How do I get mail from the US?

@khobbs40 Look into Virtual Mailboxes. I researched many of them, and finally settled on iPostal1 before moving from Pennsylvania to Colombia last year. I've had a good experience with them, minus a few annoying snags (no fault of theirs). I pay $120/year, NOT including the cost of scanning. I think that's where they make most of their money, honestly.... scanning letters. So overall expect to spend like, an additional $5/month *on average* on getting letters scanned so that you don't waste time and money having them mail-forwarded to your Colombia address.

Forwarding physical mail can be costly, so I have made sure all my bills or funds are sent to me electronically. In the few instances where that wasn't possible, I've had to pay iPostal1 to Consolidate and Ship an envelope. International shipping to Colombia is not guaranteed/secure (unless you go with the "millionaire option": DHL), so try to avoid mail forwarding as much as you can.

By the way, I know you didn't ask this, but it's relevant: for orders, it's best to order on Amazon and have them ship to you in Colombia. That is the most secure way to get stuff that you order online on Amazon. When you settle into Colombia and get a Cedula, you can start ordering things on MercadoLibre.com, and not worry about international shipping.

Ticks me off how I can get physical mail from financial institutions, despite the fact I have turned on the option to not receive it. I realize it is a security feature, but it sometimes I will get multiple letters from the same institution for some minor thing, which I will have to pay to have scanned. Oh well. 

@Mr. Barley My virtual mailbox gives me the option to recycle for free instead of scan.

i recycle almost everything

@lunamick

Good point. And I will do just that with my most recent letters from Capital One telling me probably, that my account was closed.

I have a virtual mailbox service based in seattle.  When I receive mail I am notified by email and SMS that I have new mail.  I can log into my virtual mailbox and view the unopened envelope first.  If its junk or something I know is unimportant I have it recycled ( free), and if its unknown I have it opened and scanned.  Then I can decide if I want to download it or have it forwarded or shredded or what.

FWIW, I do not forward mail to Colombia.  I have a trusted friend in the US that receives the mail I have forwarded and holds it for me.  So far, after 2 years I am quite satisfied with this system

@khobbs40 Here in Colombia, the equivalent to the USPS, or "post office", is named "4-72" here, it's good to receive real mail from anywhere, snail mail included (i receive my mail and cards from Belgium, but in my case, my mail is passing through the USPS services, i don't know why (it's obvious, that it is pure spying or ingerency in my own things, because i never autorized the USPS to open my mail, or personal correspondency). If you want something more secure, you may receive your mail through DHL, or DHL express, but it's more expensive.

4-72 is a total joke I once oredered somethimg took 5 months to get it being held up in customs ibeaurocracy never again my mail for important items is always forwarded  from my virtual box in Texas thru DHL  worth every penny and you can track it too usually 3 to 4 days its in my hands.

@Mr. Barley You can usually tell when it's a bank statement or something along those lines (for example, by back-tracing to the source using the From address and Google Maps). In iPostal1 you can just mark them as "Discard" (which is free). If they are sensitive, you can mark them for shredding (not free, but cheaper than scanning).

I think the most annoying situations are where the bank or CC company sends stuff in unmarked, unidentifiable envelopes (no From address, nothing). Then you're forced to mark them for scanning, because you don't wanna lose an important/critical piece of mail. Only to realize it's freakin' junk mail, and you just wasted $2 to scan junk mail 😒

Well, it's still cheaper than having the letters consolidated and forwarded to Colombia, however...

I have a package that I want to send to a friend in Colombia. I've had past issues with DHL and 4-72. DHL was involved in that huge postal carriers strike in Europe and my package got lost in a warehouse in Germany and 4-72 held my other package and requested I fill out forms and send them money so they could send the items to their final destination.

I've heard about Clubox and something new called Deblex[sp?] but these only seem to be located in Miami. Is there any sure way to actually mail something to Colombia with no hassle and ensure it actually arrives?

thanks for any information anyone can provide!

@khobbs40 If you rely on the colombian mail system, the mail will never get here.

Dont you get all that correspondnce electronically?

If it is too much money, why not just let the mail accumulate until you get there?

I try to  get everything electronicaly, and  eliminate any mail I get in Canada, and if something gets through, my friend just chucks it in the garbage.

In Canada, Old Age security, CPP (Canada Pension Plan) is all transferred to your Bank Account electronically.

I cant beleive the US, a more advanced country  is different