Mexican Address Format and Examples: How to Write and Verify it?
Lack of knowledge of Mexican address format stopping you from mailing something special to your friend in Mexico? Incorrect address format can lead to delays and misdeliveries. If you want to make sure your mail reaches its intended destination in Mexico, then you need to learn how to write Mexican addresses. This involves understanding the address format. Furthermore, address verification is also crucial to ensure it lands in the hands of the correct person.
In this blog, we will guide you through Mexican mailing address format, and examples. We will also share tips on how to write Mexico addresses correctly, what mistakes to avoid, and how to verify the mailing address.
Key Takeaways
- When mailing packages to México, it is important to follow the standard format designed by their national postal service, Correos de Mexico.
- Address formats around the world differ in order and structure. Every country has its own address format laid down by their postal service.
- To avoid any delays or misdelivery, be careful when writing the address on the envelope. Check for misspellings and incorrect or missing postal codes.
- Address verification is important to ensure that the destination is valid and deliverable.
- PostGrid’s international address verification API verifies, validates, and standardizes for accuracy for more than 245 countries.
Ways to Write a Mexican Address Format and Examples
- Recipient name: Write the full name of the addressee.
- Street name: Add the street name and number. If you have an interior and exterior building number, add these details as well.
- Dependent locality: Also called sub-locality, it is a specific geographic location that is a part of larger administrative areas. In this case, Colonia Jardines del Valle is the dependent locality in Escobedo City, Mexico. Colonia in Mexican refers to a neighborhood or community and it is written in an abbreviated form, Col., while writing the address in México. If you have to mention a housing development, you will use Frac. for Fraccionamiento.
- Código Postal, City, Province: The Mexican postal code is called a Código Postal. It is of five digits. Locality and province abbreviations in capital letters will go in the same line, separated by commas. You can omit writing C.P. in front of the postal code, as it is optional.
- Country: The complete name of the country should be written in capital letters.
This example will help you understand how to write a Mexican address for mail.
| Address Detail | What Does it Denote? |
| Carlos Mendoza | Recipient’s name |
| Calle de los Pinos No. 34 | Street address: name and number |
| Col. Jardines del Valle | Dependent locality/Municipality |
| C.P 64000, ESCOBEDO, MTY | Código Postal, City, Province |
| MEXICO | Country name |
What if you are sending a mail to a village? Then how do you write a Mexican address? Don’t worry. We have got covered. In this case, a Mexico address sample will look like this.
| Address Detail | What Does it Denote? |
| Ana Lopez Garcia | Addressee name |
| Avenida 5 de Febrero 345- 302 | Street name, number, and apartment name |
| Pueblo Nuevo | Village name |
| C.P 34960, DUR | Código Postal , Province |
| MEXICO | Country name |
How is the Mexican Address Format Different from Other Countries?
There are no international address formats. Each country has designed its own way of writing an address. Knowing the correct format is important to ensure your mailpiece is routed correctly and reaches the right destination. Let us look at four examples of countries to understand how the Mexico postal address format differs.
U.S.A.
It enforces two-letter abbreviations for the state. For example, when the mail is addressed to California, the state name will be written as CA. However, in Mexico, three, four, or five letters are used. As stated in the Mexico address example above, the city of Durango is written as DUR.
Another difference between the USA and Mexican mailing addresses is the variation in the punctuation. The U.S.A. uses commas as separators. For example, it is 456 Main St., Apt 5, Las Vegas, Nevada, 88901. The Mexicans use hyphens in their address along with commas, such as Avenida Juarez- 123-3B, Centro Historico, 28000 Colima, Col.
You can refer to the Postal Explorer to know the mailing address and shipping requirements, for domestic as well as international purposes in the U.S.
U.K.
The major difference between the UK and Mexico’s mailing addresses is in their structure and order of the address lines. In the Mexico address format, as mentioned above, the street type, name, and house number are written in a single line. However, in the U.K., there is a different line for building numbers, street names, and house numbers. The following example will help you understand how to write a mail address in the U.K.
| Address detail | What Does it Denote? |
| Mr Edward Smith | Addressee Name |
| Flat 13B | Building/Flat number |
| 22 Baker Street | Street or road name and number |
| MILTON KEYNES | City or town |
| Buckinghamshire | Province name |
| LJ8JQ | Postal code |
| U.K. | Country name |
Note: When mailing packages to the U.K., ensure that the city/town and country name are in capital letters. Check the address format guide on their official website.
