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@Moon Dog Personally, where I live in PH, Dumaguete, DHL would be my first choice for reliability. FedEx would be my second choice; it is not as accessible to the public here as DHL is. Right, for reliability PhilPost should not be considered. That means, mailing from the USA you do not use the US Post office Express MailÌý courier service because, being a govt post office they will coordinate with PhilPost and not take responsibility for delivery when the package is within PH. Maybe in coordination with the US Post Office it actually does work out. I don'tÌý lnow. Sending personal US mail registered was handled OK by them over here and delivered within 3 weeks through PhilPost but I have had too many delayed and even lost mails from the US SSA and IRS to use them for anything important.

@Moon Dog I've used DHL, FedEx and UPS these are the most trusted sources of reliable delivery services in the Philippines.

Agreed with both. We use DHL for sending important documents from Metro Manila, and they deliver our Amazon orders from USA. Definitely not PhlPost.

Thanks folks. I was thinking DHL but wanted to double check.

Looks like the nearest DHL service center is 75 miles away in Charleston. Maybe I can arrange a pickup, if not I'm driving to Charleston.

Moon Dog said. . . .Thanks folks. I was thinking DHL but wanted to double check.
Looks like the nearest DHL service center is 75 miles away in Charleston. Maybe I can arrange a pickup, if not I'm driving to Charleston.

Mail it to one of your relatives living close to DHL and have them re-mail the paperwork.
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@Moon Dog That being the case it may be worth taking another look at USPS COURIER MAIL called Global Express Guaranteed (GXG).

They guarantee delivery in a few days time, give you a refund if not meant, has tracking and will probably fill your needs. I am sure they have a very tight contract with PhilPost to deliver reliably and on time in the Philippine leg. But it cost $101.00.

Global Express Guaranteed is the fastest international shipping service offered by USPS and is best if you’ve got something urgent to ship. USPS offers date-certain delivery and a money-back guarantee if your package takes more than 3 days to arrive.

Ìý Ìý Moon Dog said. . . .Thanks folks. I was thinking DHL but wanted to double check.Looks like the nearest DHL service center is 75 miles away in Charleston. Maybe I can arrange a pickup, if not I'm driving to Charleston.

Mail it to one of your relatives living close to DHL and have them re-mail the paperwork.Ìý Ìý Ìý
Ìý Ìý

Ìý Ìý -@Enzyte Bob

Only have one living relative that I can find and that is my uncle Percy's grand daughter which makes her a first cousin once removed. She does live in Charleston but spends her days posting selfies so I think I'll put my 30 year old Ranger in the wind and I'll be in Charleston in no time. I would love to see the scenery in the day time. When I drove the Ranger the 100 plus miles from Charleston to Lewisburg the night my plane landed it was raining and snowing and I had no windshield wipers so I didn't get to see much.

@danfinn

That's good to know, thanks but our local Philpost postman is so inept I can't trust him to do anything right.

Ìý Ìý @danfinn
That's good to know, thanks but our local Philpost postman is so inept I can't trust him to do anything right.
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Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

USPS Global Express at $101 guarantees delivery in 3 day's or money back. I suspect they must be contracting with some local private service like LBC. Anyway, it I were you I would test it with some documents that are necessary but can be easily replaced if lost, if that is possible. Your situation is quite unique, no DHL or FedEx for many miles, only USPS. If you don't like the drive I do not see an alternative to USPS Global Express, do you?

@danfinn

I shipped the apostilled documents yesterday using USPS "Priority Mail Express International". The cost is $75 for an envelope and is supposed to arrive in "3 - 5 business days to many major markets" but the lady at the post office said there is no time limit on delivery so we shall see how long it takes. The tracking number only works to the US border. I sent it yesterday afternoon and at 9 pm it is in Charleston, WV.

Ìý Ìý @danfinn
I shipped the apostilled documents yesterday using USPS "Priority Mail Express International". The cost is $75 for an envelope and is supposed to arrive in "3 - 5 business days to many major markets" but the lady at the post office said there is no time limit on delivery so we shall see how long it takes. The tracking number only works to the US border. I sent it yesterday afternoon and at 9 pm it is in Charleston, WV.
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Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

Let us know how well it works. I would have probably chosen global Express mail because it is tracked all the way as courier mail, even where PhilPost is handling it. My experience is that you can reliably send US Registered mail to the Philippines, even Mindanao, because every person in the chain must sign for it. Once, a postal employee in Illigan stole a 20 dollar bill from our registered mail and the culprit was caught; once out of probably 100 mailings or so. If priority express requires the same security, it should be OK. But global Express is a level up...it is is government courier mail for just a few dollars more...IF ii is available to the shipping address.

