My buddy from Australia, who just moved to the Phillipines, got a PO box at the post office. It's only around 300 peso's a month, and they text you whenever you get mail so you know to go pick it up. He gets Alot of mail involving his business back home and didn't want to chance his mail not getting to him.
When I saw the title of this video, the first thing that came to my mind, is that one of the benefits of moving to the Philippines, is that you finally rid yourself of junk mail. That in itself may be a good reason to move there.
I am constantly amazed at the topics you bring up. They are so important and relevant but no one else seems to touch on these details which is why I am so thankful for your channel. I have to look into turning on and off a credit card, never heard of that before.
Hey Steve. I rarely disagree with you but I am an introvert and not a social butterfly. I do have a small circle of friends but they are not required to live in Asia as I previously lived in Asia for 9 years. One can be friendly to others and adapt to the culture at hand but not having friends does not make one not suitable for living in a foreign country. Actually it can be quite the opposite. The less people know about you the better off you are. Chismis, Chicka-chicka, family in your business, people excessively borrowing on your good nature, so this is my style and it works well. Not denying that friendships aren’t nice to have just stating they are not mandatory. God bless
One other option, if you’re a US veteran, APO/FPO is available for DOD retired ID card holders in certain cities like Angeles/Subic. You’ll have to pick it up at a designated location but you’ll need to pay a small fee every six months. It’s restricted to envelope mail (less than a pound), magazines, but definitely no merchandise packages like Amazon. They do allow prescription glasses or bank checks but I never tried. I use it for my credit card and US bank addresses. I had no problems getting replacement credit cards and it took only about ten days to receive mail from the USA. I was told there are five or six locations in the Philippines that offers this service but I can only confirm Angeles City have theirs at the VFW building. If you’re a veteran, check with veteran organizations in the Philippines like VFW or Retired Activities Office for help.
Howdy Steve, good info as always for the Folks coming over or planning on coming in the future. As for me I use my postal forwarding service I talked to you about before, I get it by FedEx or DHL and I don't mind the few extra coins to have it sent that way. All my other mail I have scanned and sent in PDF format on the net.. piece of cake.
One more reason why yours is my go-to vlog for life in The Phils, Steve...I've eliminated the others because they were either usually about finding or understanding Filipinas, except for one that Robin Leach would approve of (I'm not into living large). Anyway, this was very useful although I would add one thing about addresses, since I don't recall you mentioning it (apologies if you did): Your subdivision. I've found in Baguio that mentioning the subdivision and barangay to taxi drivers are usually enough to get me home from almost anywhere. On mailing envelopes, I generally go with: Name Condo #, Street name Subdivision, Barangay City, Province Zip code, country As you said, the more details, the better. And you are so right about how LONG it can take mail to reach us from the states. I had my debit card number hacked in March 2020, just before the pandemic shut down everything. I think my replacement card arrived in August, after I'd had three wire transfers made from my bank to my fiancee's BPI bank account at $45 in fees a pop.
I sent 2 letters to the family in Philippines- one by recorded delivery signed for and the other normal mail- took from April to early June. Previous ones have never got there at all.
I am a very friendly person. All my friends and relatives are dead. So it is not fair to say not to move there if you have no friends. I only have acquaintances now that I would never burden with such tasks.
I use MYUS Virtual address and I have everything ship here that I order. Coming in from Fedxe or DHL. Also have post office mail pick from general trias office
Great overview Steve. Thanks for the information. Any suggestions for shipping “balikbayan boxes” safely? You know “care packages “ with those hard to find items. Thanks in advance.
Now, we get to the Philippines, something Happens with your Bank, and You want( or Need ) To Change banks. You have Auto Deposit if your Retirement from Work or Your Social Security is Automatically Deposited. How the hell do you get that Rerouted to your New Bank? Then there is all this Logistics you went to weeks or Months to set up, so your money can Be Transferred to you in the Philippines. This has got to be a Nightmare trying to Handle all this From The Philippines, or are you Gonna have to travel back home and reset everything once you've Changed banks?
