US Mail Forwarding Services

01/24/23 @ibdegen. I'm sorry that happened to you. I can only imagine how frustrating it must've been.

Unfortunately, I can't be of much help. I've never requested my forwarder to disassemble a shipment rather than just send it on as received. I use a different forwarder, but I don't know that they would have done any better a job than yours did.

@abthree Yes, it is frustrating. I would hate to have forwarded an envelope full of junk mail. IMO, this should not have been a live-and-learn experience.

Anything not touched by the USPS is bound to get botched. 

Outside the USPS, trust no one. 

If they can't legally or logistically  do, nobody else can. 

Period. 

You can forward your US mail, at your local post office, to a relative, neighborh, and then have them to bulk shop to you, junk et all. 

Anything else, you are asking for trouble.

Brother in Law worked his whole life in the USPS and vouched me on this. 

These dot coms, all of them, are quick buck artists.  They are going to cut corner, and botch stuff. 

01/24/23 You can forward your US mail, at your local post office, to a relative, neighborh, and then have them to bulk shop to you, junk et all.
Anything else, you are asking for trouble.

-@sprealestatebroker

If you're going on vacation for a month, yeah, that can work.  If you're moving abroad permanently, or even for an extended period, not so much.  For one thing, after a while your mail becomes an annoyance for even the most well-meaning relative or neighbor; you probably won't find out until it's too late.  And then, there's the unexpected.

When I first moved here, my mail was being forwarded to my brother's house.  No problem.  Then he moved to Ireland, and had his mail forwarded to his daughter.  Our sister's son kept living in his house, so we figured that my mail would keep going there.  Wrong!  Unknown to him and me, USPS piggybacked my mail on his forwarding order to his daughter's house, who had no idea why my mail was suddenly showing up there.  She just put it in a basket and waited for somebody to tell her what to do with it.  The bill-to addresses on my credit cards started changing to this new address all of a sudden.  I missed a premium increase in my Medicare Supplement and almost got canceled before we figured out what was happening and fixed it all.

If you're planning to be a longterm expat, do yourself and your loved ones a favor:  get a mail forwarder.

@abthree I had a similar experience. I used a brother’s US address for years. He’s moved twice and the banks changed my address. A US bank card expires in May. I’d rather not depend on my brother for mail forwarding service. Will my bank mail my new card to Brazil? Will they want me to change my address to Brazil? Do I need a mail forwarding service?

Thanks for any advice.

03/22/23 @alan279. Hi, Alan. That depends on your bank. If they're good on service they'll probably be willing to try, but it would be a good idea to contact them and talk about their using an express service. There will almost certainly be an additional charge, but it will be worth it to you. People having cards sent directly through conventional mail seem to have had more problems than not, and to have experienced lengthy delays. I'm not sure how they'll react to a foreign address on your account; that's another good subject for discussion.

Whether you need a mail forwarding service depends on your personal circumstances, including how long you plan to be in Brazil. I plan to be here for the rest of my life, and try to put as many routine support activities as possible on "fire-and-forget" mode, so it works well for me, with its predictability and stability. When I first got here, the IRS wouldn't let you set up an online account without a US address, so that was an important consideration; that seems to have changed with "ID.me", though. The longer you're here, though, the less mail you get anyway, and there is a cost.

@abthree I need to have a primary address in USA for my Wells Fargo account, but I can change my mailing address. Except that the online change of address form doesn’t have a field for country. I can’t send a message via the app, I can only receive messages from the bank. I’ll probably try to give my address in Brazil to a customer service rep. And try to get them to send the card next day/week/month to Brazil. Hopefully it won’t go to Brazil, Indiana. Or do I get a mail forwarding service for two bank cards that are updated every few years? I use Apple Pay all the time in Brazil, mostly with the Schwab card. Or, do I even need the Wells Fargo card? Makes me wish I had an account with SVB. 😵‍💫

@abthree My Schwab card will expire in May. I ordered a replacement card by phone today. It will be shipped via DHL, cost is $15. Easy peasy. 😀

@abthree Bom Día! My PayPal card expires in 2027, but the billing address is my old home in Maryland which I sold before I came to Brazil. Everything I get from them is by email (AOL, so I have had it forever).  What can I do for the future.

Thanx,

Roddie in Retirement

03/24/23 @abthree Bom Día! My PayPal card expires in 2027, but the billing address is my old home in Maryland which I sold before I came to Brazil. Everything I get from them is by email (AOL, so I have had it forever). What can I do for the future.
-@roddiesho

Over time, I've switched my mailing and billing addresses for all my credit card accounts, my insurance policies and my bank and investment accounts to my address at US Global Mail in Houston.  The addresses are formatted like apartment addresses, so even mailing systems that reject post office boxes accept them. 

Researching mail forwarding services before your trip would be a good idea, because if you decide that a mail forwarding service makes sense for you, then the USPS Form 1583, "Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent" needs to be notarized.  You can get it notarized by an online notary, or even at the US Consular Agency in Fortaleza if it's open, but it might be easier to get it notarized while you're in the US.

@alan279 My Schwab card arrived in a week.

@abthree Thanx, I'll have more time when I go to R.I. in June, I will do it then.

Roddie in Retirement