U.S. Department of State

Verify your Overseas Address
Contact your new post and request your new address.  It may be an APO/FPO/DPO, international, or pouch address. Be sure you know package size and weight limitations and content restrictions.  Share this infomration with your family members who will most likely be sending you packages from time to time.  Notify your relatives of your new address.

Obtain Change-of-Address Kits
Obtain change-of-address packets from your local post office or change your address online using the official USPS website. 
Send change-of-address forms or update online the following (as a beginner list):

• your local post office,
• federal and state income tax bureaus,
• county treasurer,
• mortgage holder,
• Department of Motor Vehicles,
• magazine subscriptions,
• book clubs,
• insurance companies,
• investment firms,
• credit card companies,
• your college or university,
• stores where you have accounts, and
• any companies in which you own stock. 

Note this list in a small notebook or spreadsheet to facilitate change-of-address notification the next time you move.  Carefully time address changes, since some go into effect sooner than others. Magazine subscriptions, for instance, often require six to eight weeks to update. Other changes will happen almost immediately. Ideally, you do not want mail arriving at post before you do unless you have made arrangements with someone to collect it. 

Change of E-mail Address
Since most e-mail services do not forward messages after you have moved, it may be most helpful to obtain a permanent e-mail address well before leaving. By using one of the following options, you will not have to send out repeated e-mail address changes. 

• Select a service that provides e-mail on the web; www.gmail.com, www.hotmail.com, and www.yahoo.com are popular choices. (Search the Internet for "Web-based e-mail.")
• Using a forwarding service. Many universities provide this service for their alumni, or use a search engine to look for "e-mail forwarding." (Here is one list of free e-mail forwarding services).
• Obtaining your own domain name with POP e-mail accounts or e-mail forwarding.

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