Steve thanks for the advise. Before the pandemic I always allowed 6 weeks when I sent cards or parcels to San Pablo from Western Australia - once Covid hit that went up dramatically. It has settled down but if I am sending a gift to a friend in PI I will always make sure I send it at least 8 weeks in advance. In terms of scanning mail and sending it on I am not sure how everything works in the States but in Oz you can get 99% of stuff Emailed rather than by paper. Yes I agree using a relative or friend is much preferable to using some random company to scan your letters and Email them to you.God bless.
Wow, great info. Thank you. Request a video for more info on credit cards ( what's a PH card like etc. ) And sending receiving Meds, or is there places here to order/ get meds at reasonable prices.
My address is in the States, I have a family friend that send my Credit/Debit cards using DHL to The Philippines, it took 6 days to get my Cards or important documents. I know a friend who works for Amazon in Philippines and he told me that Amazon uses DHL to deliver their goods to The Philippines. It cost me 75 USD to use DHL from the States to The Philippines, a little steep but its worth it.
Here's how this paranoid guy sent his Filipina wife a VISA and an AMEX card while she was waiting for her US visa: I used a Fedex document envelope which is light cardboard. I got a heavier piece of cardboard and cut out rectangles which just fit the cards. Then made a sandwich of two lighter pieces of cardboard and aluminum foil on each side. The cards were not yet activated. This way the cards could not be felt and not seen by xray. They arrived in the Philippines quickly and safely and once in my wife's possession were activated. Yeah, maybe overkill but I slept well.
I've sent alot of stuff to my wife via FedEx (boxes and letter envelopes). Always put local Philippine phone number. Like Steve said all are delivered by courier. They call before delivery. We haven't had any problems, including when she lived in squatter area. I'm going to use Real Address to get mail from USA. Can access via phone. Wanted to mention Steve the new phones have done away with sim card slot. Wondering what long term effect will be in Philippines? I just pre ordered I14 pro max, since no sim card slot going to get international plan. Will probably pick up cheap phone in Philippines when I arrive in November.
We don't get mail delivered out here. Since my wife opened up he store in Alfonso, we just put her address of the store and it gets delivered there. They do deliver stuff from Lozada and Amazon to our house.
you can set up most important documents to go to your email part of saving environment for me personally if have a new credit card I personally send it DHL envelope for reference it cost me $125 usd an I get it in about 3 days I had a box of mail sent 1 time it took 47 days and when I picked it up at post office I had to pay like 150 pesos
In U S Send it to Jonny Air in La, SFO, Or New York. They will send it to one of the Jonny Air offices in Philippines. Don't Ever trust Phil Post with important Docs. or Credit Cards.
Steve, good topic. I have seen the order of address information in the Philippines where the zipcode precedes the province / city information. Can you confirm the correct order of address information recognized in the Philippines for postal delivery?
Look it up in your area. EMS is new as is 911, available in Manila but EMS are private systems in other areas. Ambulances are not able to get around traffic and do not carry emergency gear. Not sure if there is a fire department. And police, they do not all do what you think.
All my letters and packages from Norway, has been delivered to me here in The Philippines for 10years. Package, has a tracking number and i can go online to see where the package is. Usually, it use few days only , from Norway via Netherlands to Pasay City but from Pasay City to Cebu City, it takes weeks noe during the pandemic. Lettere be sent to s friend back home, so i have an C/o adress at my friend place. Then he send it to me here in Cebu city with DHL, usually i get the letters after 3 working dsys. Its a bit expencive to send with DHL but its not often i get letters, since O have moved permanently to The Philippines. Mostly its a new bank /ATM card Other important things , its usually comes as electronic post, so i can sign in to different sites for messages from bank,tax can o also do and deliver online.
