Your new home might have everything you have dreamed of including a wooded backyard, friendly neighborhood and convenient location. However, moving to a new place is always stressful, especially if it is across the country. With everything involved in moving, you might assume that setting up a USPS mail forwarding system is the last thing to worry about. If you want to keep your life moving smoothly in the new residence, use these tips to know how to set up a mail forwarding system for your new home after changing your address by using our united states postal services address change service

1. Verifying The New Address

Imagine if you had been living in the old address for a long time. You will certainly have a few issues trying to remember the new one. Well, before you start thinking about mail forwarding, you need to know your current address. You can verify it from the landlord or realtor. Also, confirm the apartment or house number as well as check the proper spellings of the city and street to avoid any mistakes with your mail in the future. If you are moving to a new construction, make sure the developer didn’t change the old street address from what was filed originally.

Next, you need to find out how the post office codes the mail coming to your new location. Start by checking the city and street names against what you have, giving you a chance to get your zip code, if you don’t have it already. Note that by using zip +4, you will receive your mail faster and accurately to the right address. You can reduce mail forwarding errors and save a lot of time, especially since you don’t have to make your address changes twice.

2. Filing A Temporary Or Permanent Address With USPS Filing Address With USPS

Once you move to the new location, you need to decide whether you should file a temporary or permanent address with the USPS. With the permanent option, your mail will be forwarded to the new place for a specific period. Anything regarding first-class mail and periodicals will be forwarded except standard mail such as catalogs or catalogs. With the permanent change of address, the USPS can provide the new address to companies that get the change of address services, provided to any mailers upon request.

On the other hand, if you are planning to spend winter in a warm place or the hot months in a colder place, you can always opt for the temporary change of address. Here, you will receive the periodicals and first-class mail. You can have a temporary change of address between 15 days and 6 months but if you are willing to stay in the new place a bit longer, you can always extend it to a year.

However, there is premium forwarding service which is quite different from the temporary change of address. Rather, than getting each of your forwarded mail piece by piece, you will get everything including the package and standard service each Wednesday. You can pay the enrollment fee and a weekly fee for reshipment. The temporary change of address will not be availed to business mailers, one of the best ways to avoid junk mail.

3. Make Sure The Post Office Knows About Your New Address Post Office Knows About Your New Address

Once you move to a new address, the post office should know about and here’s how you can inform them.

a) Use the internet to submit your change of address. Of course, you should use a valid and accessible email address to make sure you receive the USPS confirmation about your mail forwarding. Also, have a valid debit or credit card for any charges that might come up with regard to change of address. To keep your information safe, the USPS will verify the information electronically with the bank responsible for issuing your debit or credit card. The billing address must match your old address and you can pay the $1.10 for verification.

b) You can also do the change of address via the phone. You can call the toll free number 1-800-ASK-USPS and perform the same identity verification you do over the internet. Make sure you have your debit or credit card ready for any charges that will come up.

c) Fill form 3575 which is the official USPS mail forward change of address form. You can get the form from your post office or get it online from the official USPS site. Fill the form and send it to the address on the card at least 2 weeks before moving to the new location. By using this option, you will save $1 since you don’t need to do the identity verification.

Once you file the change of address, you should get a moving validation letter to your old address, unless you have already relocated. A confirmation letter will be forwarded to your new address between 7 and 10 days and a welcome kit with useful information, special offers, a community guide, and coupons.

4. Mention Everyone Moving With You Mention Everyone Moving With You

Once you have changed your address with the USPS, you need to include the official names of everyone relocating with you to the new place. If you only add your name, everyone else in the household will not get their mails forwarded. It could get a little complicated depending on the situation at hand. For instance, if some members of your household, especially those who share your surname are moving with you while others are staying, you need to fill a separate form for change of address for each person with the individual option.

You should also follow the same procedure if there are some members of your household moving with you yet they have different last names while others are staying. However, if you are moving to the new address with your entire family with each person having the same last name, things will be a bit easier. That’s because you only need to fill one form with the family option and everyone will get their mails to the new address effortlessly.

