USPS mail forwarding

Moving Here
1

Hello again folks,

I moved to Ontario in the first week of Jan. So far I haven’t received any US mail. I did submit the mail forwarding form via mail while I was in US. Does anyone knows if it takes this long to receive mails from US? I don’t receive any mails at my US address based on screenshots that I receive via usps informed post email service so I think they did put in my forwarding request in the system.

2

Can you clarify what forwarding you have set-up?

Did you setup mail forwarding with USPS to forward mail to you in Canada or to another US address?

Afaik, there is no free international mail forwarding service offered by USPS.

If it’s to a domestic US address, then I think they tell you to submit the change of address request 28 days in advance. I’ve been getting mail forwarded to my sisters address within the US for a good while now.

3

USPS only forwards to domestic addresses as far as I remember. Easiest method would be to forward to a friend/relative and have them mail it.

4

I was able to setup US mail forwarding in june 2019. It used to take 3-4 weeks sometimes to receive it.
I have stopped getting physical mail now (it’s only for a year, if I remember).

5

Thanks everyone who responded. USPS does forwards it internationally for a year. At least to Canada. Here’s the link (look for How do I File a COA for an International Address?)-

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Change-of-Address-The-Basics#COA_Options

@usa2can - So you started receiving it after 3-4 weeks of the start date? Mine was Jan 5th and so far I haven’t received any mails from US. Is there any way to call them and confirm? Just wanted to make sure that they processed it.

6

You would be lucky to get someone who knows about Canada forwarding on the customer service line of USPS. Not worth it.

If you haven’t received these mails on your US address for last 3-4 weeks, then it should be forwarded. btw, USP will only forward first class mail. Any lower category won’t be forwarded. I hope you are aware about it.

7

Very interesting, I didn’t think that they’d forward mail internationally but looks like I was wrong about that. Good to know.

8

I heard canada post locations are facing issues due to covid and some of the locations are closed due to this. Not sure if that’s causing the delay.

What is lower than first class mail? Regular stamped mail? I only need letters forwarded from banks which usually come through as first class mail.

9

Thought I’ll update the folks on this forum. Finally I received my first set of mails from US. It took exactly 4 weeks from my start date of COA request to receive the mails.

3 Likes
10

Thanks @jayhop !

11

Hi Jayhop, are you still receiving mails from USPS after mail forwarding setup you did. I went to USPS today and they confirmed they don’t do it internationally as it bears a lot of cost. Can you please confirm so that I can try to check again.

12

I still receive the mails and based on the below link, the service still appears to be active -

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Change-of-Address-The-Basics#COA_Options

13

Thanks a lot @jayhop . I also talked to customer service and they confirmed that it is there. Seems like issue is that many employees at USPS are not aware of it. Thanks for this link. It’s a big help.

14

We received it for the first year of the move. You would need to go to USPS location, and just put the Canadian address in the physical form (you won’t be able to do it online).