Just having a bit of a moan about postage!

[Tony23 11]

Well let me introduce myself. I am a USPS postal delivery supervisor so I can answer that question. Anytime time a letter or package is sent thru the postal service. Al foreign items entering or leaving the US has to go thru customs. Depending in the time you send it. December is never the best month to ship overseas. Because that place is packed. And can stay in customs for weeks. When it an item is sent out of the US. It is up to that Postal service to maintain that scan all the way Ti it's destination. Majority don't scan it. And will take forever

A scan will remain in the system for 30 days and then archived and you can't track that item anymore. Only I can see If that item was scan or signed past 30 days.

Major cities item arrive in a few weeks. Rural areas csn take months.

I myself sent out a few cards to my fiancé in Mexico late October around 5 of them. I made 2 more trips and 2 weeks ago while in Mexico. Gues what arrived while I was in Mexico. All 4 cards that I had mailed minus 1 that got lost. The cards took over 2 months to reach Mexico. And I work for the Post Office.

So I do t send letters to Mexico. If I'm asked why no letters then she will have proof that the letters took months to arrive in Mexico. So we FaceTime each other and I can take a picture of our daily chats and dates. I email every now and then using my email and my .gov email. Pictures I have of both of us. So when it's time to mail some stuff. I will use another company.

[Xanax 349]

Op, I sooo know where you are coming from! I generally use just standard airmail so I don't spend hours fretting over why my package hasn't left XYZ place and checking the tracking!

Once you have your NOA1 you have lots of time between NOA1 and NOA2 to work out which mail carrier you want to use in the future.

Hang in there!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I'm sorry but this just comes off as really rude... For a community that is for aiding people in this journey through the system this post seems to be a bad representation.

Gary was just being funny and adding some Winston Churchill quotes as humor for the Brit. Just the visual of wrapping one's head in duct tape before it exploded with this process cracked me up. Enjoy the wit and don't think it was rudeness.

On a serious note, I would never spend £50 ($79) mailing from the UK just to gain a week's time. There are so many things that are going to cost you money and drag on. A week or two may feel like a lifetime, but in the overall scheme of things it's not. People FedEx overnight their various application, only for them to sit in a warehouse for months and then see applications filed weeks or months after them get approved first. Conserve your money, don't sweat the small stuff, and don't put you life on hold waiting for something to happen. It will happen, but nobody can tell you when. Worry and panic and anger don't advance your case, but can make waiting miserable. You're gonna do just fine.

[indiana_sweetie 120]

If you are already "ranting" about the costs and wait time to mail something to the USA, then I suggest you wrap your head in duct tape because before this is over, your head will explode and you should try to keep all the pieces

Hilarious!

When I mail anything to my hubby I either need to send it as Registered Mail or with a customs form. Without the tracking it never arrives. With tracking it can take a couple weeks or a month. When hubby sends to me he needs to send it with what they call RECOMAND which has a bar code and cost about 3 euros + postage. That's a better deal than what I pay. Still takes 2 weeks to a month. As for USPS tracking, I can usually see a scan when it lands in Europe and again when it clears customs. I know he will probably get it about 5 days later.

[Ryan H 3,829]

Moved from K1 Process & Procedures to UK regional forum; topic is about posting items from the UK and not about the visa process itself.

[dwheels76 5,469]

Well let me introduce myself. I am a USPS postal delivery supervisor so I can answer that question. Anytime time a letter or package is sent thru the postal service. Al foreign items entering or leaving the US has to go thru customs. Depending in the time you send it. December is never the best month to ship overseas. Because that place is packed. And can stay in customs for weeks. When it an item is sent out of the US. It is up to that Postal service to maintain that scan all the way Ti it's destination. Majority don't scan it. And will take forever

A scan will remain in the system for 30 days and then archived and you can't track that item anymore. Only I can see If that item was scan or signed past 30 days.

Major cities item arrive in a few weeks. Rural areas csn take months.

I myself sent out a few cards to my fiancé in Mexico late October around 5 of them. I made 2 more trips and 2 weeks ago while in Mexico. Gues what arrived while I was in Mexico. All 4 cards that I had mailed minus 1 that got lost. The cards took over 2 months to reach Mexico. And I work for the Post Office.

So I do t send letters to Mexico. If I'm asked why no letters then she will have proof that the letters took months to arrive in Mexico. So we FaceTime each other and I can take a picture of our daily chats and dates. I email every now and then using my email and my .gov email. Pictures I have of both of us. So when it's time to mail some stuff. I will use another company.

Thank you for this. Most insightful.

