I am a very frequent traveler, I go everywhere with my work and hardly
spend more than a couple of weeks in one place usually.  This sounds
fun, but most of the world assumes you are a 'normal' person with a
normal consistent address.  You notice this from simple statements as
"sure, just pop into our office and sign the forms" through to "we'll
post them out to your home address and they will arrive in a couple of
days" (forgetting they need to be forwarded again and then sent back
from wherever I am in the world).

So what I need is this - a paper to virtual document management
system.  A place that I can redirect my mail to (not a PO Box, but a
real address).  They will scan my mail, categorize it and give it some
details including date of arrival, name of sender, and maybe a rough
category such as "bill", "advertising", "invoice" etc and put it on
the site for me.

For some mail or documents, I would like to set an alert (e.g for mail
from certain senders).  I get an email alerting me to look at it (e.g.
my credit card bill).  I can log in and view the document then.

The service can be anywhere in the world, but I would probably prefer
UK, USA or Australia as mail collection points.

Hello smoovjoe, I have been working on your question since you posted
it. I have been talking with a company by the name of Officescape. I
just got a call from Tracy at Officescape saying that they will be
able to do exactly what you ask for. Here is the deal:
1. You will need to fill out and have notarized a USPS form 1583. They
need the original.
2. They also require a notarized letter from you giving them
permission to open, scan, and post your mail.
3. There is a one time $10 setup charge.
4. There is a $50 per year membership fee.
5. Actual time involved in processing your mail will be charged at $25 per hour.
6. You will be able to view your mail online by checking your e-mail
account accessed from their website.

I think that this covers all the major details and you can fine tune
the exact way you want your mail to be handled and displayed. This
sounds like a very good deal to me and I hope that you agree. Here is
a link to the contact info for Officescape:

http://www.officescape.com/contact/index.asp

I have been talking with "Tracy" at (888)893-1234. If you decide to
sign up with Officescape, please tell Tracy that Redhoss sent you and
she will know who you are and what you are talking about.

Hope that this works for you, Redhoss

---

Request for Answer Clarification by smoovjoe-ga on 25 Oct 2004 22:01 PDT

That sounds good, but what does notarizing a letter from the USPS
mean?  I have some friends in the US that could forward me those
forms, but I don't think anyone outside the US can have it notarized.

And what about mail that arrives (and insists on being sent to)
addresses in the UK and Australia?

---

Clarification of Answer by redhoss-ga on 26 Oct 2004 09:31 PDT

I am glad to hear that what I found "sounds good" to you. I understand
that getting a document notarized in some countries might be a
problem. Since I don't know which country is in question, you might
read this:

http://travel.state.gov/law/notaries_abroad.html

Summary: The performance of the functions of a notary public abroad
for documents intended for use in the United States is governed
generally by multilateral and bilateral treaties, Federal law and
regulation and by the laws of the foreign country. Notarizing a
document outside the United States may be a violation of the laws of
the foreign country, unless the notarizing officer is specifically
authorized by local (foreign) law or applicable international treaty.

Recognition of Notarial Acts Performed Abroad in the United States:
The laws of states in the United States also make specific provision
for the recognition of documents executed outside the United States.
Most states have enacted legislation similar to the Uniform
Recognition of Acknowledgements Act, the Uniform Acknowledgments Act
and the Uniform Law on Notarials which recognize the admissibility of
documents executed outside the United States before an ambassador,
minister, consul general, consul, vice consul or consular agent of the
United States.

Extraterritorial Notaries: Within the United States a notary public is
authorized to perform notarial services within the jurisdiction
provided by a commission. Some states have enacted legislation which
provides for the performance of notarial functions outside of their
home states of commission-filing or licensure provided the documents
notarized are intended for filing or recording in the home states of
the notaries. A few states have enacted reciprocity laws which
authorize a notary from a neighboring state to act as a notary in
another state provided the neighboring state has adopted a reciprocity
provision. Finally, some states have enacted legislation authorizing
notaries to perform notarial functions outside the United States for
use in the United States. It should be noted that the laws of the
foreign country may not authorize the American notary to perform this
function, local law of the state in the United States notwithstanding.

Commissioners of Deeds: Various state statutes still in efffect in a
number of states authorize the Secretary of State in each such state
to appoint commissioners of deeds who can perform notarial acts
extraterritorially for use in that state. The commissioner of deeds
office evolved when the United States had few foreign-located consuls.

Judicial Sovereignty of Foreign Countries: Some nations view this
authority of commissioners as an infringement of their judicial
sovereignty. The United States recognizes the right of judicial
sovereignty of foreign governments based on customary international
law and practice; See, e.g., the Restatement (Third) of Foreign
Relations Law (1987).

Possible Repercussions of American Notaries or Other Persons
Notarizing Documents Abroad: Notarizing documents by a person not
empowered by treaty or local (foreign) law to perform such acts may
result in the arrest of a commissioner of deeds of American notary,
even through the act is authorized by the laws of the commissioner or
notary's home state. The Department of State is concerned that, in the
exercise of their powers, state commissioners of deeds or notaries
public may unknowingly violate the judicial sovereignty of a foreign
country by usurping the functions of duly authorized foreign
officials. All U.S. Foreign Service posts are therefore instructed to
advise the Department of State of the operation of any American
commissioners of deeds or notaries public in their consular districts.

