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Have you decided on moving out of your present home? Congratulations to you. Change is one constant thing in life, and it is pleasant that it is happening to you right now. Moving from one place to another is quite tasking as there are a couple of things you would need to change when you move. While you may be lost to the excitement of moving out of your old place, you may forget some of the basic things you need to change when you move. One of the most important things that you should pay more attention to is changing your address. This Ultimate Change of address checklist when moving should be your guide.

The Ultimate Move Out Checklist

The most important thing to do when you move out of your old place is the change of address. A change of address is you telling the United States Government through the United States Postal Service (USPS) to change your mailing address. Without this, the United States Postal Service will only assume that you still reside in your old address. All correspondence directed to you will be forwarded to the old address until you file for a change of address.

Tips For Changing Your Address When You Move

Know Your New Address Correctly

It may sound funny, but you must know the correct address of your new home. Changing the address is simply done so you don’t get junk mails sent to your former residence. However, submitting a wrong address mail with the United States Post Office means you won’t get mail sent to your former or new home but to another mailing address unknown to you. The stress of moving could make you forget some details in your mailing address, ensure you speak with your realtor or landlord to get the correct and complete postal address.

Decide If Your Change of Address is for Permanent or Temporary

Before filing for a change of address, you should decide if the address is temporary or permanent. If you are moving for a brief period of time, your mail will be changed from your old one to the new one for only 6 months. However, you get the option to extend it to 12 months after the first 5 months expires. This is best chosen for vacation. Select the permanent change of address if you are not planning to move out in the nearest future. Your mailing address will be changed permanently

Individual or family change of address?

When filing for a change of address from the United States Postal Service, you have the option of including the names of all the people that are moving with you on the form. If you are a family person and you will be moving out with all family members, you will have to input their names correctly on the form. Input the names of your family members moving out with you on the form. If there are members of your family who have different surnames moving out with you, fill their form differently. However, if the entire family members moving with you have the same surname, that’s a lot much effortless. Just fill out their names on the same form you out your name.

Know-How Long It Takes To Approve Change of Address

There are so many factors that determine how long it will take for your change of address request to be approved. However, at worst, it should not take more than 7 working days for your request to be approved. Once you submitted all necessary data, your request will be approved within seven working days.

The Best Time To Apply For Change Of Address Before Moving Out

There are different opinions on how fast you should apply for a change of address before moving out. Some schools of thought opined that it should be done a week before you move out. Some argued that you must have submitted your request two weeks before you move out. This is to ensure that it is approved on or before you move into your new place.
While you must request for change of address before you move so as not to forget due to the overwhelming task of moving out and settling in a place – you can also get unlucky that even after applying, your request will not be approved even weeks after you have moved into your new place. The consequence of this is that you will lose lots of mails between that period of transition. The best moment to apply for a change of address depends on your moving checklist. Ensure you study it well to ascertain the best and most appropriate time for you to file for a change of address.

How to Change Address When Moving

Having known the tips and things to consider when applying for a change of address, it is necessary that you also learn how to apply for one when the need arises.

Apply Online

You can complete your application online. There are a couple of advantages you get for applying online. It saves you time and energy of walking into a post office. Also, you can do it from the comfort of your home or office without stress. However, applying online will attract a token of about $1.05 for identity and validation. Some of the things needed for the application are Valid credit or debit cards. It could be MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express. A valid email address is required. You can make use of military addresses too. If you are using a military address, your mail must end in “.gov” or “.mil.”

Apply at the post office

If you don’t have enough time to spare, you can walk into a local post office not far from you to apply. Although submitting your application online is good and fast, applying at the post office is more credible because you will meet experts who will guide you through the application process.

Change your address via Phone

This is another option available for you if you don’t have the time to spare at the post office. It is also an escape for those who don’t know how to use the internet well.
All you need to do is place a call by dialing 1-800-ASK-USPS follow the instructions given from the programmed responses. You must have a credit card because this also attracts about $1 for identification and verification.

Change your address via mail

Another option for you if you don’t like the phone thing is submitting your change of address request via mail. Using this option, you will need to print out the PS Form 3575, fill it and submit it to United States Post Service USPS through the mail. Although it is quite challenging to access Form 3575, this is because the USPS would encourage that you submit your request through their online portal. However, if you can get the form printed successfully, it is one sure way of submitting your request.

FAQs

What do you need to change when you move?

Redirect your mail

The first thing that must change when you move is your mailing address. Whether you are the type that receives mail more often or not, you must redirect your mail when you are moving. You might not have the time to change your address on all the mails you receive. You might even forget to do that. This explains why it is vital to direct your mail when moving. You would not have to always return to your old place to check if you have mail or not; that is stressful and very unwise when you can simply redirect your mails.

Update your car insurance

Your car details and insurance have to be updated too. You will have to change your details for car insurance, ownership, driver’s license, and on while you move to your new place. Moving out of a house can be so stressful that you forget to do some critical things. You might not even have time to go to the post office to update your details; you can simply do it online.

Update Your Address on Electoral Pole

You still want to enjoy the right of exercising your franchise even when you move out of your old place. Ensure that you update your address on the Electoral pole portal to ensure that you can vote during the election.

Change You Address For Delivery

If you are the type that does more online shopping, do not forget to change your address for delivery. You would not want to order a giant pack of pizza and have it delivered to your old house. Update your delivery address once you move out.

Who do I need to tell when I move house?

You should know that the post office should be the first to be notified even before you move out of your old house. Once you settle in your new house, here are the following institutions you need to tell:

Government and Public Offices

Ensure you send a notification to all government institution that concerns you. Some of these institutions include

Social security
Voters registration
Family support
Income tax
Pension office
US Customs
Immigration services
Veterans affairs
Vehicle registration

Notify all of them so you can update your address with them. Failure to update your profile with all these financial institutions, you might have to always visit your old residence to get mails directed to you.

Finances

All your Financial institutions must be notified of your change. Some of the financial institutions that must be informed include:

Bank
Credit loan
Loan institution

You will need to update your credit cards, pension plans, brokers, PayPal account, and so many others. Do well to inform all the mentioned Financial institutions that concern you to prevent financial blunder.

Institutions and Providers

Inform all the institutions and service providers that have your address of the new change of address. This could be your

Health system
Child’s daycare service
Place of worship

Home Service

To ensure that your new home is fully fitted by your home service providers, ensure you update your data with them. Some of the institutions that must be informed include: