Mail & Packages

Current rates, offices, and official links that go with Chapter 15 and the mail parts of Chapter 34. Checked October 2026.

In the book: Chapter 15

The chapter covers how mail and packages reach you in El Salvador:

• What renting a Correos box is really like, from our own box
• The four ways to get things from US stores, and a real checkout where delivery more than tripled the price
• How the $300 rule works, what it leaves out, and the mistake that can cost you the break
• Family gifts, viajeros, and encomenderos: what to ask before you hand over a box
• What not to ship, in either direction

In the book: Chapter 34

• Two ways to keep a US address after you move, and which accounts may refuse a virtual mailbox
• Why the address on your license, tax return, and voter registration carries legal weight
• The questions to ask your state before you change your address

Correos de El Salvador (as of October 2026)

• Correos de El Salvador (in Spanish), the national postal service. Main office: Final 15 Calle Poniente y Diagonal Universitaria Norte, Centro de Gobierno, San Salvador. Phone 2527-7600. WhatsApp 7070-3174.
• Find a post office (in Spanish): branch search.
• Post office boxes (apartados postales): rented at Correos branches. Correos doesn't post the rental fee online (October 2026); ask at a branch or on WhatsApp.
• Packages from abroad: $2.50 to pick one up at a branch, $3.50 to have it brought to your door (Correos FAQ, in Spanish).
• Track a package (in Spanish)
• National mail, rates in force since November 5, 2025: $2.50 up to 3 kg, plus $0.60 for each extra kilo.
• EMS (express mail) to the US: $45 for the first half kilo, plus $2.75 for each extra half kilo, up to 30 kg. About 5 to 6 days. EMS service page (in Spanish). Rates: Acuerdo No. 2183 (October 22, 2025), as reported by El Diario de Hoy, November 18, 2025 (in Spanish).

Customs: packages and online purchases (as of October 2026)

• Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) (in Spanish). Km 11.5 Carretera Panamericana, San Bartolo, Ilopango. Phone 2244-5182.
• Aduana Fardos Postales (the Customs office for packages that arrive by mail): Edificio de Correo Nacional, Centro de Gobierno, San Salvador. Phone 2244-5375. Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (all Customs offices, in Spanish)
• Online shopping law, Ley de Facilitación de Compras en Línea (PDF) (in Spanish): purchases of $300 or less for personal use pay no import duty.
• Customs rule DGA-028-2025 on online purchases (PDF) (in Spanish), December 2025
• Customs FAQ on imports, including the 13% IVA on online purchases (in Spanish)
• Print your simplified online-purchase declaration (in Spanish)
• Customs declaration for packages that arrive by mail (in Spanish)
• Family gifts up to $500, Customs rule DGA-006-2025 (PDF) (in Spanish), March 2025
• Authorized air couriers (gestores de encomiendas) (in Spanish)
• Clearing packages brought by authorized couriers ($200 per package duty-free) (in Spanish)
• Encomenderos by land or sea, Customs rule DGA-027-2025 (PDF) (in Spanish), in force since January 6, 2026
• Traveler's baggage and the duty-free limit (in Spanish): $500 on this page as of October 2026
• Restricted goods that need a permit (in Spanish)

Shopping from US stores (as of October 2026)

• Amazon: countries it ships to
• Amazon: import fees and taxes

Express couriers in El Salvador:

• DHL Express El Salvador (in Spanish). DHL billing FAQ (in Spanish): $18 customs inspection fee on shipments that don't qualify for the $300 rule.
• UPS El Salvador (in Spanish)
• FedEx El Salvador (in Spanish)

Package forwarders (casilleros) with a Miami address. Listed for convenience, not as recommendations:

• Trans-Express (in Spanish)
• MBE El Salvador (Mail Boxes Etc.) (in Spanish)
• Starship (in Spanish)

Keeping a US address (as of October 2026)

• USPS: Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (virtual mailboxes)
• USPS Form 1583 (PDF)
• USPS rule on signing Form 1583 in person or by live video, in force since May 1, 2024
• USPS: change your address (official site)

Virtual mailbox companies. Listed for convenience, not as recommendations:

• Anytime Mailbox
• US Global Mail

Mailing to the US (as of October 2026)

• USPS rules for mail between the US and El Salvador, including items that can't be mailed
• USPS rules on mailing lithium batteries
• US duties on low-value packages (Federal Register, June 24, 2026): since August 29, 2025, low-value packages from every country pay US duties; true gifts of $100 or less are still exempt.