Would you like to receive your mail at a post office in France or anywhere in the world ? You need to have it sent to General Delivery, also called "Poste Restante".
How does General Delivery work in France ?
- No prior steps are required to receive mail by General Delivery.
- The sender writes on the envelope your first and family name, followed by the words "Poste Restante" (this french term is the most commonly used in Europe, but we advise you to find out about the destination country before writing the address) the postcode and the city of destination.
- If there are several post offices in the same city or town, the name of the post office must be specified.
- To collect your mail, simply go to the post office and pay the amount of the service. See Post Office Costs.
Is using General Delivery anonymous ?
This allows you to have your mail sent to a different address than your own, but you need to present a proof of you identity (ID card or passport) to collect your mail. You can not have your mail sent under a pseudonym.
NB : only you can pick up your mail.
How long are mail stored ?
Your mail are stored for 2 weeks after their arrival at the post office.
NB : some offices are more "lenient" than others regarding this storage time.
Does General Delivery exist in other countries ?
- Yes, there are post offices in almost all countries. A mail to General Delivery has to be sent to the Central Post Office of the city.
- Your correspondent must write the forwarding address as follows (without adding Mr. or Mrs., which could be confusing) :
- First name, Family name
- General Delivery / Poste Restante (depending on the destination country)
- Post Office name
- Full address of the Post office
- Postcode of the Post office and City
- Country (If applicable)
- The sender must also mention his contact details on the back of the envelope. If your mail is not collected, it is returned to sender.
- Your mail generally remains pending for three weeks to a month depending on the country and the post office.
Is receiving mail by General Delivery reliable ?
- Yes, as far as France is concerned. However, mail sent to General Delivery is often processed "last" and counter deliveries take longer than traditional mailbox deliveries. Therefore, allow 4 to 6 days between the sending of your mail to General Delivery and its availability at the counter (and therefore for you the possibility to collect it).
- Regarding General Delivery in other countries, this solution works quite well depending on the country but losses are not uncommon. So we advise you to never send money or valuable documents to General Delivery.
- We advise to send mail with a tracking number, this allows you to track your mail until it is delivered and check its arrival date at the Post Office. It is also very useful in case of return to the sender if you did not have the possibility to collect your mail.
You are going on a trip or you do not have a permanent address ? UBIDOCA can act as a General Delivery for you.
- You have a postal address in France.
- Your correspondents have only one address to write to you (which avoids you to regularly communicate them a different address).
- No need to travel or wait a week, a month or more to check your mail since it can be scanned and uploaded daily in your Customer Space.
- No more loss of mail due to incorrect address spelling or a hypothetical return for non collection : we can store your mail for 1 month, 2 months or more until you are back (with or without opening and scanning).
- Our additional services : you have received an important mail that must be processed immediately (invoice to be paid, registered letter to be sent from France, etc.) ? We can handle everything on your behalf.
