British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)
-   Moving back or to the UK (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/)
-   -   Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/forwarding-mail-usa-using-usps-867239/)

lundoner Oct 29th 2015 4:03 am

Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
I will be moving back to the UK within the next month from the US. I wanted to see if anyone had used USPS service for forwarding their mail from USA to the UK. On the USPS website it does not let you enter any international address for forwarding mail. Does that mean I have to go to my local Post office here and fill out a form? If so what is the charge?

Dundee15 Oct 29th 2015 10:01 am

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
We are having our mail forwarded to us from US. We had to go to our local USPS and complete a form. Like you we could not complete the online form as it did not allow for a International address.

We have been getting our mail from our old address in Boston sent to us here is Scotland since April 2015. The USPS will forward mail for 12 months at no cost. I think the local USPS collect the mail and send it every few weeks as we can go for 14+ days with nothing from US then we will get a few pieces of mail altogether.

spouse of scouse Oct 29th 2015 12:56 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by Dundee15 (Post 11781979)
We are having our mail forwarded to us from US. We had to go to our local USPS and complete a form. Like you we could not complete the online form as it did not allow for a International address.

We have been getting our mail from our old address in Boston sent to us here is Scotland since April 2015. The USPS will forward mail for 12 months at no cost. I think the local USPS collect the mail and send it every few weeks as we can go for 14+ days with nothing from US then we will get a few pieces of mail altogether.

If it's not a rude question :o, may I ask what the USPS charge is for forwarding mail? I'm interested because I was going to do the same through Australia Post here, but the annual charge was just short of AU$1,000.

So instead, I just redirected my mail to my sister's address, which is also in Perth WA. AU$99 a year., and she can just forward on anything vital. I think I've notified everyone I need to of my change of address, but there are always a few orphans!

britwhore Oct 29th 2015 1:06 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
We've been having our mail forwarded from the US to the UK. Had to go into the post office and complete the form. Managed to fit a UK address into the US address format...all very confusing but the mail is getting here. They will forward it for a year (as Dundee15 said) for free. Didn't have to pay anything.

Dundee15 Oct 29th 2015 1:09 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
There was no charge to forward the mail from Boston to Scotland. They forward the mail for 1 year.

spouse of scouse Oct 29th 2015 1:12 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by Dundee15 (Post 11782111)
There was no charge to forward the mail from Boston to Scotland. They forward the mail for 1 year.

Sorry, I missed the 'no cost' bit in your first post. Free vs $1,000 - wow! The mail forwarded from Australia must get its own first class suite :mad:

spouse of scouse Oct 29th 2015 1:14 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by britwhore (Post 11782109)
We've been having our mail forwarded from the US to the UK. Had to go into the post office and complete the form. Managed to fit a UK address into the US address format...all very confusing but the mail is getting here. They will forward it for a year (as Dundee15 said) for free. Didn't have to pay anything.

Great service Brit, and you can't complain about the price! I know Oz is a bit further than the US, but gawd we get ripped off on so many things here.

Simon Legree Oct 29th 2015 1:17 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
I have my mail forwarded to Canada every spring by USPS. Go to your Post Office and get the moving pack. It's a large white envelope which contains coupons from such people as U haul. It has a facility for international addresses. Do not use the single form re-director. This has been discussed several times over the years on this forum.

britwhore Oct 29th 2015 1:25 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
An amazing service indeed but doesn't help with the USPS going broke! Whoops!

Simon Legree Oct 29th 2015 1:40 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by britwhore (Post 11782120)
An amazing service indeed but doesn't help with the USPS going broke! Whoops!

They are "going broke" because the Republicans are forcing them to fund the pension plan 75 years in advance to the tune of $5.5 billion a year or more !

spouse of scouse Oct 29th 2015 1:40 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by britwhore (Post 11782120)
An amazing service indeed but doesn't help with the USPS going broke! Whoops!

Oh dear! Australia Post was fully government owned, but like so many others it's been (partly) sold off to the highest bidder. No wonder things cost so much - I HATE privatization of government assets.

britwhore Oct 29th 2015 1:47 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by Simon Legree (Post 11782127)
They are "going broke" because the Republicans are forcing them to fund the pension plan 75 years in advance to the tune of $5.5 billion a year or more !

That's crazy!

lundoner Oct 29th 2015 3:54 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by Dundee15 (Post 11781979)
We are having our mail forwarded to us from US. We had to go to our local USPS and complete a form. Like you we could not complete the online form as it did not allow for a International address.

We have been getting our mail from our old address in Boston sent to us here is Scotland since April 2015. The USPS will forward mail for 12 months at no cost. I think the local USPS collect the mail and send it every few weeks as we can go for 14+ days with nothing from US then we will get a few pieces of mail altogether.

Thanks for the replies, Good to know its free. But did anyone find the US mailing system complicated and overpriced compared to Royal Mail and also terribly slow?

britwhore Oct 29th 2015 4:29 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 
I find the Royal Mail terribly expensive compared to USPS.

Novocastrian Oct 29th 2015 4:54 pm

Re: Forwarding Mail from USA using USPS
 

Originally Posted by spouse of scouse (Post 11782106)
If it's not a rude question :o, may I ask what the USPS charge is for forwarding mail? I'm interested because I was going to do the same through Australia Post here, but the annual charge was just short of AU$1,000.

That's a lot! :( The equivalent service Canada to the UK with Canada Post was C$240 for 12 months. So far (started July 2015) it's worked well.


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