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How to Format an International Address
Bob Hull, Director of Business Development, Melissa Data
The format that an international address takes is
dictated by the postal guidelines and cultural norms
of two countries: the country of origin and the
country of destination.
The postal guidelines of the country of origin
should be followed as regards to the
placing and format of the country name and/or the
postal country code.
The postal and cultural guidelines of the country of
destination should be followed for all other address
components.
In this example, being sent from the Netherlands to
Great Britain, the items in red are written
according to the Dutch norms, the items in blue
according to the British norms:
Mr G.R. Rhind
17 St Helens Avenue
Brooke
NORWICH
GB-NR14 1EP
GROOT BRITTANNIË
Addresses on international items should always be
written in Latin script with Arabic numerals, even
when posted in countries which used different
writing scripts, to ensure deliverability. The
country name should be written in upper case, and in
the language of the country of origin. As mail items
often have to travel via other countries, it is
desirable that the country name may also be written
in an “international” language, such as English or
French. The address above may therefore also be
written in this way:
Mr G.R. Rhind
17 St Helens Avenue
Brooke
NORWICH
GB-NR14 1EP
GROOT BRITTANNIË – GREAT BRITAIN
If the destination is a country which uses a script
other than the Latin script, the address should be
written twice on the envelope (one on the left hand
side, the other on the right hand side, with a line
between them), one in Latin script, the other in the
script of the country of origin.
---Source: All address format information above has
been used with permission from The Melissa Data
Guide to International Address Formats. For more
information on the book you can click on this link:
http://www.melissadata.com/ias/international-address-formats-book.htm
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