change of address
If you’re about to move, you’ve probably started to consider completing your change of address. A good number of homeowners who are about to move, partly because they’re too busy and mostly because they’re not in the know, forget to complete a change of address with the USPS. that means all your furniture is moved, and even the old chip, but not your mail.
Before getting into the “how to” of changing your address, it is important to highlight a few reasons why you should not be hesitant but complete this address change process as soon as possible.
- it is painless. completing a change of address (online or by visiting a local post office) will only take a few minutes and you’ll be good to go without worrying if your mail will follow you
- it doesn’t cost a fortune. Not only that, but if you complete a change of address at a local post office, you can do so free of charge. if you decide to do your address change online, there will be a small fee of $1.05.
- not receiving mail at your new address could mean headaches with the irs and other federal agencies or even with your insurance .
One thing to keep in mind, and that’s a common misconception that people have, is that you can always change your address in advance and pre-program it. Completing an address change isn’t something that needs to happen the night before, and you also don’t have to worry about moving at a later date and starting the address change process sooner.
when you visit the usps site to fill in your information, you will be asked when you want to complete the change of address. then, on what calendar date do you want the mail to be forwarded to your new address. Not only that, but depending on the address change you request (temporary or permanent), you’ll also be asked to provide a date when the address change will expire and mail will start going back to your old address.
completing a change of address is something that can be a little different, depending on the type of change you want to complete.
temporary change of address
The purpose of temporary address changes is so that mail is only forwarded for a short time, and all mail is returned to its old address six months later. this is an option most often used by people who intend to be out of town for a while. temporary changes will have a minimum requirement of 15 days for your mail to be resent. In other words, if you intend to be away for less than 15 days, a temporary change of address may not be the right mail forwarding system for you to consider. in that case, a mail hold at your local post office may be a better option.
permanent change of address
Permanent address changes will allow you to forward mail to your new address for up to 12 months. Although the name suggests that it is a permanent address change, at the end of the 12 months you will need to change your mailing address information with all agencies or services to which you are subscribed. One good thing about permanent address changes is that you don’t have to alternate between getting mail at your new address and your old address; once you complete the process, you will be able to accept mail at your new address indefinitely.
If you don’t know how long you plan to be at that other address, definitely consider a temporary change of address. This way, if you ever need to go back to your original address, you still have that option and you won’t be stuck with your new address.
Permanent address changes, like temporary address changes, are free when you visit a local post office. Make sure you have two forms of identification with you and provide a valid signature on the form you are asked to sign, and you are good to go.
complete a change of address online
To complete a change of address online, you will need to visit the USPS Moving Guide section of their website. there you will be asked to fill in some basic information, such as your name, date of birth, etc. The most important information to add is your old address, the new address you will be moving to, and the schedule. date you plan to move in.
You will be asked on that same page to choose between a permanent or temporary address change. that page has several frequently asked questions that have been answered by usps, so be sure to reference that page if all of your questions aren’t covered in this blog.
You will also be asked to provide a valid credit card which will be charged $1.05 as verification. Due to the amount of mail fraud out there, they want to make sure they can match the name you provided when filling out your form with your name on the card.
complete an address change offline
You can easily complete an offline change of address by visiting your local post office. visiting in person will in no way save you money or time, for that matter. however, it may be a better way to complete the process, if you have questions that no website can answer, or if you have already tried to complete a change of address, but are having difficulties in the process.
Post offices aren’t exactly quiet places, and you may have to queue, so be sure to write all of your questions down on a cheat sheet. Another thing you’ll want to do is fill out a change of address form, with all the fields filled out and a signature added at the bottom. when it’s your turn, just hand it to the clerk at the counter, and they’ll take care of the rest.
complete a change of mailing address: beware of fraud
perhaps we should have included this as part of the online address change. however, if you do a simple search online, you will see a small number of websites that advertise themselves as a change of address partner. They don’t claim to be from the USPS (although some make the website look like it’s on a USPS page), but instead claim to help you save time visiting the post office.
At the time of this writing, we have not come to any conclusions as to whether these websites are totally fraudulent or if there is any way for them to actually submit your form to the USPS. In an effort to “crack” the mystery, we contacted the USPS and asked if they had authorized third-party websites they work with to complete address changes on behalf of individuals. his response was similar to the one we listed a moment ago: there is no clear authorization for anyone else to process address change requests, and all address changes must be executed through usps with a verified signature (for address changes offline, ) or by using a credit card during the online process.
Whether or not these websites, which charge more than $20 for something that’s virtually free, are actually misleading people is a mystery in itself. however, if you ever become a victim of this type of fraud, be sure to contact your bank and make a refund. These websites do not have the legal capacity or are not authorized by USPS to make address changes on your behalf.
a virtual mailbox alternative
good; If he has been patiently reading this, hoping to find an answer to his questions, we hope we were able to help you with that.
Before we wrap up our topic for the day, we’d like to give you an introduction to a virtual mailbox platform, which a growing number of people have started using to use their mail.
It started with expats who were abroad and couldn’t receive their US mail. employees of international corporations, retired couples and people who needed to be abroad for a while, had no way of receiving packages & mail, except through the use of virtual mailboxes.
In short, it is an online platform, similar to your email, where all mail and postal packages are scanned and uploaded. All items that arrive in your virtual mailbox will have an outer scan of their envelope or package. From there, if you want images of the documents in your envelopes to be uploaded to your account, you can request them from the virtual mailbox. If you want something physically shipped to you, depending on its destination, you can expect to get up to 80% off retail shipping rates. shredding is absolutely free and check deposits can also be completed from your account (also free!)
We have put together a freemium plan for people who have not yet used a virtual mailbox platform, through which you can start using our platform for free, during the first 60 days. if you decide you want to renew from there, you can easily do it from your account. otherwise, you can cancel and receive the mail in the traditional way, in your physical mailbox.
We’ll say one thing, which relates to our topic on address changes: When you sign up for a virtual mailbox, and if you’re not sure if it’s right for you long-term, fill out a temporary change. this way, you can always receive mail at your original address.
thanks for visiting us today and be sure to read more about our global mail here.