I mailed the envelope on the afternoon of Feb. 12. It left the US on the 15th and my latest text indicated it left Manila on the 17th at 4:40 pm. According to the lady at my local post office I would not receive tracking info after it left the US. I'm glad she was wrong about that. It should arrive in Biliran Island in plenty of time for the intended purpose of the documents.

I received updated tracking info this morning stating the envelope is at the "delivering post office". Looks like PhlPost has it now, so that is not good news. It took 7 days to get that far so if it is delivered today it will be close to the "4-7 day" advertised delivery time. I mailed it from the Rainelle, WV post office on the 15th.

The last letter I received from our local Biliran post office took 3 months to deliver. Only one person works in the tiny plywood office and it is closed more often than not. There is no schedule, he just closes shop when he feels like it and hops on his motorbike to deliver a few letters.

The envelope finally arrived. I sent it on February 12th and it arrived on March 3rd, almost 3 weeks. Priority Mail Express International is not priority or express once PHLPost gets their hands on it. Cost was $75.55 for USPS to send it and the delivery person wanted P112.

I have to send additional documents to my wife so I'm looking at using Global Express Guaranteed (GXG). I did get a quote from FedEx a while back and I believe it was around $160. According to what I read on the USPS website GXG partners with FedEx so the $111 fee is a discount.

Here's the problem, the city (municipality) of Cabucgayan, Biliran is not on the huge list of cities serviced by GXG. Biliran, Biliran is on the list but I don't have an address there. I'm thinking I can send it directly to the lawyer who lives in Tacloban City, Leyte. I see 3 Tacloban zip codes on the list and hopefully she lives in one of them. One other thing, the guaranteed delivery time is not 3 days to Tacloban, it is 7 days so if it doesn't arrive in 7 days I should get a refund. I'm hoping for an 8 day delivery.

moondog said. . . . I have to send additional documents to my wife so I'm looking at using Global Express Guaranteed (GXG). I did get a quote from FedEx a while back and I believe it was around $160. According to what I read on the USPS website GXG partners with FedEx so the $111 fee is a discount.

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Timely post

I use US Global Mail as my US address. I let my mail accumulate, a charge card just arrivedÌý and they are FedEx'ing (partnered) and will arrive with 7 other pieces of mail.

The discounted price $68.98. The mail was picked up in Houston TX on March 26 and scheduled for delivery on April 1.Ìý FedEx tracking says it has departed Guangzhou China.

Ìý Ìý moondog said. . . . I have to send additional documents to my wife so I'm looking at using Global Express Guaranteed (GXG). I did get a quote from FedEx a while back and I believe it was around $160. According to what I read on the USPS website GXG partners with FedEx so the $111 fee is a discount.
**
Timely post
I use US Global Mail as my US address. I let my mail accumulate, a charge card just arrivedÌý and they are FedEx'ing (partnered) and will arrive with 7 other pieces of mail.

The discounted price $68.98. The mail was picked up in Houston TX on March 26 and scheduled for delivery on April 1.Ìý FedEx tracking says it has departed Guangzhou China.
Ìý Ìý

Ìý Ìý -@Enzyte Bob

UPDATE:

Pleasantly surprised, FedEX what suppose to deliver on April 1 but it arrived today. Only four days

...if it doesn't arrive in 7 days I should get a refund. I'm hoping for an 8 day delivery.Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

Would that be guaranteed delivery within 7 calendar days after departure from WV, 7 days of it being in transit, does the 7 day countdown begin on the day you shipped or the next day? And what about the Int'l Date Line? Would the IDL date change benefit you, or the carrier?

I worry about these things. I'm constantly doing number puzzles in my head.

Maybe I'm odd. Or is it even. I'm not sure which.

It seems that in the area whereI live, Dumaguete, the service recognized as most reliable is DHL

I have seen a small office with a FedEx sign here. I am sure FedEx is reliable here as well. As for USPS Global Express Mail, that was my favorite when living in the US but I never used it for the Philippines. Today I would have thought that Global Express mail delivery is assumed by PhilPost as soon as the mail arrived in the Philippine border. I am not saying that PhilPost would screw up deliveries but I have had really bad experiences with PhilPost regular mail. On March 22 my debit card arrived and my daughter went to DHL in Raleigh to send it out on March 23. The cost to send to Dumaguete, listed as "Document", was $88.00 with a delivery date of April 4. It seems to be on a rather slow track but it did arrive at the processing center in Cebu this morning, SaturdayÌý Mar 30. Hopefully as a document there will be no customs delay in Cebu.

