USPS regular mail to South Africa

[Debmm 8]

Hi, does anyone know how long it takes for mail sent with USPS to get to South Africa.

I'm freaking out a little as my fiance sent his divorce decree to me using regular mail on November 25th. My interview is Dec 10 and it hasn't arrived yet.

They told him it would take a week, it is now over a week.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Just regular? Not priority or anything with actual speed or tracking number?

USPS is kind of backed up right now because of the holidays. Shoot, it took me four or five business days just to get an item from my dad who lives 5 hours away from me.

I personally would have expected a couple of weeks for regular USPS going international, no tracking or priority. So it's cutting the time limit really close.

​Keep checking as that's all you can do.

You may want to get your fiance to get another copy of his divorce decree and over night it via fedex. It's about 92$ to overnight, but you would have it in time. If he has to send anything else to you, make sure he sends it with a tracking number, it may cost a little extra to get a tracking number, but then at least you'd know where it's at.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Ash.1101

[Alaska2012 462]

10-14 business days

[tamcloud 92]

Unfortunately, the problem is not just with the USPS transit time, but also with that of the local delivery service once it's in South Africa. I sent my fiancee some paperwork via standard USPS international delivery. The distance is less than 800 miles from my location (about a 2hr flight) and it was sent out the same day. It took around 2 weeks to get to her. I would second the recommendation of having it sent express mail, just in case.

[Debmm 8]

Thanks for the advice, i will let him know. It's a triple whammy with all the holidays i'm sure the mail only went our on November 30 and the South African postal service is VERY slow and he sent the original.

He sent me the copy of our initial I-129f package via fedex which took 5 days. So when his divorce decree hadn't arrived after 5 days i asked him how he sent it, and found it it was via regular mail.

I thought he would have used fedex again

I'm upset because overnight is super expensive, now he has to pay twice for the same thing plus pay for another original.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Progress to General Immigration-Related Discussion Forum~

~Inquiry applicable to numerous visa processes~

[Confusedtinybird 41]

I'm sorry but there is a really good chance it won't arrive. I would have him resend it using DHL or Fedex.

I know it's expensive, but at least you know it's going to arrive!! I have sent several thing via USPS to South Africa and they never arrived. It's sad, that you have to use a courier, but at least you don't have to stress when you use one. I would also call DHL and Fedex and get a quote. I used DHL to send something to South Africa and it ended up being quite a bit cheaper then Fedex.

[Debmm 8]

DHL is cheaper but it is out of the way for him as the only time he has is during his lunch break. He said he will overnight it with Fedex, so if he sends it today i should get it tomorrow or wednesday. Cutting it super fine, but i'm sure it will get here.

This entire process has been so stressful, we've encountered many snags along the way. I really hope my interview goes well, not sure i can manage another set back. We already have one with my medical, i have to wait until January for test results, so i won't even know if i'm approved until then.

[Debmm 8]

Turns out the quickest it will get here is Thursday of Friday. So looks like i'm going to my interview without it.