July 21, 2021

International Service Suspension Notice – effective July 23, 2021

The Postal Service™ will temporarily suspend international mail acceptance for certain destinations due to service impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective July 23, 2021, the Postal Service will suspend international mail acceptance to destinations where transportation is unavailable due to widespread cancellations and restrictions into the area.

Customers are asked to refrain from mailing items addressed to the following countries, until further notice:

• Malawi
• Bhutan

These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International^® (PMEI), Priority Mail International^® (PMI), First-Class Mail International^® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service^® (FCPIS^®), International Priority Airmail^® (IPA^®), International Surface Air Lift^® (ISAL^®), and M-Bag^® items.

Unless otherwise noted, service suspensions to a particular country do not affect delivery of military and diplomatic mail.

For already deposited items, other than Global Express Guarantee® (GXG®), Postal Service International Service Center (ISC) employees will endorse the items as “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” and then place them in the mail stream for return.

Due to COVID-19, international shipping has been suspended to many countries. According to DMM 604.9.2.3, customers are entitled to a full refund of their postage costs when service to the country of destination is suspended.

The detailed procedures to obtain refunds for Retail Postage, eVS, PC Postage, and BMEU entered mail can be found through the following link: https://postalpro.usps.com/international-refunds

The Postal Service is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to update customers until the situation returns to normal. Please visit our International Service Alerts page for the most up to date information: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/?utm_source=residential&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=res_to_intl