So we still have a few days.

Because of my address in this rural area identified only by Purok number, I may contact the DHL office and tell them to hold the shipment for pickup rather than try to explain to a driver how to get the package here. With that I will save at least a day, maybe two, living 6Km away from the DHL office.

Moon Dog said. . . . One other thing, the guaranteed delivery time is not 3 days to Tacloban, it is 7 days so if it doesn't arrive in 7 days I should get a refund. I'm hoping for an 8 day delivery.

**

You sound like a Domino's Pizza fan . . . .Ìý 30 minute delivery or it's free.

This time I sent the papers using USPS Global Express Guaranteed. I sent it on May 10 with a delivery date of May 18 at a cost of $111. It is now May 22 and no one knows the whereabouts of the envelope.

Ìý Ìý This time I sent the papers using USPS Global Express Guaranteed. I sent it on May 10 with a delivery date of May 18 at a cost of $111. It is now May 22 and no one knows the whereabouts of the envelope.
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Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

If it gets there at all it's still freakin' amazing if you think about it – sending an envelope from WV to a third world island 8600 miles away (at any price).

For comparison, it costs me $130 gas to hand deliver something from L.A. to family in San Diego.

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For comparison, it costs me $130 gas to hand deliver something from L.A. to family in San Diego.
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Ìý Ìý -@jozica

Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý You need to get more efficient wheels or a better GPS.

(Reply about @jozica amazing courier mail rescinded lol)

My four day door to door pickup & delivery by FedEXÌý was $68.98 with tracking. (Houston Texas to Pasig City)

I thought about this over the years including the OP. All with us is sent by Balakbayan box and never a problem, drivers license, debit and credit cards, documents. My sis simply sends all to my shipping company, we order stuff online and have it shipped to them as well, they will pack the box over say a month and then ship to us here. sure it can be a 2/3 month process before delivery but twice now never a missing item. We give the shipping company an extra couple of hundred bucks for their service, we are all happy.

Urgent documents I have never received as I advised all that I will be email only, come, digital signatures, done and dusted.

Next year I will need to visit the Australian Consulate in Manila to renew my passport, not looking forward to that but beats flying back to Oz.

Cheers, Steve.

It is so much faster in the larger cities. If you live in Dumaguete you can watch the tracking and see it get to manila or cebu in just a few days. Then, to go to the provinces, they give it to some local 3rd party like JTS, ninja, to-go or even lbc who may take another 4-7 days toÌý take it to the dock, put it on a slow boat and then put it in a warehouse and deliver when they are ready. My daughter sent me a debit card by DHL from NC that took 14 days. She had marked the shipment "documents" but still, security at Detroit airport opened thd package and labeled it as being opened ny them, which according to tracking delayed it a few days. Why would security in the US open an outgoing package? Might they be checking for drugs or cash (in a flat courier envelope)?

A little update on the Global Express Guaranteed envelope I sent to the adoption attorney. I mailed it directly to the attorney in Tacloban City, Leyte from the Rupert, WV post office on May 10, 2024 at a cost of $111.65 postage with a "guaranteed" delivery date of May 18, 2024.

We thought the envelope was lost because the receipt had the wrong tracking number. The last two digits were not the same as the tracking number on the airway bill. When I called the Rupert post office and asked for the tracking number on the airway bill I was able to track the envelope and learned that the envelope was not lost. It spent last week in China and arrived in Angeles City today, June 3, 2024.

I sent a previous envelope of documents via USPS Priority Express and paid $74 postage. That envelope arrived at our house in Biliran Island in 20 days and was handled by PhlPost after arriving in the Philippines and it would have been delivered in Tacloban City much sooner. It has now been 24 days for the current mailing and the envelope has only made it to Angeles City. In this case PhlPost blew away USPS and FedEx which is very disappointing.

It has been years but I sent some documents to the Philippines thru Philippines Airlines but you have to take them to their office at the airport, I send things here in the Philippines thru Cebu Pacific but the person has to pick them up at the airport

Ìý Ìý A little update on the Global Express Guaranteed envelope I sent to the adoption attorney. I mailed it directly to the attorney in Tacloban City, Leyte from the Rupert, WV post office on May 10, 2024 at a cost of $111.65 postage with a "guaranteed" delivery date of May 18, 2024.
We thought the envelope was lost because the receipt had the wrong tracking number. The last two digits were not the same as the tracking number on the airway bill. When I called the Rupert post office and asked for the tracking number on the airway bill I was able to track the envelope and learned that the envelope was not lost. It spent last week in China and arrived in Angeles City today, June 3, 2024.