USA2ME. It’s the address I use for my banks USAA and Navy Fed, also address for t mobile phone, credit card statements, US drivers license renewal/replacement, Amazon prime shipping from US, roku, Hulu, HBO and showtime subscription, nba league pass, it’s a mail forwarding service with a real address not a PO Box. They will forward all your mail and/or packages to you from US for 35 USD per month. You get one free shipment per month. They can also scan letters and discard what you don’t want forwarded to the Philippines
My buddy from Australia, who just moved to the Phillipines, got a PO box at the post office. It's only around 300 peso's a month, and they text you whenever you get mail so you know to go pick it up. He gets Alot of mail involving his business back home and didn't want to chance his mail not getting to him.
When I saw the title of this video, the first thing that came to my mind, is that one of the benefits of moving to the Philippines, is that you finally rid yourself of junk mail. That in itself may be a good reason to move there.
I am constantly amazed at the topics you bring up. They are so important and relevant but no one else seems to touch on these details which is why I am so thankful for your channel.
I have to look into turning on and off a credit card, never heard of that before.
👍👍 I am lucky since I am retired military and I have access to a PO Box at the RAO (Retired Activities Office) here in Subic.
Yes I get mine at the RAO in Angeles and it works very good we are lucky
Hey Steve. I rarely disagree with you but I am an introvert and not a social butterfly. I do have a small circle of friends but they are not required to live in Asia as I previously lived in Asia for 9 years. One can be friendly to others and adapt to the culture at hand but not having friends does not make one not suitable for living in a foreign country. Actually it can be quite the opposite. The less people know about you the better off you are. Chismis, Chicka-chicka, family in your business, people excessively borrowing on your good nature, so this is my style and it works well. Not denying that friendships aren’t nice to have just stating they are not mandatory. God bless
One other option, if you’re a US veteran, APO/FPO is available for DOD retired ID card holders in certain cities like Angeles/Subic. You’ll have to pick it up at a designated location but you’ll need to pay a small fee every six months. It’s restricted to envelope mail (less than a pound), magazines, but definitely no merchandise packages like Amazon. They do allow prescription glasses or bank checks but I never tried. I use it for my credit card and US bank addresses. I had no problems getting replacement credit cards and it took only about ten days to receive mail from the USA. I was told there are five or six locations in the Philippines that offers this service but I can only confirm Angeles City have theirs at the VFW building. If you’re a veteran, check with veteran organizations in the Philippines like VFW or Retired Activities Office for help.
Howdy Steve, good info as always for the Folks coming over or planning on coming in the future. As for me I use my postal forwarding service I talked to you about before, I get it by FedEx or DHL and I don't mind the few extra coins to have it sent that way. All my other mail I have scanned and sent in PDF format on the net.. piece of cake.
One more reason why yours is my go-to vlog for life in The Phils, Steve...I've eliminated the others because they were either usually about finding or understanding Filipinas, except for one that Robin Leach would approve of (I'm not into living large).
Anyway, this was very useful although I would add one thing about addresses, since I don't recall you mentioning it (apologies if you did): Your subdivision. I've found in Baguio that mentioning the subdivision and barangay to taxi drivers are usually enough to get me home from almost anywhere. On mailing envelopes, I generally go with:
Name
Condo #, Street name
Subdivision, Barangay
City, Province
Zip code, country
As you said, the more details, the better.
And you are so right about how LONG it can take mail to reach us from the states. I had my debit card number hacked in March 2020, just before the pandemic shut down everything. I think my replacement card arrived in August, after I'd had three wire transfers made from my bank to my fiancee's BPI bank account at $45 in fees a pop.
I sent 2 letters to the family in Philippines- one by recorded delivery signed for and the other normal mail- took from April to early June. Previous ones have never got there at all.
I am a very friendly person. All my friends and relatives are dead. So it is not fair to say not to move there if you have no friends. I only have acquaintances now that I would never burden with such tasks.
