If you place your postal mail on hold via the Internet while you travel, know that a couple of changes will be implemented to the service in order to provide you with greater security: effective as of early October of 2019, the United States Postal Service will require you to do the following prior to using its Hold Mail service:
- Create or sign in to your USPS.com account
- Verify your identity with several identity verification methods available — but please plan accordingly, as some of those methods may require up to one week to complete
Upcoming Changes to Hold Mail Service October 2019 by the United States Postal Service
To complete the creation of your account and satisfy the Hold Mail identity verification requirement prior to the aforementioned changes, you can sign up for the free Informed Delivery feature offered by the United States Postal Service — which is the only feature that currently offers identity verification. Once your identity is verified, you will not have to complete this step again for your current address and will be able to hold your mail in the future. As a subscriber to the Informed Delivery feature, you will also be able to digitally monitor your mail while it is on hold.
You can find out additional details with the Informed Delivery frequently asked questions.
If you have other questions related to the aforementioned upcoming changes, please feel free to contact the United States Postal Service or call 1-800-344-7779 for additional information.
Summary
If you have already placed a Hold Mail request with the United States Postal Service before these changes are implemented, your request will not be affected. Otherwise, ensure that you sign up for the free Informed Delivery feature offered by the United States Postal Service in order to use the Hold Mail service in the future for peace of mind while you travel.
Photograph ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
