You have a package that needs to go to San Juan, Bayamón or Ponce. Not to worry: Stamps.com can offer you guidance on how to best format your addresses for mailpieces headed to Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican addresses are considered domestic addresses with the state code of “PR.” You can use the Domestic options within the Stamps.com platform (Packages, Stamps, and Envelopes). You are not required to include a customs form.
Urbanizations
One of most important things to remember is that Puerto Rican addresses use a unique identifier called the urbanization. An urbanization (urbanización) is a specific sector of a city, town or residential development. Using the urbanization name reduces ambiguity and the chance that your mail will be incorrectly sent or returned to you. Sometimes the urbanization name will replace the street name entirely. Examples of urbanization names, which can vary considerably, include Urbanización Valencia, Urb. Las Delicias, Mansiones de Ponce, Jardines Paseo del Jobo, and Asociación Residentes El Plantio.
As you might have noticed above, urbanizations sometimes use the abbreviation of “URB.” However, you may also run across terms like “EXTENSIÓN,” “BARRIADA,” “ALTURAS,” “PARQUE,” “ESTANCIAS,” and “QUINTAS” to describe an urbanization. The good news is that the powerful Stamps.com software will recognize cases when the address needs an urbanization name and provide an option to you to select a more specific address.
Street Name Formatting
Keep in mind that the Spanish-language terminology as well as the formatting order will be different than what you see in English-language addresses. You’ll see terms like CALLE (“Street”) or AVENIDA (“Avenue”) placed before the street number. For example, instead of “123 Main Street,” you’ll see “CALLE PRINCIPAL 123.” In accordance with USPS guidelines, do not translate the Spanish street name terms – in other words, don’t change “Calle” to “Street.” As an exception to this rule on translating Spanish terms, please use the term “PO BOX” instead of the various Spanish-language equivalents (CALLER, CALL BOX, GPO BOX, PO BOX S–1190, APTDO, APARTADO, BOX or BUZÓN).
If there is a house number, place it before the street name. For example, if the house number is B-31, write the address as “B-31 CALLE PRINCIPAL 123,” not as “CALLE PRINCIPAL 123 B-31.”
The Value of Using Stamps.com
Shipping to Puerto Rico is easy with Stamps.com! Since Puerto Rico is considered a domestic destination, you can use the same Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express rates and packaging as normal. What’s more, with Stamps.com you’ll receive the discounted Commercial Base rate, so you’ll save when you print postage with us. We also allow you to easily order free USPS supplies like boxes and envelopes from the Stamps.com Store. With our Address Book feature, you can also save Puerto Rican mailing address for easy future use!
Additional Resources
- Postal Addressing Standards for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands (PDF)
- How to Ship Packages to U.S. Territories
- USPS Postal Addressing Standards: Delivery Address Line