I remember back in the day me and hubby sending letters and cards daily for two weeks. We stopped cuz well nothing came. Time went by one day 6 months later in his Nigeria he got 1 of the cards the other 13 well. I never received nothing.

Nigerian customs has a bad reputation cor opening and taking out what they want. Letters and cards we r told do not send they will think u sending money and open.

FedEx get opened which they are allowed but they remove keep destroy never to be scanned again.

For most of us the best route is finding that person who is going over. I send a 59 lb suitcase full of goodies to husband in October with a friend. Yep it cost $200 for that extra bag but so worth it.

Anyway thanks Tony. Sorry about your mail but glad u validated I am not the only one.

[fcat 79]

If you're in the UK use the link below for Fed Ex for a priority package 40cm x 25cm x 4cm and up to 1kg in weight its £25, that gets it there in 3 days, or £21 gets it there in 4-5 days.

This is cheaper than using Royal Mail, its trackable and they pick the package up from you, the above size and weight is enough for most packages of papers.

Fed Ex by Interparcel

Ive used them dozens of times for paperwork and packages, haven't had a thing go missing yet in over 40 packages.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Gary was just being funny and adding some Winston Churchill quotes as humor for the Brit. Just the visual of wrapping one's head in duct tape before it exploded with this process cracked me up. Enjoy the wit and don't think it was rudeness.

On a serious note, I would never spend £50 ($79) mailing from the UK just to gain a week's time. There are so many things that are going to cost you money and drag on. A week or two may feel like a lifetime, but in the overall scheme of things it's not. People FedEx overnight their various application, only for them to sit in a warehouse for months and then see applications filed weeks or months after them get approved first. Conserve your money, don't sweat the small stuff, and don't put you life on hold waiting for something to happen. It will happen, but nobody can tell you when. Worry and panic and anger don't advance your case, but can make waiting miserable. You're gonna do just fine.

I don't think it was particularly funny. Not as I read the definition of funny in Webster's, anyway.

It was a wind-up. It's what he does. Better to ignore it.

[Jo Amelia Finlay 20]

I guess it's a case of you live and you learn I don't know why I didn't just go all out to start with (as in paying the big bucks)... naivety I suppose! But that's what happened and I can't help it now. Again, I really appreciate the feedback, support and stories of other members

Edited February 5, 2013 by Jo Amelia Finlay

[Jo Amelia Finlay 20]

Gary was just being funny and adding some Winston Churchill quotes as humor for the Brit. Just the visual of wrapping one's head in duct tape before it exploded with this process cracked me up. Enjoy the wit and don't think it was rudeness.

On a serious note, I would never spend £50 ($79) mailing from the UK just to gain a week's time. There are so many things that are going to cost you money and drag on. A week or two may feel like a lifetime, but in the overall scheme of things it's not. People FedEx overnight their various application, only for them to sit in a warehouse for months and then see applications filed weeks or months after them get approved first. Conserve your money, don't sweat the small stuff, and don't put you life on hold waiting for something to happen. It will happen, but nobody can tell you when. Worry and panic and anger don't advance your case, but can make waiting miserable. You're gonna do just fine.

Ahhhhh I love this reply! I woke up thinking about it this morning still. You know that time between waking up and getting out of bed that your head starts mulling over stuff?! Anyway, thankfully as the day has worn on, I have come to realise exactly this; that in the grand scheme of things a few weeks doesn't really matter. My panic and 'ranting' serve no useful purpose (as in life generally, haha). So after a little vent, here or privately, I'm going to try and be more accepting about it all. THANK YOU for your words

[Jo Amelia Finlay 20]

Update: It arrived to Bob yesterday. So it was sixteen days altogether it took. Hello my name is Jo and I have learned to have more patience

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Update: It arrived to Bob yesterday. So it was sixteen days altogether it took. Hello my name is Jo and I have learned to have more patience

That does seem like a long time. You just never know what little hitch is going to get thrown your way or where your mail is hiding out. My first package (1-129F) to USCIS, I paid for the signature card to be returned back to me. That little green card took longer to make it back to me than the approval NOA2. And I also learned having something signed for doesn't really enhance the process in my opinion. I had an online delivery confirmation and I got the NOA1, so didn't really need the autograph of the person who fetched the mail. Had it been lost, telling them "Joe" has it wouldn't have kept them from saying send it again. I like some form of tracking, so I think your extra for that was a good idea.

I hope the rest goes faster than expected for you.

[CaroSL 68]

Update: It arrived to Bob yesterday. So it was sixteen days altogether it took. Hello my name is Jo and I have learned to have more patience

Welcome to the impatient K-1 applicants club! If there is one thing you will get out of your journey, it is patience (I am one of the most impatient person on earth... but this process was a good therapy)