The Foreign Service Journal, November 2007

A letter to the editor from a Foreign Service officer in the July-August Journal discussed the difficulty of changing one’s mailing address while posted overseas and asked for advice on ways to make the process less arduous. I’d like to offer some tips on this important subject. I speak as some- one who spent 22 years in the Air Force managing overseas post offices and performing related duties, and then worked for the United States Postal Service for two years before coming on board with the Depart- ment of State. I’ve supervised APOs and embassy mailrooms, and I set up the first Department of State diplo- matic post office in Budapest. Start notifying your contacts of your upcoming address change at least 120 days before you will be departing post. Waiting until the week you are leaving to take care of that, as all too many people do, is a surefire way to experience glitches. In addition, keep in mind that mail- order catalogs are preprinted with your old mailing address 90 days before they are mailed, and magazine subscriptions are preprinted with your old mailing address at least six to eight weeks before mailing. Change all of your addresses. The embassy or consulate still has to pay to handle all the mail it receives after you are gone, even the “junk mail.” Not only is that a waste of time and effort, but it makes your colleagues wait longer to get their mail. I always contact the mailroom personnel at my previous post to ensure they are no longer receiving any of my mail. I wish everyone did this; in Moscow alone, we trashed hundreds of pounds of mail every month intended for people who had left post years before. Use a database to keep track of those who regularly mail items to you. In the age of the Internet, compiling and changing addresses are easier than ever. I maintain an EXCEL database with the name, address, city, state, Zip code, 1-800 telephone numbers, Web site and e- mail address of every piece of mail I receive. Initially, it took time and effort to create the spreadsheet, but now that it’s complete, it is simple to update, correct and verify the infor- mation every time I get a piece of mail. I keep this document with my important papers. Use the company or publi- cation’s own prepaid envelope (if one is available) to mail your address label. Be sure to provide your new address or enclose a note asking to be taken off the mailing list. Because it costs the recipient 82 cents, not just 41 cents, merely to receive this envelope, they will definitely do so. Keep in mind the following guidelines for mail forwarding: • First-class letter mail is for- warded for one year. • Priority mail packages are for- warded for one year. • Parcel post/media mail packages are forwarded for 60 days. • Magazines are forwarded for 60 days. • Standard, presorted, nonprofit mail is destroyed at post. If you are returning to the U.S. for your next assignment, send a let- ter addressed to: POSTMASTER, NEW CITY, NEW STATE, NEW ZIP CODE explaining you are moving to that city and giving your new address. (You do not need a street address for the postmaster; the city, state and Zip code are enough.) They will be more than happy to hold your new incoming mail for up to 45 days before your arrival. (I even do this when I go home for R&R.) Use e-mail, call 1-800 numbers or visit Web sites to change your mailing address where possible. It is quick, easy and gets immediate results. (Unfortunately, the State Department Federal Credit Union does not accept address changes via e- mail.) By contrast, change-of-address notices sent via the unclassified diplomatic pouch can take several weeks to arrive and be processed. Go online to change your mailing address for commercial addresses; it’s quick, easy and gets immediate results. N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 Mail Handling Tips B Y L EE J. A CKERMANN FS K NOW -H OW