I use MYUS Virtual address and I have everything ship here that I order. Coming in from Fedxe or DHL. Also have post office mail pick from general trias office
Thanks Steve, great advice.cheers 🍻
Great Info, Thanks!!!!
I always wait until it gets here before I activate
Welcome to the Philippines🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
Great info. Thanks.
In the states. There called “ Mail Forwarding “ companies.
Good Info !!!
Great information again Steve... look good brother you guys should go for a walk around town?????
I have lived here 5 years and never seen a live mailman/lady yet. I think you doxxed yourself?
I gave the wrong address
Thanks Steve.
Good to know thanks Steve.
Good Topic, there are also several companies in the U.S. that Scan your mail then email you. You select what you want scanned
I use -Postscan Mail- service. They email a copy of the envelope, then you decide if you want it opened and scanned or just shred it.
First!!! For the snail mail..
Good Video 📹 👍 👌 👏
This conversation on mail taking 4 months had me laughing too loud. woke up my roommate.
Grrat video. Thanks.
Great overview Steve. Thanks for the information. Any suggestions for shipping “balikbayan boxes” safely? You know “care packages “ with those hard to find items. Thanks in advance.
Now, we get to the Philippines, something Happens with your Bank, and You want( or Need ) To Change banks.
You have Auto Deposit if your Retirement from Work or Your Social Security is Automatically Deposited.
How the hell do you get that Rerouted to your New Bank?
Then there is all this Logistics you went to weeks or Months to set up, so your money can Be Transferred to you in the Philippines.
This has got to be a Nightmare trying to Handle all this From The Philippines, or are you Gonna have to travel back home and reset everything once you've Changed banks?
Steve thanks for the advise. Before the pandemic I always allowed 6 weeks when I sent cards or parcels to San Pablo from Western Australia - once Covid hit that went up dramatically. It has settled down but if I am sending a gift to a friend in PI I will always make sure I send it at least 8 weeks in advance. In terms of scanning mail and sending it on I am not sure how everything works in the States but in Oz you can get 99% of stuff Emailed rather than by paper. Yes I agree using a relative or friend is much preferable to using some random company to scan your letters and Email them to you.God bless.
Wow, great info. Thank you. Request a video for more info on credit cards ( what's a PH card like etc. ) And sending receiving Meds, or is there places here to order/ get meds at reasonable prices.
I will be living in a new subdivision in Lapu-Lapu. Thought of doing the post office.
My address is in the States, I have a family friend that send my Credit/Debit cards using DHL to The Philippines, it took 6 days to get my Cards or important documents. I know a friend who works for Amazon in Philippines and he told me that Amazon uses DHL to deliver their goods to The Philippines. It cost me 75 USD to use DHL from the States to The Philippines, a little steep but its worth it.
Here's how this paranoid guy sent his Filipina wife a VISA and an AMEX card while she was waiting for her US visa: I used a Fedex document envelope which is light cardboard. I got a heavier piece of cardboard and cut out rectangles which just fit the cards. Then made a sandwich of two lighter pieces of cardboard and aluminum foil on each side. The cards were not yet activated. This way the cards could not be felt and not seen by xray. They arrived in the Philippines quickly and safely and once in my wife's possession were activated. Yeah, maybe overkill but I slept well.
I've sent alot of stuff to my wife via FedEx (boxes and letter envelopes). Always put local Philippine phone number. Like Steve said all are delivered by courier. They call before delivery. We haven't had any problems, including when she lived in squatter area.
I'm going to use Real Address to get mail from USA. Can access via phone.
Wanted to mention Steve the new phones have done away with sim card slot. Wondering what long term effect will be in Philippines? I just pre ordered I14 pro max, since no sim card slot going to get international plan. Will probably pick up cheap phone in Philippines when I arrive in November.
Look up how to add a local sim in the Philippines to a phone without a sim. Also you may need to ensure your iPhone 14 is unlocked. Enjoy!
