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Poste restante (French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, trans. post which remains) is a service where the post office
Post office

A post office is a facility authorized by a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail. Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies....
 holds mail
Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
 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.
he United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE (or TO BE CALLED FOR), which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification
Identification

Identification or Identify may refer to:* Identification , the process of assigning a pre-existing individual or class name to an individual organism...
 to be presented ie.






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Poste restante (French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, trans. post which remains) is a service where the post office
Post office

A post office is a facility authorized by a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail. Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies....
 holds mail
Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
 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.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, mail is addressed to POSTE RESTANTE (or TO BE CALLED FOR), which is written after the full name of the recipient (as appears on the identification
Identification

Identification or Identify may refer to:* Identification , the process of assigning a pre-existing individual or class name to an individual organism...
 to be presented ie. the passport, if abroad), then the name and full address of the destination post office, thus:—

Mr. John Smith
Poste Restante
Islington Post Office
116 Upper Street
Islington
London N1 1AE


If only addressed to a town name, for example POSTE RESTANTE, LONDON (there are currently 115 crown offices in LONDON) mail will go to the closest main post office branch.

The sender should also include their return address. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, the Royal Mail
Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the national mail of the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turns operates the brands Royal Mail , Parcelforce and General Logistics Systems....
 holds mail posted from within the UK for two weeks, whereas mail posted from abroad is normally held for one month, if the recipient is at sea however, it will be held for two months. Where mail is not collected within that time, it will be returned to the sender, or if there is no sender indicated, will be treated as undeliverable. If the sender would like uncollected mail returned sooner, they can indicate this on the envelope. Timescales vary from country to country according to local practice.

United States

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the US Postal Service uses the term general delivery and reserves the term poste restante for international mail sent to general delivery. Mail is addressed as follows:—

Mrs. Jane Q. Smith
General Delivery
Washington DC 20090-9999


In the ZIP+4 code
ZIP Code

File:UseZipCode.JPGThe ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service . The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, are properly written in capital letters and were chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the code....
, the add-on code for general delivery is 9999. The main post office in a community will hold such mail for up to 30 days. This may be a different post office from where oversized packages and registered mail are held for any particular zip code. Note that many post offices within a medium to large city do not have general delivery, and mail addressed to these zip codes will either be forwarded to the Main Post Office or returned to sender.

See also

  • Royal Mail
    Royal Mail

    Royal Mail is the national mail of the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turns operates the brands Royal Mail , Parcelforce and General Logistics Systems....
  • United States Postal Service
    United States Postal Service

    The United States Postal Service is an Independent agencies of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States....
  • La Poste (France)
    La Poste (France)

    La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French d?partement d'outre-mer of R?union, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte....


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