# mail while on the road?



## mauisculptress (Jan 4, 2016)

Aloha, we are retired. we would like to explore Spain, Italy and France. we should have no trouble with a residence visa or a long term French visa. after we move on from the first address we have to acquire our visa, I am trying to puzzle out how we would get mail to pay bills if we were travelling around? sooner or later I think we would have to buy a car which means registration and insurance papers. 

is there such a thing as private postal services like in the US? I was thinking I could use a debit/credit card and pay cash for car rentals and such, but figure after awhile we would tire of train travel and always having to rely on public transportation to get to smaller towns and or finding a place to stay that was not walkable to stores. 

I have been reading the forum and trying to het acquainted with geography. so much great info here. thanks.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Yes there are many private companies that will rent you a mail box.

For us here, we pay 75€ per year for a box that we can access 24/7 and 365 days per year.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Some private companies will rent you a box and you get a text message each time mail is received. But if you rent the box in Spain how will you pick up your mail if you are in Italy??


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## mauisculptress (Jan 4, 2016)

thanks skinpoh and thrax. picking up mail in one country while in another has me a bit stumped at the moment which is why I asked about private mail services. the best I can come up with right now is to home base close to the border of Spain and France or Spain and Italy, so getting to the mail if need be isn't a huge obstacle and or try not to have any real need for mail or bill paying by paying cash for most services. I also will have to have an address in a home country when the residency visa needs to be renewed. which is why now I am thinking maybe southern France is the best place to have easier access to both Spain and Italy. am I right in thinking it is far easier to renew a visa from one country instead of spending one year in Spain the apply to Italy or France visa for the second year? thanks again for the replies.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I'm a bit confused by what you're saying about a 'residence visa'. At least as far as Spain is concerned, you apply for your visa at the Spanish consulate/embassy in your country of residence (the United States? Italy?) - not in Spain. Then, once in Spain, you apply for your residency permit, which if granted allows you to reside in Spain. The residency permit is only good in Spain and not in any other EU country. Likewise, any visa or residency permit from another EU country different from Spain is no good in Spain. So you can't move to Spain from another EU country and 'renew' your residency. 

Or maybe you hold an EU passport? In that case you don't need a visa at all. 

Sorry I can't help with the problem of picking up mail. But I'm wondering why you can't use direct debit to pay your bills? I literally pay 100% of my bills that way, and I do all my banking online. I hardly ever receive anything except junk mail.


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

In the (distant) past I have used the "Poste Restante" service, this would hold your mail at the office to which it was addressed for a certain time, allowing you to collect it. 

I do not know what the requirements are for the countries that you mention, but it may suit your purposes.


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## mauisculptress (Jan 4, 2016)

kalohi said:


> I'm a bit confused by what you're saying about a 'residence visa'. At least as far as Spain is concerned, you apply for your visa at the Spanish consulate/embassy in your country of residence (the United States? Italy?) - not in Spain. Then, once in Spain, you apply for your residency permit, which if granted allows you to reside in Spain. The residency permit is only good in Spain and not in any other EU country. Likewise, any visa or residency permit from another EU country different from Spain is no good in Spain. So you can't move to Spain from another EU country and 'renew' your residency.
> 
> Or maybe you hold an EU passport? In that case you don't need a visa at all.
> 
> Sorry I can't help with the problem of picking up mail. But I'm wondering why you can't use direct debit to pay your bills? I literally pay 100% of my bills that way, and I do all my banking online. I hardly ever receive anything except junk mail.


We are American, looking for a place to retire to. We would like to look around Spain, Italy and France. I know we need a residency visa which I think in the countries mentioned is good for one year with a renewal before it expires. I am trying to figure out a way we can travel to the other countries we don't have a residency visa for. I am under the impression once I have a residency visa I am free to travel for as long as I like in other EU countries. My guess is that I would have to enter into the country I get a visa for and make sure I am back in that country with an address before it expires. if there is an easier way to travel around the EU I would love to know. is it possible for an American to get a EU passport? thanks


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

mauisculptress said:


> I am trying to puzzle out how we would get mail to pay bills if we were travelling around?


If it only to pay *bills*, many banks offer a bill paying service. Check with your bank. Some companies permit payment by credit/debit card over the internet. Some accept PayPal payments.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

mauisculptress said:


> We are American, looking for a place to retire to. We would like to look around Spain, Italy and France. I know we need a residency visa which I think in the countries mentioned is good for one year with a renewal before it expires. I am trying to figure out a way we can travel to the other countries we don't have a residency visa for. I am under the impression once I have a residency visa I am free to travel for as long as I like in other EU countries. My guess is that I would have to enter into the country I get a visa for and make sure I am back in that country with an address before it expires. if there is an easier way to travel around the EU I would love to know. is it possible for an American to get a EU passport? thanks


I would check with the consulate of those other countries, or at the least check here on the forums for those countries to see what their requirements are. I can tell you that this isn't true of Spain. There's no such thing as an EU residency permit. Each EU country issues its own residency permit, and its only valid there. Of course you can travel as a tourist to other EU countries, but you would be traveling on your US passport and not your Spanish residency permit. In fact, there's a limit to the amount of time that you are allowed to be out of Spain at any one time and then your residency permit is invalidated. I can't remember how long it is (3 months?) but that's something that you could confirm with the Spanish consulate when you apply for your retirement visa. 

Is there an easier way to travel around the EU? I would say by doing it in small chunks from a base in one country. Europe is not a big place (compared to the US) so it's perfectly doable.

And no, a US citizen can't get a passport from an EU country - unless they have family ties, or have been resident for many years.


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## mauisculptress (Jan 4, 2016)

kalohi said:


> I would check with the consulate of those other countries, or at the least check here on the forums for those countries to see what their requirements are. I can tell you that this isn't true of Spain. There's no such thing as an EU residency permit. Each EU country issues its own residency permit, and its only valid there. Of course you can travel as a tourist to other EU countries, but you would be traveling on your US passport and not your Spanish residency permit. In fact, there's a limit to the amount of time that you are allowed to be out of Spain at any one time and then your residency permit is invalidated. I can't remember how long it is (3 months?) but that's something that you could confirm with the Spanish consulate when you apply for your retirement visa.
> 
> Is there an easier way to travel around the EU? I would say by doing it in small chunks from a base in one country. Europe is not a big place (compared to the US) so it's perfectly doable.
> 
> And no, a US citizen can't get a passport from an EU country - unless they have family ties, or have been resident for many years.


wow, so even if we were to have a residency permit in one country to be able to stay longer than the 90 day visa would allow, we still run into the 90 day rule if we were to travel else where, having to return to our home country?


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

mauisculptress said:


> wow, so even if we were to have a residency permit in one country to be able to stay longer than the 90 day visa would allow, we still run into the 90 day rule if we were to travel else where, having to return to our home country?


No, you would have to return to Spain, assuming that they issued you the residency permit. Either that, or you would have to apply for residency in the new country that you're visiting. 

But as I said, check on the conditions of the residency permits in the other countries you're interested in, because they may be different than in Spain.


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