Digital Signatures and Cybernotaries: The Department of State is aware
of developments in state law on the subject of digital signatures. The
Deparment has participated in the negotiation of international
agreements on the subject of electronic commerce and digital
signatures. This is an evolving area of the law and it is not the
intention of this discussion to address this topic directly.

Selected References:

Whiteman, Digest of International Law, Department of State, Vol. 7,
519, 521 (1965).

Hackworth, Digest of International Law, Department of State, Vol. II,
313, 314 (1944).

Closen & Richards, Notaries Public - Lost in Cyberspace, or Key
Business Professions of the Future?, 15 J. Marshall J. Computer &
Infor L. 703, 717-718 (1997).

Closen & Dixon, Notaries Public From the Time of the Roman Empire to
the United States Today, and Tomorrow, 68 N.D. L. Rev. 873, 874-75
(1992).

Closen & Richards, Cyberbusiness Needs Supernotaries, Nat'l L. J., August 25, 1997.

Questions: Contact the Office of American Citizens Services, Bureau of
Consular Affairs, Department of State, 2201 C Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20520, tel: (202) 647-5225.


This site is managed by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an
endorsement of the views contained therein.

I think that if you will contact Tracy at Officescape she will be able
to work with you and iron out any details that bother you.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by smoovjoe-ga on 26 Oct 2004 23:04 PDT

Thanks for that.  Unfortunately it looks like here in Australia, I
would need to travel to Canberra (approximately 900 miles) to get the
USPS form 1583 and my letter notarized during American Consulate
Hours.

I tried several times to call Officescape, I get the usual options
like "press zero for the operator or if you know your party's
extension dial it now".  The past four times I have tried I have been
told the operator isn't available and have been put through to sales
where I left a message and finally got a call back from one of their
Sales people.

If I went with this solution, I could probably arrange to have my mail
forwarded from the UK and Australia like this:
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content2?catId=5000004&mediaId=600046

which costs about $100 a year per country, and would obviously involve
a delay as it was sent to its destination.  After 12 months I could no
longer forward my mail and this would stop working.

So unfortunately this makes Officescape pretty much unworkable for me.
 I guess I need a company with a more international presence.  If I
had to start with one country and add others, I would go for UK,
Australia then USA in order of preference.

---

Clarification of Answer by redhoss-ga on 27 Oct 2004 07:59 PDT

I thought that your intent was to have "A place that I can redirect my
mail to". I took this to mean that you would inform all sources that
send you mail of your new address and thus all your mail would be sent
(eventually) to your new centralized address. If you don't take this
approach, I don't see how you can ever eliminate a delay while your
mail is forwarded. I don't see any advantage of having your new
address located in any particular country as long as ALL your mail is
sent to that address.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by smoovjoe-ga on 27 Oct 2004 18:37 PDT

Right, exactly.  Sending mail from several countries to one scanning
point in one country is inherently slow, and in many cases unworkable.
 The reason it is unworkable is that most postal authorities do not
accept a *permanent* redirection order.  It is supposed to be for a
period, while you establish a new address.

Thanks for trying though.

---

Clarification of Answer by redhoss-ga on 27 Oct 2004 19:38 PDT

Sorry we couldn't make it work. I really tried hard to find something for you.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by smoovjoe-ga on 27 Oct 2004 22:26 PDT

Thanks for trying.

---

Clarification of Answer by redhoss-ga on 28 Oct 2004 08:36 PDT

You are most welcome.

My desire here is for a solution that takes national borders, and
physical paper out of mail.  If a company insists on a UK address, an
Australian address, or a US address (depending on where they are
based), I want to be able to deal with it through this solution, and
have this workable for the long term.

This means I need a company that has mail scanning bureaus in the UK,
Australia, and in the US.  Once my mail is scanned, I should be able
to access it online, and search accordingly.

This is a very interesting idea, but I tend to think that a service
like this would not exist due to federal mail laws.  To the best of my
knowledge it is illegal to open another person's mail, although I am
only familiar with U.S. mail laws.  Of course, it could be possible
with the proper written consent.

Anyway I wish you the best of luck and if you do come across such a
service, it would be interesting to hear about it.

I second delaware-ga - This is an interesting concept, but one that I
would doubt will ever come to exist.  In todays technical world, it is
possible to tie most of your bills to electronic statements and
payments where you can review and pay all bills online.  In addition,
you can manage your bank accounts, investing etc all online.  As
people become more technologically advances, I would assume that more
and more companies will offer online options to cover corespondance.

That's is really interesting idea. But with all the identity theft and
other privacy related legal issues, I do not think services like this
can exist in the US.

Actually, I had such a service in the UK.  The US service is really
secondary, I need a service which covers the UK (and possibly the US
too).  The fact that various people allow you to view bills and
statements online doesn't help much, when fundamentally people assume
you have ready access to your mail at your home address on a regular
basis.  Try going away for 6-12 months and you'll soon see what I
mean.