5. The Right Time frame

Forwarding your mail can be extended for different periods depending on the type of mail since each type is handled differently. For instance, first class, as well as priority mail, will be forwarded for a year without any charges as long as the sender didn’t place any endorsement such as ‘do not forward’ on the specific piece of mail. Once the year is over, for the next 6 months, the mail will be returned to sender with the new address mentioned. Once the 18 months are over, the mail will be returned to the sender.

The same mail forwarding treatment is also applied to express mail. However, the delivery guarantee becomes null and void when the mail is forwarded. Any magazines or newspapers will be forwarded for about 2 months without any additional charges. After that period, the computerized mail delivery system handles the mail depending on the type of change of address applied.

For instance, if it is a temporary change of address, the periodicals will be disposed of after 2 months. If there is a permanent change of address, they will be forwarded to the sender with the new address. Once you start settling in your new home, about 7 to 10 postal days, your mail should start arriving at the new address. You can always contact USPS if you don’t get your new mail.

6. List Of People To Get Your New Address List Of People To Get Your New Address

With mail forwarding, you can continue receiving your mail effortlessly and have enough time to notify everyone about your new address. You can make a list of everyone you are doing business with and anyone you are planning to stay in touch and share your new address. It is always a good idea to make a list of everyone you are hoping to get your new address including the following:

1. Your bank and credit card companies
2. Magazines and newspapers
3. Family and friends
4. Doctors and dentists
5. Clubs and associations
6. Utility companies such as telephone, gas, water or electric
7. Your employer and any relevant government offices

Check your list against the mail you receive every day to make sure you don’t leave anyone out. Organize your envelopes and mailing labels so you can have the addresses ready when you need to send out notifications for your change of address. It is natural that you will leave out a few people from the list upon moving to the new location. You should keep the yellow stickers with addresses used by the post office when forwarding mail to identify anyone you are required to notify about your change of address.

7. Make It Simple

If you want to keep receiving your mail once the post office stops forwarding, you need to notify everyone in your list above about 2 weeks before your moving date. If your list is too long, you can set aside some time from your daily chores for the notifications. If possible, before changing your address, you can change your phone number. Most organizations will ask for your new phone number as well as your address at the same time but without the new address, you can always contact them and provide the relevant details.

You can share the news about your new address in a few ways. For instance, statements and bills always have an area for mentioning an address change and instructions on how to notify the company regarding the change. Additionally, you can visit your employer or the HR department to ensure that you are receiving your W-2 forms and paycheck on time, in the right address. You can also find designed cards in various stationary stores to announce your change of address or use the change of address cards found in your post office effortlessly.

8. Don’t Forget About Government Agencies

If you don’t receive regular mails from government agencies, it is quite easy to overlook them when sending your notifications for the change of address. However, you should not forget to notify the IRS (internal revenue service) about your new address, especially if you are waiting for a tax refund. Visit the official IRS site and download the 8822 form then mail it to the address indicated.

Also, visit the social security administration site and provide your new address as well as the zip code and official number to avoid missing out on survivor, retirement or disability benefits. On the other hand, regardless of whether you are moving out of state, you should change the address on your driving license since it is mostly used for identification purposes. You should update your voter registration records with the election office and your vehicle registration as well. You can do these changes online or through email.

9. Hire A Professional Hire A Professional

Are you too preoccupied with the move such that you don’t have enough time to handle any of the address changes and mail forwarding requests on your own? Well, you can always hire a professional online address change service to do it for you. they will notify all the organizations on your list, billing companies, and memberships about your change of residence.

They also switch, set up and cancel magazine subscriptions and arrange to connect or disconnect any services, especially utilities. They can remove your name from junk mail lists too. Of course, you need to investigate the online address change service thoroughly before signing up for anything. There should be proper security measures in places such as bonded employees and secure servers. Check the BBB rating of the service to make sure you are in the best hands.

10. A Few Obvious Updates

Although your mail is the first thing that comes to mind when changing your address don’t forget about a few obvious things. For instance, don’t forget to change your pets’ tags or address changes for your home-based business as well as bank checks, business cards, and professional directories. If you have any luggage coming up or deliveries make sure they are coming to the right address. Certainly, you don’t want to miss out on anything else important besides your mail.