Mail forwarding

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Post offices and other mail service providers typically offer a mail forwarding service, commonly known as hybrid mail or virtual post office box services, to redirect mail addressed to one location to another address – usually for a given period. In the case of the United States Postal Service's First Class Mail, it is generally for a period of one year. British Royal Mail provides a service called Mail Redirection, enabling redirection for up to two years. Customers of such a service usually, but not exclusively, use mail forwarding when they change an address.

The mail forwarding service offered by postal authorities should be distinguished from private mail forwarding services. Private mail forwarding services tend to offer additional services that might not be provided by governmental services, such as mail scanning services, online mailbox management and various domestic and international delivery options.

Private mail forwarders were also used before the Universal Postal Union standardized the way international mail was delivered and paid for, for example to send mail via a third country.^[1]