zlacker

I hadn't even thought moving would take multiple pieces of paper ...

In the US it's just https://moversguide.usps.com/mgo/disclaimer?referral=UMOVE

And this isn't even "required".

>>duxup+(OP)
You may have some utilities and other things like that. Driver's license/registration if you're moving states. But very little really that you legally need to do.

>>duxup+(OP)
This looks like a snail mail forwarding service? Surely that's not mandatory to move somewhere else? I've never used this in Europe (moved 5 times), just tell the places that need to send me physical mail my new address

>>Aachen+m1
It's not mandatory as far as ... nobody is going to let you move.

It does mean that you'll get your old mail delivered to your old place forwarded to your new place while the other folks mailing you get their ducks in a row. And honestly I can't think of all the places that might mail me.

>>Aachen+m1
Not mandatory, though it is nice because USPS also notifies the sender of your updated address and then most places automatically update the address so you don't have to. The main work you actually have to do is closing/opening new utility accounts and possibly update your drivers license/vehicle registration.

>>ghaff+x
Also home insurance or renter's insurance. Legally required in plenty of places.

>>Aachen+m1
You can't use 'just' when the thing you're suggesting is more work.

>>duxup+(OP)
To be fair, the U.S. is very unique in that sense. No other society in the world is this uncommitted to one single place. Moving in the States is like getting lunch. Some extreme rent savers do nothing but move every year.

Even if the move process is frictionless, in most countries, it's just not a thing. You are "tied" to your family house or apartment, passed from generation to generation. Here, real estate is just a commodity.

>>Izkata+a3
Mortgage companies typically require home insurance (and often pay it themselves from an escrow account so they can be sure it's up to date). It would surprise me if renter's insurance was generally required. Even if I have a nominal permanent address, I may not actually have a lease or spend much time there (if any).

The basic point is that most people in the US will want some permanent address where they can get mail etc. and is where they live from the perspective of official government documents. But they may not actually live there (and aren't required to).

>>renega+v5
More households in Germany (and I'm sure other places) rent than in the US. Not that I really disagree that the US is a pretty mobile society overall.)

>>renega+v5
It's very interesting to me that there's such a formal official residence type system in other countries (not sure what else to call it).

In the US it matters too to some extent, eligibility for elections if you want to hold office, your tax burden for states that tax property and so on. But there's not a super official universal office you need to declare it at with lots of paperwork or validation outside of say the given situation it applies to. If I ran for office I'd provide my address and there you go, no complex validation, or if I wanted to pay lower taxes because it is my primary residence ... I just say that's where I live. Those given processes are left to validate it if they wish.

Bureaucracy is a strange thing. We get comfortable with what we know and we can't think of it any other way and it becomes a bit of a revelation when we realize maybe we don't have to do all that ...

>>duxup+(OP)
How does it work with taxation? As far as I know, states and cities have various tax rates, so how do they know who is supposed to tax you?

It's often one of the main reasons why they ask you to register in other countries.

>>duxup+e2
Yeah I thought the topic was things you have to do to move, like registering in the new city and notifying the old country or so

>>Aachen+zg
Yeah I agree. But my point being it is a pretty tangential thing and also the first thing you think of in the US. The scale of "have to do" is really low, to the point that you start with something pretty easy and that's largely it as far as "official" moving activity.

>>devnul+l3
But works. The post already doesn't sort a decent percentage of stuff correctly as it is, I'd never trust it to correctly identify which mail needs to go to me when some senders may put the first name, others the last name, others my name, others my partner's name, others including the cat's name as a joke, and others not including a name at all. The sender also needs to send something in the right timespan (before you stop ordering the service) in order to get your new address. This is also assuming nobody in your household shares a first or last name with the new inhabitants

Compared to what seems like a big mess of telling only the post and hoping everyone will get the memo from them, telling the utility, my employer, family, and a few insurances that I moved (updating the info on the self-service site or sending support an email) seems like the better solution to me

>>duxup+rc
Basically, in the US, if you have a mailing address that can be where you "live." It may not be able to be a PO Box and, if you're a politician or otherwise high profile, someone may look into it. But if you're an ordinary Joe and you have a trusted relative/friend who will keep an eye out for important mail, that's mostly fine. A state could get cranky if they think you owe them taxes but mostly they'd have no way of knowing. You may need to do the odd thing in person but it's mostly very informal.

>>Lehere+He
Depending on the tax.

For say sales tax like things if you buy something online the address you ship it to usually determines that. So no effort required there. In person if you're in TX you pay the TX sales tax (if they have one), if you are in NY you pay the NY sales tax.

As far as filing taxes for a year goes (income tax, property tax) you file taxes (or maybe you don't) and there you go. Filling taxes is largely a sort of declaration of what you say you did and owe. It's up to the state or feds to validate if they wish.

>>Lehere+He
For the purposes of government ID, you're going to have a principal residence. But, for ordinary people, there's no real guarantee that you actually live there. It could be a friend's house who keeps an eye out for important mail.

>>duxup+Qj
Thanks. It looks like a trade-off between bureaucracy/monitoring and ease of fraud. I guess that's why the US seems to rely a lot more on property taxes than other countries, harder to evade.

>>renega+v5
It's basically the same in Australia. Super convenient to move around as a renter. Basically just have to update your address with the voting database and your for your drivers license they send you a sticker to put on your license.

I've been moving almost once a year for the last few years just to try out new places and cities.