of address form with the USPS, when moving within the country.
This is a permanent change.
We recommended it when moving overseas or when you wish to keep one permanent address for life. And never have to deal with the hassle of changing your address again.
With this change, you should get a Virtual Mailbox so you can move as many homes or countries as you wish without ever changing your permanent address.
Temporary change of address: This method changes your address anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months at a time.
After the duration of change of address expires, USPS will stop forwarding your mail from the old to the new address.
The mail will start going back to your old address, unless you renew the forwarding again. You can do this again for 6 more months.
USPS does not state what happens after 6 months, but you could keep doing it on and on forever, if you wish.
Be prepared for delayed mail in the change of address process, mostly due to ineffectiveness of the US postal system.
The upside is this is a free service provided by USPS.
USPS will forward mail internationally, but for a steep cost.
You can enroll in the USPS overseas mail forwarding service, which costs $21.10 retail or $19.35 if you enroll online. There’s an extra cost of $21.10 for each week of service.
The service will cost you $84.40/month. You will also pay shipping for all Priority Mail items that USPS will ship immediately as they are received.
Not a cost effective way to forward your mail overseas.
If there’s one thing certain in life, other than taxes, that is the fact that people will keep moving in the near future. According to reports, about 35.5 Million Americans move each year from some place to another.
We have already discussed what mail forwarding is, and why it’s something you probably want to consider when moving. Time is money however, and depending on your move date, you may want to get ahead of time & start right away the mail forwarding process.
After you have completed your online application with the USPS, it will take about 10 to 15 days for your mail to show up in your Virtual Mailbox.
Keep in mind, you’ll also need to fill out a 1583 Form which grants us permission to process & handle mail for you.
Mail forwarding can be such a convenience when the time comes where you need to move. Think about it; it saves all the hassle of emailing or calling friends & relatives and ensuring they got the new address you will be moving to.
Once you have decide to do a change of address, your friends or family will still get to address the same location on the envelope, and then the USPS knows automatically (given that you’ve completed the mail forwarding process) what address to send it to.
But then that raises the question: Does forwarded mail take longer to arrive?
There is a lot of buzz online and horror stories on forwarded mail taking weeks for it to arrive to your new address. It is true that sometimes there are factors that can contribute to a piece of mail that is being forwarded to a new address, to be delayed.
The short answer is no; forwarded mail does not take longer to arrive.
Understanding how mail forwarding works, may be a good way to understand why your new address would not delay the delivery of your mail.
When someone decides to send you some piece of mail, it is initially sent to a USPS station responsible with sorting out incoming mail. If you have completed the mail forwarding process with them, then by default they will know to change (re-address) the package that is intended to be sent to you. What that practically means, is that this re-address of your package, is a bit more instant than you’d imagine.
The answer depends on your move:
Kind of like your cell phone number – you don’t change that anymore when we move, why keep changing your permanent address?
If moving overseas, you will need to keep a US address for many reasons. A permanent change of address makes sense in this case.
If moving within the US or within a city, it depends on your preference whether you wish to get mail at home, a PO Box or a Virtual Mailbox. If former, do a change of address with USPS as mentioned above.
If you do not wish to give out your home address because you want it to stay private, or you get business mail or you get mail at different homes, you can have all that mail consolidated and be available via a Virtual Mailbox.
A mail forwarding service like US Global Mail will help you get your mail via a Virtual Mailbox, no matter where you move. You can see, read and take action on your mail online, which makes life so much easier and mail handling so easy.
Step by step of how it works: You sign up with a mail forwarding company and get a US address. This address is your anchor while you move around the globe. Your mail forwarding sign up will also come with a Virtual Online Mailbox. The process is simple:
What to look for in a mail forwarding service?
Unlocking the mystery of mail forwarding services: here are 10 things you should look for in a mail forwarding service.
There are many, many companies out there that offer mail forwarding services. Before we tell you about all our research, here is a word of caution: never sign up for one from Craigslist or such services. These might be scammers trying to get your mail!
What to look for when signing up with a mail forwarding company?
Of course, we think we are the best but you should look around and choose one that will work best for you. We want you to choose us only if we are a good fit for you. When shopping around, look for:
We did a comparison of the more popular mail forwarding companies to see how they stack up against each other. You can see the info here.
US Global Mail is the leader in virtual mailboxes since 1999. WIth hundreds of thousands of customers under its belt and award winning technology, it is on the verge of revolutionizing paper mail. With a virtual mailbox, you can access snail mail from your phone or computer, 24/7 and from anywhere in the world. Because your mailbox is in the cloud, virtual mailboxes are half the price of a PO Box. Companies like Netflix, Shell and Chubb have been trusting US Global Mail with their mailroom.