What Happens to Your Mail When You Move Home in Dubai?

Why your mail does not follow you

Dubai does not deliver ordinary post to a building and flat number in the way most expats expect. Mail is addressed to a PO Box number plus the emirate, and you collect it from the Emirates Post branch where your box is. A letter addressed only to your tower and apartment number may never reach you.

That is why moving home changes nothing for your mail. Your PO Box stays exactly where it is, under the same number, as long as you keep the subscription active. If you move across the city or to another emirate and want a box nearer your new home, you can change it, but then you must tell every sender the new number yourself. There is no automatic forwarding in between.

The one exception worth knowing: MyHome

Emirates Post sells a home-delivery option called MyHome, first offered to villa communities and later extended to apartments in some areas. With it, your PO Box mail is brought to your home instead of sitting in a branch box. Even then, the PO Box number itself stays the same when you move: the delivery address changes, the mailbox identity does not.

If you use MyHome, update your delivery address with Emirates Post when you move. If you use a standard branch PO Box, there is nothing to change at the post office at all.

The checklist that replaces redirection

Since no one redirects your mail for you, work through this list in the first week after moving. The table gives the quick version, and the notes below explain each one.

1. Emirates ID address. Update your residential address with the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Your Emirates ID address feeds into bank records, government services and tenancy paperwork, so this one comes first.
2. Banks and cards. Tell every bank where you hold an account. Replacement cards, PIN mailers and statements go to the address on file, and a card sent to an old building is a security risk as well as an inconvenience.
3. DEWA and utilities. Your DEWA account is tied to the premises, so you close the old one and open the new one when you move. Our DEWA moving guide covers the final bill and the deposit.
4. Driving licence and vehicle registration. Update your address with the RTA so your licence record and vehicle registration match where you actually live. Traffic fines and renewal notices follow the registered address.
5. Ejari and tenancy records. Your new tenancy contract and Ejari registration carry the new address. Our guide to transferring Ejari when moving shows how to cancel the old one and register the new.
6. Telecom bills. Update du or e& (Etisalat) billing details, especially if you have a home internet or TV package moving with you. A missed bill can mean a disconnected service in the first month.
7. Couriers and regular senders. This is the part people forget. Private couriers like DHL, Aramex and FedEx deliver to a physical address, not a PO Box, and they use the address and Makani number you gave them last time. Update your delivery address and Makani number with every courier app, online shop and subscription that delivers to your door.
8. Subscriptions and memberships. Magazines, gyms, loyalty programmes, schools and clinics: anyone who posts or couriers to you needs the new address. One missed update means a parcel sitting at the old building’s security desk.

What about parcels too big for the box?

If a parcel does not fit your PO Box, Emirates Post usually leaves a collection notice and holds it at the branch for a set period. You collect it in person with valid ID. Keep your UAE mobile number on every incoming shipment, because that is how the branch and couriers reach you.

This does not change when you move either: a post office parcel goes to the branch you chose, not to your new front door, unless you use a home-delivery option.

Find your Makani number before you order anything

Makani is Dubai’s official building addressing system. Every building has a 10-digit Makani number, usually shown on a plaque at the entrance, and you can also find it in the Makani app. Give couriers your building name, flat number and Makani number together, and drivers find a new tower or villa first time, even in a community that is new to their maps.

The mistake that costs the most

The expensive mistake is assuming someone else handled it. People move, wait for mail to follow them, and discover months later that bank letters, a renewed card or an important document went to an address they no longer control. In Dubai there is no safety net for that assumption. The fix costs nothing but an hour of updates in the first week.

If you are still planning the move, our guide on what to check in your new home before the movers arrive covers the inspection worth doing while the rooms are empty, our move permit and NOC guide explains the building approval, and the first 30 days home setup checklist covers everything after the boxes are unpacked.

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