Poste restante

Poste restante, also known as general delivery in North American English, is a service where the post office holds the mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting a particular location and have no need, or no way, of having mail delivered directly to their place of residence at that time.

By country

Argentina

The Poste Restante service is run by the national postal company, Correo Argentino.
Letter or parcels can be addressed with either the recipient's full name or their ID card number:
There is no specified time period for the recipient to pick up the letter. Upon retiring, the recipient must provide proof of identity and pay a charge equivalent to a simple mail service.

Australia

Poste restante is a long-established service within Australia run by the national postal service, Australia Post, which allows one's post to be sent to a city-centre holding place. It will be held for up to 1 month and can be collected by providing proof of identity, such as a passport.
For example, for the General [Post Office, Adelaide|Adelaide GPO] one would address a letter or parcel thus:
The recipient would then need to go to the Adelaide GPO at 10 Franklin St to collect it when it was due to arrive or shortly afterwards.
The approved abbreviation is "CARE PO". For outward bound international mail, the form "POSTE RESTANTE" is recognised. Mail that is not addressed in the approved form may be delayed for hand sorting.

Austria

In Austria, Poste restante can be used with a name or an agreed passphrase under which the envelope can be collected, followed by the indication Postlagernd. A tax of €1 is collected from the addressee.

Belgium

uses the term poste restante, Postliggend or Postlagernd 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 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 2018 this price is €1.74. This tax is usually paid by the recipient but can also be paid by the sender.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, mail is addressed to Poste restante, which is written after the full name of the recipient as shown in their ID document or passport.

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.

Canada

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 are not available.
Canada Post guidelines for addressing of letter mail stipulate that general delivery mail should be addressed in the following fashion:
where GD is the abbreviation for general delivery, and STN A is the station or post office. 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.
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. To retrieve the mail, the recipient has to have a valid ID, passport, or a driving licence. The mail will be retained for only 15 days.

Denmark

Mail is held for 14 days.

Finland

Poste restante is offered widely throughout Finland in 425 post office addresses as of 2020 In Finland, letters received to poste restante address are kept in post office for 14 days after arrival.
Before 1 April 2013, it was possible to use a nickname instead of real name and without providing an ID. In 2019, picking up mail from poste restante was to become paid service, but the planned fee was cancelled.

France

In France, La Poste offers the service for letters at an additional cost to be paid by the receiver 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 and before the full address of the post office.
For the post office of Paris Louvre the address would be :

Type of shipment	Cost
Letters	€1.49
Printed press	€0.72
Parcels	5.44

Germany

offer the service for all mail items under the Postlagernd service. Domestic items may make use of a passphrase instead of the recipients name if preferred. As of 2022, the item should be addressed to the Hauptpost of the location or certain other post offices designated as offering this service; smaller post offices and post agencies do not accept poste restante and may return the item.
Address Format:
The phrase Kennwort: 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 and the passphrase.
It is important to use the term Postlagernd in preference to, or in conjunction with, Poste restante to prevent returned mail.

Gibraltar

allows letters and parcels to be received.
ID is required for collection.
The address format is:

Greece

In Greece you can send small parcels under 2 kg to the .
Address Format:
To collect your mail if it is addressed and stamped to you by bring your passport and ID with you.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Hongkong Post is responsible for handling the mail and mail can be sent to General Post Office only.
At the address side, mark the mail with Poste Restante or 存局待領 in bold.
The address format is like this:
The name of recipient must be real and in full. No initial or figure is allowed.

Hungary

Hungarian post requires poste restante delivery to be addressed to specific post offices. Additionally, the postal service provides a "pick-up" service for web-based businesses where a business can ship to a pick-up point.

India

offers a Poste Restante service of up to two months at various post offices throughout the country. Mail is addressed thus:
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 senders should add their return address, or use the recipient's home address as a return destination.

Ireland

In Ireland, An Post's "Address Point" service is ″a fixed address for those without a fixed home.″
An Post also offer poste restante, as a free service which allows visitors to a town to have their mail addressed to the local Post Office, where it will be held for collection.

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; parcel post is normally retained for 15 days, with an exceptional period of 1 month.

Japan

In Japan, the term 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:
For international mail,
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 should be made bold.
For local mail:

Luxembourg

The Luxembourg Post has discontinued the service and poste restante is not possible anymore.

