Poste restante

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.

Belgium

bpost uses the term Poste Restante (French), Postliggend (Dutch) or Postlagernd (German) which needs to be indicated on the post together with the name, optionally the first name, full name of the post office, postal code and city. The recipient has one month the time to collect the post after which it will be sent back to the sender. A special tax applies valued at the price of one stamp of value 2. As of 1st of March 2018 this price is 1,74 €. This tax is usually paid by the recipient but can also be paid by the sender.

Name of the recipient

Poste Restante

Full name of the post office

B-1234 City

Belgium

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 methods of delivery (such as post office boxes) are not available.

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 is included. The recipient gets the letter (or package) if he or she has a valid ID (ID, passport, driving licence). The mail Will be retained for only 15 days.

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 14 days and after arrival.^[2]

France

In France, La Poste offers the service for letters at an additional cost of €0.85, to be paid by the receiver. Packages are €4.00 each upon collection.^[3] Letters are kept for 15 days. The service is offered at any post office. The only requirement is to add 'Poste restante' after the recipient's name.^[4]

Germany

Deutsche Post offer the service for all mail items under the Postlagernd^[5] (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. Beware that some post employees may tell you that the service is no longer used and all Poste Restante mail is thrown out.

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 consignee 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.^[6]

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Hongkong Post is responsible for handling the mail and mail can be sent to any post office.^[7] 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.^[8] Additionally, the postal service provides a "pick-up" service for web-based businesses where a business can ship to a pick-up point.^[9]

India

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

Mr./Mrs. SURNAME First name

Poste Restante

C/O POSTMASTER

GPO [for General Post Office]

City name

State name

India

Carry a passport or some other form of national identification to pick it up.

In India, letters are said to be held for around a month, up to two in larger GPOs, before being returned; so ask the senders to add their return address, or to use your own home address for it.

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. Letter post is retained for 30 days^[10]; parcel post is normally retained for 15 days, with an exceptional period of 1 month.^[11]

Japan

In Japan, the term Yuubinkyoku-dome (郵便局留め) indicates a Poste Restante mail.

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

163-8799

東京都新宿区西新宿

新宿郵便局留め

山田太郎 様

(TEL 090-xxxx-xxxx)

For international mail,

Mr. Taro Yamada

Shinjuku-Yuubinkyoku-dome

Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to 163-8799 JAPAN

(TEL 090-xxxx-xxxx)

where “163-8799” is the postcode of the post office, “Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to” is the address of the post office, “Shinjuku-Yuubinkyoku” is the name of the post office, and “-dome” means “keep it there”.

A poste restante mail will be kept in the post office for 10 days, identification is required for pickup.

Lithuania

In Lithuania, the words "Poste restante" or "Iki pareikalavimo" (used locally in Lithuania) should be made bold.^[12]

For local mail:

Name of recipient (in dative case)

Iki pareikalavimo

Name of post office

12345 City

Mob. tel.: 86xxxxxxx and/or (optional mobile number for notifying with SMS message about received registered mail)

email@address.com (optional e-mail address for notifying about received registered mail)

Malta

MaltaPost offers Poste Resante service from a post office in the capital Valletta for up to three months, after which mail is returned to sender. Prior to using the service, the person must inform MaltaPost via email, and a means of identification needs to be provided when picking up the mail. Mail should be addressed as follows:^[13]

Name of recipient

Poste Restante

Valletta Boxes

75, Old Bakery Str

IL-BELT VALLETTA

VLT 1000

MALTA

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:^[14]

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^[15]:

Name of recipient

POSTE RESTANTE

Name of post office

Post office’s address

Post office’s postcode and place

Poland

Mail should be addressed according to the following format:^[16]

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.

Portugal

In Portugal, CTT provides the Poste Restante service ("Posta Restante") in all post offices. The mail will be kept in the post office until the last day of the following month after it was received. Mail is addressed according to the following format:^[17]

Name of recipient

Posta Restante Loja XXXXXXX (name of the post office)

Address of Post Office

Postcode and place

The recipient has to pay a 0,65€ tax in the act of receiving the mail.

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.

Spain

Mail can also be received at Spanish Post Offices. ^[18] There is normally no charge for the service. Poste Restante letters should be addressed Lista de Correos, followed by the address of the post office (including the post code, town and province). Put your surname in capitals. An example Lista de Correos address is:

John SMITH

Lista de Correos

Pl. Rosa dels Vents 9

46730 Gandia

Valencia

Spain

To find the address of the Correos nearest to you check at www.correos.es. Click on the Oficinas link for the Localizador de Oficinas.

When collecting mail from the post office you will need to show some form of identification such as a passport or photo driving licence. Specify that you are collecting a Lista de Correos item as these are stored separately from the other stored mail. The Lista de Correos mail is filed alphabetically and it may be worth asking them to check if an expected package was filed under your first name if they cannot find it under your surname. Post offices vary in how long they will hold your mail.

When addressing mail for Spain, always ensure there is a return address on the parcel or packet.

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.^[19]

Switzerland

In Switzerland, all post offices offer poste restante for free for up to one month. Addressing takes the following format:

Name of recipient

Poste restante

[street/n° of the preferred post office]

1234 City

Here, 1234 represents the postal number of the post office. The correct street address can be found online.^[20]

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

^[21]

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^[22]. 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,^[23] whereas mail posted from abroad is normally held for one month.^[23] If the recipient is at sea however, it will be held for two months.^[24] 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 is addressed in the following fashion:^[25]