We don't get mail delivered out here. Since my wife opened up he store in Alfonso, we just put her address of the store and it gets delivered there. They do deliver stuff from Lozada and Amazon to our house.
You got that… our address includes “same street as birthing centre”
We do have a LBC office close in Canada… that’s been great
you can set up most important documents to go to your email part of saving environment for me personally if have a new credit card I personally send it DHL envelope for reference it cost me $125 usd an I get it in about 3 days I had a box of mail sent 1 time it took 47 days and when I picked it up at post office I had to pay like 150 pesos
The problem for people filling out a USPS mailing slip, where do you put all that info on the immigration slip.
The courier couldn't find me, but Grab sure does.
In U S Send it to Jonny Air in La, SFO, Or New York. They will send it to one of the Jonny Air offices in Philippines. Don't Ever trust Phil Post with important Docs. or Credit Cards.
I live in Dumaguete and have a P.O. box that costs me p1,200 per year...
You have no idea, here in N.Z. We call it snail mail. As it can take weeks. Mind you the government move at the same speed.
I sent a package regular Mail to the Philippines at the beginning of the pandemic and it took three months.
Steve, good topic. I have seen the order of address information in the Philippines where the zipcode precedes the province / city information. Can you confirm the correct order of address information recognized in the Philippines for postal delivery?
The zip should be before Philippines which is last. That’s according to the Postal Office here
Other then receiving credit card when it expires , go paperless on all bills.
In province you usually don't even have street name
I don't have any family but I do make friends easily. I just don't trust the friends here that much to have that kind of input to my mail.
I'm not a trusting person. When it comes to the thing in my life that can really destroy your life. Like identity fraud....
Can you set up a direct bank account to bank account from USA bank to Philippines bank. That way you could just use a Philippines bank card and number
Yes
How can you maintain U.S bank accounts, credit cards in the U.S. without a Physical Adress in the U.S..
Use a siblings address
Credit Unions let you use outside addresses
How will the EMS, police, fire, embassy find your address?
Look it up in your area. EMS is new as is 911, available in Manila but EMS are private systems in other areas. Ambulances are not able to get around traffic and do not carry emergency gear. Not sure if there is a fire department. And police, they do not all do what you think.
does it get flooded in trece martires?
Never
the lack of real addresses there is a head scratcher ;)
😎👍
🇺🇸
It takes a week fedx
maybe but I had very important documents sent thru FEDEX it never made it and finally had to get thru the RAO in Angeles City
I think PO Box is a good idea one comment I think that's the best way to go I'm going to get me a PO box.
Such a complicated process to receive snail mail that takes months to arrive...
FILIPIN ONLY VISIT, NEVER TO IN IT LIVE
All my letters and packages from Norway, has been delivered to me here in The Philippines for 10years.
Package, has a tracking number and i can go online to see where the package is.
Usually, it use few days only , from Norway via Netherlands to Pasay City but from Pasay City to Cebu City, it takes weeks noe during the pandemic.
Lettere be sent to s friend back home, so i have an
C/o adress at my friend place. Then he send it to me here in Cebu city with DHL, usually i get the letters after 3 working dsys. Its a bit expencive to send with DHL but its not often i get letters, since O have moved permanently to The Philippines. Mostly its a new bank /ATM card
Other important things , its usually comes as electronic post, so i can sign in to different sites for messages from bank,tax can o also do and deliver online.
USA2ME. It’s the address I use for my banks USAA and Navy Fed, also address for t mobile phone, credit card statements, US drivers license renewal/replacement, Amazon prime shipping from US, roku, Hulu, HBO and showtime subscription, nba league pass, it’s a mail forwarding service with a real address not a PO Box. They will forward all your mail and/or packages to you from US for 35 USD per month. You get one free shipment per month. They can also scan letters and discard what you don’t want forwarded to the Philippines