Moving Abroad: What to Do About Your Mail

You know how hard it is to move from one town to another and deal with forwarding your mail. Imagine what it's like moving to a foreign country and getting your mail from the US (or your country of origin) sent to you.

How do you do it? Here's the answer: you don't. You don't forward your mail to your new home abroad. Instead, you keep an address in the US (will be using the word US or America for this article, although it applies to expatriates from anywhere).

Why you need to keep your American address:

-You need an American address for any bank accounts or investments you keep open in the US.

-Forwarding costs to your new home abroad would either take forever to reach you or would be prohibitive to pay for.

-You never know when you'll return and keeping an American address will just make it that much easier.

-If you do any business in your former country, your clients may prefer sending you payments by check to an American address (this is especially true in the US).

-If you need to pay taxes-or receive a refund--the IRS needs an American address.

How do you keep an American address?

-Ask a trusted friend or relative to let you use his/her address. That's what I did with my brother when I moved from the US to Malta over seven months ago.

-First, eliminate as much junk mail as you can by calling the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service www.dmachoice.org which lets you opt out of receiving junk mail from many national companies for five years. There may be a $1 fee.

-Next, for other associations or magazines that aren't on the DNA list, email them or send back their junk mail, stating that you are leaving the country and don't want any more of their mail. For me, it must have been somewhat successful because my brother hasn't been complaining. (On the other hand, my brother-G-d bless him-is a paper hoarder, so maybe he likes getting the stuff.)

-Ask the person getting your mail to let you know when something important-looking arrives or if some mail comes that you've been waiting for. In that case, my brother opens my mail for me and tells me what it is. If I need something right away, he sends/faxes/scans and emails it to me. If it's not so crucial, he keeps it until he sees me.

-If you don't have someone to collect your mail for you, investigate mail services that will do the same thing for you-but for a fee. The best thing is to Google: mail services in your area and see what you come up with.

If it comes down to having your mail forwarded to you, then you must contact all your important mail sources and let them know your new address. Or you may have to talk to someone at the US Post Office. In that case, lots of luck. The only good thing about going for a discussion at your post office is that it's not as bad as having to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Ilene Springer writes about her adventures as an expat in An-American-in-Malta.com