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Mexican
Post Office |
The information provided in all Mexican pages are only suggestions and anecdotal stories. The information in the Mexican pages is a generic peace of work and is meant only as a general guide, it should not be taken as absolute fact. The information provided in this pages can change at any given day.
Mexican Post Office is "Servicio Postal Mexicano". Mexico's mail varies in speed and quality of service. The largest cities have five to seven day delivery times from the U.S. while rural Mexican mail can take up to a month. All outgoing mail is assigned a rate of "Airmail" and the charge for a one ounce letter is about fifty U.S. cents (Four Pesos).
A special service was introduced in 1995, named "MEXPOST". For a fee around twelve dollars U.S. your letter will reach it's destination in the U.S. or Canada, in about three days. This service is not available in rural cities or towns as an international airport must be close by, for the system to work effectively. MexPost, is the most secure way that you can mail documents through the post office. I always take along a box of "Security Envelopes" when going to Mexico. They look just like standard business envelopes, but have blackout shading on the inside surface to thwart snoopy employees.
This is the right way to send mail to Mexico:
John Smith
Lista de Correos
Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico
Lista de Correos, means "General Delivery". Don't add unnecessary
formalities or embellishments to the addressee's name. Mexican names usually
emphasize the middle name as the paternal one. Therefore, if the letter was
addressed to John Adam Smith, the post office will recognize it as being
addressed to "John Adam S.". This is how the letter will be written on
"The List" which will either be an actual piece of paper with names on
it (a number next to the name indicates how many parcels are waiting to be
picked up), or a "verbal" list. If you see your name written on the
list, point to your name when inquiring. Verbally, just give up and
clearly write your name down in block letters and hand the slip of paper over to
the employee. Until they get to know you, expect to show your tourist card, plus
a picture I.D. as verification. If you think that the sender addressed you as
"Mr. John A. Smith" then look for an article addressed to "MR
John". It makes picking up the mail a little more exciting.
The post office will not
accept anything but Mexican pesos. Mail is generally held for two weeks.
Unclaimed letters have an excellent chance of making it back to the sender.
Enterprising free-lancers sometimes sell writing "papel" (paper),
"sobres" (envelopes), "Lapiz" (pencils) and "plumas"
(pens) right outside the front door, but "timbres" (postage stamps)
will have to be purchased at the counter. If you are in need of stationery,
you'll need to find a "papelería" (stationary shop). All villages of
any note usually have one or two tiny papelerías.