Virtual Mailboxes or How to Deal with US Mail

March 2022

How do you deal with snail mail once you've moved to the Netherlands?

You can either

1. Change your mailing address to the address of a US-based friend or relative whom you trust and who is willing to perform a small amount of manual labour on your behalf OR
2. Use a mail forwarding service.

The mail forwarding service we use is Traveling Mailbox and we have been very happy with them.

You may wonder why, in this day and age, you would ever need a service to deal with snail mail. Our friends and family don't assault our mailbox with paper missives, and we have opted in to the 'paperless' option whenever such an option has presented itself (banks, brokerages etc.). Nevertheless, over the last year and a half or so here are some examples of mail that we received at our virtual mailbox:

• Form 1099-G from the California Franchise Tax Board
• An invitation to be a member of a jury
• Bank statements every month from one of our US banks. Why? Because our account here is held via a trust. I contacted them to ask why I was still receiving statements when my (and my husband's) account preferences clearly state 'paperless'. I was told that the trust has its own preferences that cannot be changed via our individual logins. If I wanted to change the trust preferences, I'd need to visit the bank!
• A check from our car insurance provider. They realized that they had miscalculated our refund when we canceled our policy and owed us an additional amount, nearly eight months after the fact.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

What services does Traveling Mailbox provide?

Once you sign up you receive an address that you can give out to anyone who requests a physical address for you in the US.

When you receive mail at this address, Traveling Mailbox will scan the outside of the envelope for you and you can view your mail via the app or on their website. Here is what that looks like:

For a given piece of mail the following actions are possible:

If you choose to open and scan your mail you can view the scanned mail in the app/website and choose to download a copy of it. Scanning takes a few hours - I have never had it take more than twelve hours for a scan request to be completed.

I've also used the option to forward to another address. I've had them mail checks I've received to my bank in the US. I've also had them forward mail to the Netherlands. The cost of forwarding mail is extra and not included in your monthly cost.

The option I use most often of course, is to have them shred my mail.

How well does the virtual address work?

There are reports online of virtual addresses being refused - I have read accounts of banks balking at accepting these addresses.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of institutions that accepted our Traveling Mailbox address: Etrade, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, Chase and Farmers. Amex was the only hold out. They accept the Traveling Mailbox address as a mailing address but will only send out new cards to your home address and they don't accept the virtual address as the home address.

Note that Traveling Mailbox allows you to enter your virtual address so that it looks like an actual physical address.

For example, instead of

Your Name

1405 Lavaca St #4123

Austin, TX 78750

you can use

Your Name

1405 Lavaca St Apt 4123

Austin, TX 78750

You can replace '#' with Apt, Unit or Suite in the address.

How much does it cost?

The basic plan is $15/month. This allows you to receive 40 envelopes/month for free. If you receive more mail than that you are charged per envelope at the rate of $0.25/envelope.

Traveling Mailbox has a pretty clear pricing page that lays out the various tiers available, and the limitations of every tier.

USPS form 1583

The United States Postal Service requires form 1583 to be completed to authorize Traveling Mailbox to receive mail on your behalf.

When I opened my account, I needed to have my signature on this form notarized, and then send a scanned copy to Traveling Mailbox. Their website now says "you can easily chat in with the Traveling Mailbox team after completing your USPS Form 1583 and we can video chat with you to witness your signature and ours on your form". They note that if video chatting isn't possible then you still need to have your signature notarized. As such, I would recommend setting this up before you leave the country.

Alternatives

Here are some other virtual mailbox services that I have seen recommended by other expats. I haven't used any of these myself.

1. US Global Mail
2. Anytime Mailbox