Poste restante

Poste restante (French pronunciation: ​[pɔst ʁɛstɑ̃t], "remainder post") or general delivery is a service where the post office holds mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting a particular location and have no need, or no way, of having mail delivered directly to their place of residence at that time.

By country

Australia

Poste Restante is a long-established service within Australia run by the national postal service, Australia Post, which allows you to have your post sent to a city-centre holding place. There your post will be held for up to 1 month and you can go in and collect it by providing a proof of identity, such as a passport.

For example, for the Adelaide GPO (General Post Office, i.e. the main post office in the city of Adelaide) you would address the letter or parcel to your recipient thus:

Recipient's Full Name
c/o Poste Restante
GPO Adelaide
SA 5001
Australia

The recipient would then need to go to the Adelaide GPO at 141 King William St., Adelaide, SA to collect it when it was due to arrive or shortly afterwards.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the Bosnia and Herzegovina, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE, which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification to be presented ID document or a passport, if abroad).

Name of recipient
POSTE RESTANTE
12345 City

Cambodia

In Cambodia, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE, which is written after the full name of the recipient. Parcels and letters should contain a phone number, but recipients are more likely to get notified by phone for a parcel.

Name of recipient
POSTE RESTANTE
City
Post code #####
Province Name
Cambodia
Tel +855 ### ### ###

Canada

Canada Post uses the term “general delivery” in English, and “poste restante” in French. Travellers may use the service for up to four months, and it is also used in circumstances where other free methods of delivery (such as post office boxes) are not available.

The Canada Post guidelines for addressing of letter mail stipulate that general delivery mail should be addressed in the following fashion:

MR JOHN JONES
GD STN A
FREDERICTON NB  E3B 1A1

where “GD” is the abbreviation for “general delivery” (alternatively "PR" for “poste restante” in French), and “STN A” is the station or post office (in this case, “Station A”). When the mail is to be delivered to a retail postal outlet, then the abbreviation RPO is used, and in French the station is indicated by “SUCC” for “succursale,” or retail postal outlet by "CSP" for “comptoir postal”. In the above example, the French version of the address would use “PR SUCC A” for the second line.

Croatia

In Croatia, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE, which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification to be presented ID document or a passport, if abroad).

Name of recipient
POSTE RESTANTE
12345 City

In Croatia letters received to poste restante address are kept in post office for 30 calendar days.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, mail can be addressed to the post office if "POSTE RESTANTE" and the full name of the recipient in included. The recipient gets the letter (or package) if he or she has a valid ID (ID, passport, driving licence).

Name of the recipient
Details (such as - summer camp etc.), or leave blank
POSTE RESTANTE
12345
City

Finland

Poste restante is offered in all post offices in Finland.

The address is entered using the following format:

Name of recipient
Poste restante
12340 City

Prior to April 1, 2013, it was also possible to use a nickname instead of real name and without providing an ID.[1]

Here 12340 represents the postal number of the post office. For example, Helsinki main post office is 00100 Helsinki.

In Finland letters received to poste restante address are kept in post office for three full calendar weeks and packages for two full calendar weeks in addition to the arrival week.[2]

France

In France, La Poste offers the service for letters at an additional cost of €0.76, to be paid by the receiver. Packages are €4.00 each upon collection. Letters are kept for 15 days.[3]

Germany

Deutsche Post offer the service for all mail items under the Postlagernd[4] (General Delivery) service. Domestic items may make use of a passphrase instead of the recipients name if preferred. As a general rule, the item should be addressed to the Hauptpost (main post office) of the location

Address Format:

Recipient Name
Kennwort: <passphrase> (optional)
Postlagernd
Post Office address
Post Office postcode/town

The phrase Kennwort: (Password) in front of the passphrase requires the consingee to specify the passphrase at time of collection. Items may be collected from the designated post office upon production of valid identification (e.g. Passport) and the passphrase.

It is important to use the term Postlagernd in preference to, or in conjunction with, Poste Restante to prevent returned mail.[5]

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Hongkong Post is responsible for handling the mail and mail can be sent to any post office.[6] At the address side, mark the mail with "Poste Restante" or "存局待領" in bold.

The address format is like this:

Name of recipient
Name of post office (optional)
Hong Kong

The name of recipient must be real and in full. No initial or figure is allowed.

Hungary

Hungarian post requires poste restante ("postán maradó") delivery to be addressed to specific post offices.[7] Additionally, the postal service provides a "pick-up" service for web-based businesses where a business can ship to a pick-up point.[8]

Italy

In Italy, writing "fermoposta" together with the full name of the addressee and postal code will activate general delivery at the relevant post office. Letters and small packets will be kept for 7 days.

Japan

In Japan, the term yūbinkyoku-dome (郵便局留め lit. keep at the post office) indicates a Poste restante mail.

