It takes about 15 minutes from start to finish to fill out the form and have everything taken care of. Return the process to the postal clerk – showing two different forms of ID, a photo ID and a proof of residence – and you are good to go. The in-person process is available 100% free of charge and again can be handled at any local post office in your area. The first thing you’ll need to do is decide whether or not you want to change your address in person or go through the process online. If you decide to do the “in person” approach you’ll be glad to know that every single post office in United States can handle this for you. All you have to do is walk in, alert the postal clerks the fact that you’d like to either temporarily or permanently change your address, and they will hand you the proper paperwork to fill out. There give you a form called the USPS Form 3575 (as part of a Movers Guide they all have on hand) that you’ll have to fill out. Keep these things in mind as you go from one step to the next and you’ll be able to get your COA in place with no trouble at all. Let’s dive right in. The process for setting up a Change of Address with the USPS is generally pretty straightforward, though there are certainly some hoops you’ll need to jump through all the same. Below we breakdown the process in as much detail as you’ll need to go through it with little stress and headache. How to Setup Change of Address with the USPS This is particularly useful for those that run a business out of their home, especially if they are going to be moving to a new office and want to separate the two types of mail completely. You can set up this kind of mail forwarding with the USPS (as well as services like US Global Mail) on a temporary or permanent basis, too. There’s also an opportunity to specify that certain pieces of mail (types of mail, anyway) get forwarded while others do not. But if you expect that you’re going to be traveling for work for little while (but no longer than two months) it may be worth taking advantage of this temporary COA as well. This kind of COA is usually recommended when you are moving locations around with short-term leases, moving locations around because of renovations or rebuilding, or are temporarily moving your residence or your home for extended stays at a vacation home, rental property, or for other temporary reasons. The temporary COA process through the United States Postal Service (USPS) also has an option to redirect your mail for 60 days. Most of the time this is used to handle magazines, newsletters, and other periodicals. On the flip side of things, a temporary COA is recommended to be used for individuals, families, and businesses that expect this address change to only be in place for 12 months or less. This is best used for when you are changing your address completely and do not expect ever to return to the prior address that you were using before. Folks will usually use a permanent change when they are moving house, changing apartments, or leaving the state (or the country) and expect to be gone for longer than 12 months. Choosing between the two is going to have a huge impact on how your mail is handled moving forward. Obviously, a permanent COA is going to have your mail redirected (no surprise here) on a permanent basis. Straight out of the gate it’s important to highlight the major differences between a temporary Change of Address (COA) and a permanent COA. The Major Differences Between Temporary and Permanent Change of Address (COA) Ready to jump right in? Great! Let’s get into it. That’s why we put together this quick guide.īelow we highlight how to go through the Change of Address process, but we also breakdown how to change your address temporarily – if you’re moving to warmer weather just for the winter before returning home, for example – or to change your address permanently. By the time you’re done with this detailed guide you’ll know exactly what to do to guarantee that all your mail arrives at your new address. Believe it or not, that happens a lot more often than people think. Thankfully though, there are a couple ways you can go about changing your address temporarily or permanently. It doesn’t take much for moving to get pretty stressful. The only thing that makes moving even more stressful is worrying about whether or not your mail is going to get to your new address or be left behind at your old one. There are always moving parts that throw our carefully laid plans into (hopefully) controlled chaos. Having to juggle all that packing, all that planning, and that actually moving everything to a new house or apartment never goes as smoothly as we like.
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