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If you need to receive an International Driving Permit (IDP) while traveling, it’s important to make sure your IDP is shipped somewhere it can be easily delivered. Otherwise, you risk spending lots of time tracking it down or possibly needing to order another one, and we all want to avoid that! Read through our guidelines, but also feel free to reach out to us using any of the methods listed at FastIDP.com if you’d like feedback on which address you might be deciding between is best to have your IDP shipped to.
Criteria for a good place to ship your IDP
A good destination should meet these three criteria:
Has a deliverable address: Make sure the place you IDP is sent has an official address and regularly receives shipments. This isn’t much of an issue in the US and most other developed countries, but make sure to keep this in mind if you’re shipping to a developing country or a very rural area. If that’s the case, it could be good to have the shipment held at a carrier facility (such as a FedEx location, see third bullet point below).
Has an adult who can sign for the package all day, if shipping internationally: Most IDP shipments in the US don’t require a signature for the package to be delivered, but the opposite is true abroad. If you’ll be receiving an IDP outside the United States, make sure the address you’re sending it to can have an adult there all day long to sign for it when it’s delivered. Hotels are particularly good places to have IDPs delivered because they’re generally very practiced at signing for guests and making sure that the package is delivered. If your address can’t have an adult there during the day when the delivery is going to be made, it can also sometimes work to leave a note to the carrier to drop the package off without a signature, but that should be done only as a last option.
Is not a place you’ll be leaving before the IDP arrives: If you’ll be traveling to several places before you need your IDP, it’s generally best to have it shipped to the final place you’ll be staying before needing to use the IDP. Although carriers usually deliver their packages on the expected date, it’s often better to have your IDP arrive a few days before you than for it to be left behind at a place you left the day before.
Good places to ship your IDP
Here are some good places to consider having your IDP shipped that meet the guidelines above, listed loosely in order from most to least attractive:
Major Hotel or Apartment Building: Most hotels, most managed apartment buildings (with a staffed front desk), and some Airbnb hosts will accept mail on your behalf if you are staying there. Check with them before placing your order to confirm they will receive a package for you, and also ask for the best way to address your shipment to make sure it gets to you.
Friend or Family Member: If you know someone who can receive mail for you, this is a great option. Before shipping to them, make sure they’ll be available to sign for the package (if outside the US), and hold onto the package until you arrive. If they’re not able to stay at their address the day when your IDP is being delivered, leaving a note to the carrier (e.g., FedEx) saying that you would like the shipment delivered without a signature sometimes works. However, you also have to be cautious that nobody swipes the package if you go with that method as well. Even if the carrier doesn’t deliver the package after the first attempt, they usually attempt a delivery an additional two times on the two following days.
A Carrier Location (e.g., FedEx or DHL Store): This is the option that relatively few of our customers know about but that we find very helpful, especially in developing countries or when our customer doesn’t have another address they can easily use. In this situation, the IDP is delivered to a FedEx store (for example), and then the customer goes to that store to pick up the package. It is generally required that the person who picks up the package must be the same person to whom the package is addressed. The carrier location will generally hold the package for a couple weeks for the recipient to pick it up, but make sure you call them if it’s going to sit there for more than two days. It’s generally no additional cost for a shipment to be received and kept by a carrier in this way.
Office / Business Address: If you have a large office you will be going to that regularly receives packages, having your IDP shipped to your office could work well. All the same precautions listed for the other types of addresses hold true for offices, too.
When shipping your IDP, be sure to double-check the shipping address for accuracy and include any necessary details (like a hotel room number or business suite). If you have questions, reach out to us using any of the contact methods at the bottom of each page of FastIDP.com, and we’d be happy to help!