-@Moon Dog

Why would the receipt have a wrong tracking number???

Oh ... West Virginia. Do the Whittakers work at the post office?

Oh ... West Virginia. Do the Whittakers work at the post office?
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Ìý Ìý -@jozica

I'm sure they do. A closer look at the tracking details show that my envelope went immediately to Charleston on the same day I mailed it but then spent 19 days at the Charleston post office! Arrived Charleston on May 10th, departed Charleston on May 29th. After leaving Charleston it moved quickly to Kentucky, Alaska, China for 3 days then the Philippines.

Once arriving in the Philippines it was processed through customs at Angeles City, forwarded to Paranaque then on to destination, all in the same day.

Ìý Ìý Oh ... West Virginia. Do the Whittakers work at the post office?Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý -@jozica

... but then spent 19 days at the Charleston post office! Arrived Charleston on May 10th, departed Charleston on May 29th. After leaving Charleston it moved quickly to Kentucky, Alaska, China for 3 days then the Philippines.

Once arriving in the Philippines it was processed through customs at Angeles City, forwarded to Paranaque then on to destination, all in the same day.
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Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

It got boned by Charleston. But like I was saying – or trying to say – the postal service is truly amazing. It runs 100% on trust. You give them a package and money and have faith that it gets to anywhere in the world with an address and it does. By unified teamwork worldwide. Incredible.

Moon Dog said. . . . In this case PhlPost blew away USPS and FedEx which is very disappointing.

*

How did FedEx enter into this equation?
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Ìý Ìý

Moon Dog said. . . . I'm sure they do. A closer look at the tracking details show that my envelope went immediately to Charleston on the same day I mailed it but then spent 19 days at the Charleston post office!

***

When I lived in Las Vegas, one day there was a notice in my mailbox that the post office tried to deliver a registered letter from the IRS that needed my signature.

Anytime you get a registered letter from the IRS, it's not good news.

Well I went to the post office and they could not find the letter, I had the Post Master write me a letter saying they had lost the registered letter.

I never heard anything further from the IRS.

Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Oh ... West Virginia. Do the Whittakers work at the post office?Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý -@jozica... but then spent 19 days at the Charleston post office! Arrived Charleston on May 10th, departed Charleston on May 29th. After leaving Charleston it moved quickly to Kentucky, Alaska, China for 3 days then the Philippines. Once arriving in the Philippines it was processed through customs at Angeles City, forwarded to Paranaque then on to destination, all in the same day.Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý -@Moon Dog

It got boned by Charleston. But like I was saying – or trying to say – the postal service is truly amazing. It runs 100% on trust. You give them a package and money and have faith that it gets to anywhere in the world with an address and it does. By unified teamwork worldwide. Incredible.
Ìý Ìý

Ìý Ìý -@jozica

I remember watching an English TV show years back called "An Idiot Abroad" where a guy called Carl Pilkington was sent to see the 7 modern wonders of the world. In the episode at the Rose Red City of Petra he asked a guy who worked down there and lived in a cave if he had any problems getting his mail and the guy said no. He had no official address just something like -Ìý fourth cave on the left opposite the Treasury Building was what he used.

How many Filipinos even have a mailbox?

Ìý Ìý How many Filipinos even have a mailbox?
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Ìý Ìý -@Enzyte Bob

Yeh, that is the problem. The first time I went to the Philippines, I went to see my g/f's parents. Her parents lived about a 3 hour drive from Cagayan De Oro and the day we visited there had been a storm. We had to stay in a hotel overnight because of a tree in the middle of the road but when we arrived by taxi, we had to get out at the bottom of a dirt road (no chance the taxi was getting up and a 4x4 would have struggled). There were some enterprising locals with dirt bikes who made some cash by transporting people up the dirt road on the back of their bikes but even after reaching the top we had to walk over rice fields to get to the house. I cannot see the postman being bothered with that trip and there will be many more isolated properties.

Ìý Ìý Moon Dog said. . . . In this case PhlPost blew away USPS and FedEx which is very disappointing. *How did FedEx enter into this equation?Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý-@Enzyte Bob

USPS from Rupert, WV to Memphis, TN then FedEx from Memphis to Tacloban City, Philippines. That's how GXG shipping works. You have a USPS tracking number and a FedEx tracking number.