Macau

offers Poste Restante service to Macau's visitors or those who do not have a fixed residence in Macau. Upon collection, the addressee needs to pay MOP 6.50 as the administration fee. The recipient's address must include the words 存局候領 or Posta Restante. The addressee's name must be real name, in conformity to his/her name shown on an identity card or passport. The address format is as follows:

Malta

offers Poste restante 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:

Netherlands

offers Poste restante service for up to one month, after which the mail will be returned to the original sender. This service is provided by all Dutch post offices. Mail should be addressed thus:

New Zealand

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

Norway

In Norway, Norway Post provides the Poste restante service in all post offices. Ordinary mail is returned to sender three weeks after arrival. Parcels and registered letters are returned to sender after two weeks. Valid foreign identification for obtaining mail is limited to passports and National [identity cards in the European Economic Area|European Identity cards]. Mail is addressed according to the following format:

Poland

Mail should be addressed according to the following format:
where 12-345 represents the postal code of the post office and 6 represents post office number within given city.. 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 [Correios de Portugal, S.A.|CTT] provides the Poste restante service 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:
The recipient pays a levy to collect the mail.

Russia

The most widely available Russian mail delivery company, Russian Post, provides Poste restante services.
In order to collect a parcel, the individual is required to provide an ID document that matches the indicated receiver's information. Alternatively, an electronic signature may be used if the package's tracking number is known. The parcel is stored for up to 30 days, depending on the type of mail. As of 2019, the packages delivered by courier may be stored up to 15 days and letters – up to 30.
The information on parcels should be as following in order for the parcel to be stored:
The Russian phrase До востребования may be used instead of Do Vostrebovaniya. The phrase is a phonetic transliteration and indicates that the parcel has to be stored in a postal office until the receiver collects it. The storage time is calculated from the moment when the parcel was received by the office. Parcels with such marks are not delivered to the mail boxes.
Russian Post advises outgoing international packages be marked with Poste restante in the same way.
For incoming parcels, a certain fee must be paid if the package's cost or weight exceeds the duty-free limits. Until early 2022, the limits were €200 and 31 kg per package. After Russian imports international sanctions during the [2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|had been sanctioned] following the invasion of Ukraine, the cost limit was temporarily increased to €1,000.

Serbia

In Serbia, mail is addressed to Post-Restant or Poste restante, which is written after the full name of the recipient.
The example of address is as follows :
Upon arrival in the post-residual parcel section of the destination post office, the parcel is stored for 30 days, from the day of arrival.

Singapore

This service is only for the convenience of travelers to Singapore. The words Poste restante or To Be Called For must appear next to the recipient's full name on a postal article.

Slovakia

In Slovakia, the post office will hold mail sent to an address containing words Poste restante, even when the full address is specified. The post office will not notify the recipient about the delivery, and will hold the mail for 18 days, unless told otherwise by the sender. After that, the mail is returned to the sender.
To pick up the mail, the recipient needs to show their ID card or passport. They also may have to provide a tracking number.

Slovenia

In Slovenia mail is addressed to poštno ležeče, written after the full name of the recipient as it appears on the personal ID card or passport, which is to be presented when the letter is collected.
In Slovenia letters received for a poste restante address are kept by the post office for 15 calendar days.

Spain

Mail can also be received at Spanish post offices. 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. Put the recipient's surname in capitals. An example Lista de Correos address is:
To find the address of the Correos nearest to you, check at . Click on the Oficinas link for the Localizador de Oficinas.
When collecting mail from the post office recipients will need to show some form of identification such as a passport or photo driving license. They will need to specify that they 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 that 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:
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 and then searching for post offices with that postal number.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, all post offices offer poste restante for free for up to one month for letters only, no parcels. Addressing takes the following format:
Here, 1234 represents the postal number of the post office. The correct street address can be found online.

Thailand

In Thailand, only a destination post office with a storage facility for poste restante will offer this service. Senders should write Poste restante at ______ Post Office or Poste restante at a destination Post Office after the name of the recipient. For example.
or
or in the Thai language:
There is a small amount of storage fee when picking up the mail or parcel. The recipient must track the delivery status themselves via the tracking number provided. Accordingly, it is recommended to deliver using registered mail or EMS as the regular mail delivery service does not provide a tracking number.

Turkey

For Istanbul, the main parcel and poste restante office is in Sirkeci, a few minutes walk from the Sirkeci tram stop.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, mail is addressed to Poste restante, which is written after the full name of the recipient), then the name and full address of the destination post office, thus:
If only addressed to a town name, for example "POSTE RESTANTE, LONDON", mail will go to the closest main post office branch. 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 18 days, whereas mail posted from abroad is held for 21 days. Mail uncollected after these timescales is treated as undeliverable.

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:
General delivery is normally available at only one facility under the administration of a post office with multiple facilities. Post offices that hold mail for general delivery may hold such mail for up to 30 days. When sending to general delivery, the optional ZIP+4 add-on code is -9999.