What Is a Virtual Mailbox?

A virtual mailbox service enables anyone to manage their mail from anywhere globally. This is due to forwarding your mail to an address that the company provides.

I’ve experimented with these services and want to help you determine whether it’s something expats, digital nomads, and travelers should try. I’ll cover all the basics of virtual mailboxes.

What Is a Virtual Address Service?

A virtual address service enables you to have a physical mailing address at a facility that’ll receive your mail.

Once the service receives your mail, you can manage it online and decide how to deal with it.

Most virtual address service providers offer mail-related services to make your life easier. Some offer registered agents, mail forwarding, and secure mail shredding.

They’re fantastic services for managing mail remotely and keeping your home address private. Also, business owners can use them as business addresses.

But how do they work?

How Do Virtual Mailing Services Work?

The following are the ways a virtual mailing service works:

1. Fill out form 1583: it allows postal services to forward your mail to your virtual address.
2. Mail will go to the provider’s facility or one of their Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CRMA).
3. * The agency or facility will scan your mailing item & notify you of your received mail
4. Choose whether you want the agency or CRMA to:
   1. Mail and scan it with remote mail services contents
   2. Recycle or shred your mail
   3. Forward your mailing item
5. View mail online or receive it at your home address

* A mailing item is a package, document, or letter.

Upon scanning your mailing item, the service will store an image of your mail on a cloud-based system. From there, you can view your digitized mail.

Will They Keep Your Identity Safe?

Virtual address providers have varying degrees of safety. Many Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CRMA) don’t specify how secure they are.

However, some services have specific facilities that receive, store, and forward mailing items and packages. Providers claim these facilities have security cameras and perform background checks.

Most virtual mail providers aren’t Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant. That’s bad if you receive many health documents in the mail.

Online security for almost all services I’ve checked out has no two-factor authentication. I’m hoping this changes shortly.

Compare providers and inquire how they protect your information.

Meanwhile, I wrote a separate piece covering these services’ safety more in-depth.

Benefits of Virtual Address Services

Benefits of using a virtual mailbox include giving small business owners a mail solution with various features to optimize their business.

Travelers, expatriates, and digital nomads immensely benefit from these services since you can manage your mail anywhere on Earth.

You could technically manage your mail from space.

Here’s an example. Say you receive a final paycheck from an employer. You’re overseas and obviously can’t accept the check.

Many virtual mailbox services offer check depositing services give you the means to deposit checks safely.

There are many other benefits to virtual mailing services. And I wrote a separate guide that covers them. Check it out.

Difference Between a Registered Agent and Virtual Mail Service

A registered agent represents a corporation or an LLC. They’ll receive and review official government documents. A virtual mail service receives and forwards mail for individuals and businesses.

Use registered agents if you’re a business. Otherwise, use virtual address services.

I’ll talk about a bunch of features virtual mailboxes offer that registered agents don’t in a bit.

For now, let’s see how these services differ from PO boxes.

Virtual Mailbox vs. PO Box

You’ll want a virtual mailbox in these scenarios:

• Want a street address
• Cost less
• Remote mail management
• Don’t want a limited 

A PO box will serve you better in these cases:

• Want a means to access your mail quickly
• Don’t mind driving to the post office

Want a digital address service? Check out features to look out for.

Typical Virtual Mailbox Features

Many virtual address providers will offer these features:

Feature	Description
Business address	Receive company mail
Junk mail management filters	Company will recycle all junk mail free
Secure mail shredding	The company shreds mailing items
Registered agent	Receives legal documents on your behalf
Mail forwarding	Have the service forward mail items or packages to your address
Online mailbox account	Digitize mail items & reduce mail accumulation
Check deposits	Deposits checks on your behalf
Mail storage & Package storage	Store mail at their facilities for “X” days
Mobile app	Manage your mail through an app
Reduced shipping costs	Can help lower shipping costs of some items
Mail scanning	Open envelopes, scan its contents, & digitize your mail items
Third-party software integration	Integrate your mailbox with software like Evernote
International addresses	Get street addresses in different countries

You’ll find many features for free. But in other circumstances, you’ll have to pay. For instance, some companies will shred 50 documents for free.

Many providers I’ve seen don’t offer ‘round-the-clock customer support. If you’re an expat or traveler and need to contact customer service, what are you supposed to do?

Hope that someday a digital-nomad and expatriate-focused service opens.

Let’s see available providers.

Best Virtual Mailbox Providers

Here are the best virtual address providers I recommend:

I compare these providers in more detail in a separate piece. Check it out if you want to give these services a try.

Many of them offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. This allows you to test whether they’re worth using.

More Virtual Mailbox Guides

• What Is a Virtual Mailbox?01/04/2022
• How To Deal With Mail as an Expat01/04/2022
• 7 Virtual Mailbox Benefits01/04/2022
• Are Virtual Mailboxes Safe From Identity Theft?01/04/2022
• How Do Virtual Mailbox Work?01/04/2022
• 7 Best Virtual Mailboxes for Expats and Travelers12/22/2021