Riyadh - Post Report Question and Answers
How do you send and receive your letters and package mail? Are local postal facilities adequate?
US Embassy mail (APO and Pouch). - Jul 2021
APO. It usually takes about 10-14 days for something to arrive. - Feb 2018
We have an APO (military post office) available to us as well as the diplomatic pouch. There was a problem with theft of APO items when we arrived in 2013, but that seems to have been resolved. For any valuable items, I would still recommend having them sent by pouch, which although slower, is more secure. It's also necessary for things like DVDs, which the Saudi authorities may find objectionable and confiscate. - Oct 2017
APO. - Jan 2017
Through the APO. Be aware that sometimes APO packages are opened by Saudi authorities, who have removed materials they considered obscene. Their threshold is very low. One saving grace is that most of these guys are too uneducated and ignorant to know what they are looking at. But I have heard of Valentine's day cards being censored/confiscated. On that day it is a bad idea to wear anything red or display red flowers anywhere outside the DQ. - May 2016
Through work. - Nov 2015
APO. - Oct 2015
Embassy APO. But a lot of the mail and packages have to go through the Saudis, and they delayed and/or confiscated tons of our packages over Christmas. - Oct 2015
We have APO. - Jan 2015
DPO. 10 days to the United States and back. - Sep 2014
We have an APO available to us as well as the diplomatic pouch. Unfortunately, many items have reportedly been stolen from the APO (especially electronics, and I even had a pair of expensive shoes go missing; even jewelry in registered mail was taken), so for anything valuable, the diplomatic pouch is a must, even though it's much slower. The embassy doesn't seem to feel it's necessary to warn newcomers about the theft problem in advance and claims that there is nothing they can do about it. Which of course there is. - Mar 2014
We use APO through the American Embassy. - Dec 2013
UPS. - Oct 2013
Mail is generally let in if the material is not offensive. Amazon will ship to KSA. - Mar 2013
The U.S. Embassy has DPO. However, packages can be searched by local authorities, so do not ship unauthorized items. - Apr 2011
FedEx is available and very fast. I have no experience with other local postal services. - Jul 2010
I use the embassy APO. - Mar 2010
APO - Jan 2010
APO - pretty quick from the US, as few as 8 days. Sometimes things get misrouted, though. - Dec 2009
