How Do I Setup Mail Forwarding with Usps?

If you are planning to be away from your mailing address for an extended period of time, whether it's for a vacation, temporary job or to help friends or family in another city or state, you don't want your mail to pile up. You also want to make sure important pieces of mail are left unopened while you are away. You can solve this problem by forwarding your mail through USPS. How do you set up mail forwarding with USPS? You can get information and assistance from USPS customer support here, and below are steps you can take to forward your mail.

How to Forward Mail Through USPS

The United States Postal Service offers three kinds of mail forwarding for customers: temporary change of address, permanent change of address and premium forwarding service.

Temporary

If you are just going to be away from your home temporarily, you can have your mail forwarded to you during the duration of your time away. To set up temporary mail forwarding with USPS follow these steps:

1. Open the USPS website in your computer browser.
2. Click on "Quick Tools" in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. Select "Change My Address" from the options displayed.
4. Highlight the correct response under "Who is Moving?"
5. Key in your name, email address, phone number and select the type of phone number (work, cell, home) from the drop-down menu beside the phone number section.
6. Select "Temporary" to indicate this is not a permanent move.
7. Enter the start and end dates for mail forwarding.
8. Provide your old (current) address.
9. Type in your new address.
10. Hit "Next."
11. Enter payment method for the small fee charged for an online request to temporarily forward mail. The fee is currently $1.10.
12. Confirm the preparer information indicating you are legally authorized to forward the mail from the old address to the new one.

Permanent

For a permanent change of address and mail forwarding, you would follow the same steps as a temporary change for most of the steps. The only difference would be instead of choosing "temporary" you would choose "permanent." Also, you would only enter a start date to forward your mail, not an end date.

You can also fill out a form at your local post office to have your mail temporarily or permanently forwarded to a new address. Simply complete a change of address card at the local post office, or place it in your mailbox to enroll in mail forwarding.

Premium Forward Service

With premium forward service through USPS, you can pay a one-time enrollment fee and have your mail and packages temporarily forwarded to a new address. You can enroll in premium forward service online or at your local post office.

Ensuring that your mail is delivered to you is important. USPS provides individuals and businesses options to forward mail temporarily or permanently depending on the situation. For more information or assistance, contact USPS here.