The Japan Post Service guidelines for addressing of letter mail stipulate that general delivery mail should be addressed in the following fashion:

101-8799
東京都千代田区神田淡路町2-12
神田郵便局留め
郵便 太郎 様
03-XXXX-XXXX(Telephone number only for packages etc.)

Translation in English (Not the English format)

101-8799
2-12 Kanda-awaji-chō, Chiyoda City, Tōkyō
Keep at Kanda Post Office
Yūbin Tarō
03-XXXX-XXXX(Telephone number only for packages etc.)

where “101-8799” is the postcode of the post office, “2-12 Kanda-awaji-chō, Chiyoda City, Tōkyō” is the address of the post office, “Kanda Post Office” is the name of the post office, and “keep/留め” indicates “poste restante” in French.

A poste restante mail in Japan will be kept in the post office for 10 days, ID document and stamp is required for pick up.

International mail to Japan may also use the British addressing format.

The Netherlands

PostNL offers Poste Restante service for up to one month, after which the mail will be returned to the original sender (if provided). This service is provided by all Dutch post offices. Mail should be addressed thus:[9]

Last name of recipient
First name of recipient
Poste Restante
Name and address of post office
The Netherlands

New Zealand

New Zealand Post offers a Poste Restante service of up to two months at various post offices throughout the country. Mail is addressed thus:

Recipient
Poste Restante
Town, Postcode
New Zealand

Norway

In Norway, Norway Post provides the Poste Restante service in all post offices. Ordinary mail is returned to sender 3 weeks after arrival. Parcels and registered letters are returned to sender after 2 weeks. Valid foreign identification for obtaining mail is limited to passports and European Identity cards. Mail is addressed according to the following format:

Name of recipient
Poste Restante
Name of post office
Postcode and place

Poland

Mail should be addressed according to the following format:[10]

Name of recipient
Poste Restante
12-345 City 6

where 12-345 represents the zip code of the post office and 6 represents post office number within given city. (In Poland every post office is uniquely identified by city and number, e.g. "Warszawa 1" or "Kraków 35". These numbers are used only when the post office itself is the point of delivery, e.g. mailboxes or poste restante.) There is no address of a recipient on the envelope, and if no sender address is provided, mail is considered undeliverable after 14 days.

Every Poczta Polska office is valid target for poste restante delivery and the service is provided with no additional cost. All types of mail, e.g. letters, parcels and money orders, can be sent to poste restante.

Slovenia

In Slovenia mail is addressed to POŠTNO LEŽEČE, which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification to be presented ID document or a passport, if abroad).

Name of recipient
POŠTNO LEŽEČE
1234 City

In Slovenia letters received for a poste restante address are kept in post office for 15 calendar days.

Sweden

Not all post offices offer poste restante. The address is entered using the following format:

Name of recipient
Poste Restante
123 45 City

Here 123 45 represents the postal number of the post office. Post offices providing poste restante services can be located by searching for poste restante as "street address" in a given city (giving you a postal number) and then searching for post offices with that postal number.[11]

Turkey

For Istanbul, the main parcel and post restante office is in Sirkeci, a few minutes walk from the Sirkeci tram stop.

Name of recipient as appears on Passport or Official ID
Post Restante(in large and clear letters)
PTT Baş Müdürlüğü,
Hobyar Mahallesi,
Yeni Postane Caddesi No.25,
Sirkeci, Istanbul

[12]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE (or TO BE CALLED FOR), which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification to be presented e.g. a passport, if abroad), then the name and full address of the destination post office, thus:

Mr. John Smith
POSTE RESTANTE
Islington Post Office
116 Upper Street
London N1 1AE

If only addressed to a town name, for example “POSTE RESTANTE, LONDON”, mail will go to the closest main post office branch (there being more than a hundred crown offices – directly-managed post office branches – in London[13]). Some small branches do not offer the poste restante service.

The sender should also include their return address. In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mail will hold mail posted from within the UK for two weeks,[14] whereas mail posted from abroad is normally held for one month,[15] subject to local capabilities.[16] If the recipient is at sea however, it will be held for two months.[17] Where mail is not collected within that time, it will be returned to the sender, or if there is no sender indicated, will be treated as undeliverable. If the sender would like uncollected mail returned sooner, they can indicate this on the envelope. Timescales vary from country to country according to local practice.

United States

In the United States, the U.S. Postal Service uses the term General Delivery. Mail for general delivery to recipients in the United States should be addressed in the following fashion:[18]

MRS JANE Q SMITH
GENERAL DELIVERY
WASHINGTON DC  20090‑9999

According to the USPS website, "In medium to large cities with multiple ZIP Codes, you’ll want to make sure senders use the ZIP Code for the area’s main Post Office."[19] When sending to general delivery, the optional ZIP+4 portion of the ZIP code is -9999.

Post offices which hold mail for general delivery may hold such mail for up to 30 days.[20]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.