Japan
In Japan, there are two ways to write an address: Japanese and English. When written in English it starts with the recipient’s name, followed by house number, subarea, city ward, prefecture name, and postal code. The prefecture refers to a regional or local government division, and cityward indicates the name of a city, town, or village. When written in Japanese, the order gets reversed, starting with the postal symbol and ending with the addressee’s name. Let’s illustrate this with an example.
| Address detail | What does it denote? |
| Ms Tumi Suzuki | Receiver’s name |
| 2-9-25 Roppongi, Minato-ku | House number, Subarea, Cityward |
| Tokyo-106-0032 | Prefecture name, Postal Code |
| Japan | Country name |
Colombia
It uses a street nomenclature system based on streets expanding outwards. Hence, in most cases, a Colombian address includes the street address on which the house is located and the other closest intersecting street. The second and third lines of the address will have a number representing the distance. Let us take a look at how the Spanish-speaking country adds elements like streets and houses to their address.
| Address detail | What Does it Denote? |
| Diagonal 62#95 55 |
62nd Street, 95 meters from the intersection with 55th Street, |
| Bogota | City |
| Colombia | Country |
| Código Postal: 11091 | Postal Code |
Tips to Write Mexico Address Format Correctly
How do you address a letter to Mexico that gets delivered without any hiccups? Follow the tips mentioned below.
Adhere to the Standard Format
Write the address in the format mentioned above. Be mindful of the capitalizations and abbreviations.
Write Clearly
Make sure that the address is written in a way that it can be read easily. Use block letters and write in consistent handwriting to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation.
Avoid Any Marking
Refrain from adding any special markings, symbols, or notes, as it might confuse the postal workers. Stick to the format mentioned above.
Add a Return Address
Make it a habit to add your address in the mail. This will ensure that if there is any delivery issue, the mail will be returned to you.
Include All Address Components
Make sure to add everything as per the standard address format. Omitting details like Colonia or province name can result in delivery problems.
Be Specific With Colonia
Ensure that you have added the specific Colonia’s (neighborhood) details. Failing to do so might result in delivery complications, especially in urban areas where there are duplicate street names.
Include the Postal Code
For efficient sorting and accurate delivery of the mail, mentioning the postal code is important. Check the postal code with the national or local database to verify that it matches the address of the area.
Use Conventional Abbreviations
Stick to conventional country and state abbreviations, such as using Col. for Colonia or Av. for Avenida in the Mexican postal address. Non-standard abbreviations can confuse the postal department.
Be Careful With the Alignment
Write the entire address on the left side of the envelope. Keep the spacing uniform and avoid any indentation.
What are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Addresses in Mexico?
So far you have learned how to address mail to Mexico. Now let us talk about common mistakes that you should know and avoid to eliminate delivery-related issues.
Misspelling Street Names or Neighborhood
Cross-check the spelling of street names and neighborhoods with the official database to avoid misdelivery or returned mail. Misspelling prevents the proper routing of the package. The postal and delivery services have to spend extra time investigating and correcting addresses. This can result in delays.
Incorrect or Missing Postal Codes
As mentioned above, Mexico used the five-digit postal code system. Ensure that you always add a correct and complete postal code. Any discrepancies can lead to postal workers spending additional time manually sorting and determining the correct recipient’s address. This will delay the delivery.
Incorrect Order of Elements
The postal service and the delivery partners follow a specific address format to route mail and deliver them efficiently. When the address elements will not be in the correct order, it might take the postal office extra time to interpret and deliver the package, leading to delays.
How to Verify the Accuracy of a Mexican Address?
Address verification is crucial to ensure that the package reaches the right person. A verified address makes it easy for the postal service and delivery companies to route and mail the package and ensure it reaches its destination. This reduces the likelihood of misdelivery or lost mail. Here are some ways to verify the accuracy of your Mexican address.
Contact Local Authorities
Reach out to the local government or municipal authorities of that area to confirm whether or not the address exists.
Online Verification
You can visit the official website of the Mexican postal system, Servicio Postal Mexicano, to run a código postal lookup. Select the name of the state and administrative division from the drop-down menu and add the postal code. After parsing and matching, the website will return details of that postal code.
Deterministic Matching
This method uses a set of predefined rules and criteria to accurately match records or data entries. It verifies the data against an authoritative database and tells whether or not the address is accurate. However, it has certain disadvantages. It requires exact matches between the addresses, which means any variation, alternate spelling or typos will flag the address as invalid. Moreover, if the address is incomplete, it won’t be able to determine the correct postal code.
Use an Address Verification Tool
Eliminate the hassle of checking back and forth with the authorities or manually entering data into the website and use PostGrid’s address verification API. Once integrated, it will automatically verify, validate, standardize, and autocomplete the address per the local postal standards. It is hands down one of the easiest Mexico address verification methods to ensure address accuracy.
PostGrid: The Ultimate Address Verification API
Postgrid offers real-time international address verification, validation, standardization and autocomplete services for more than 245 countries. For Argentina, Bangladesh, Mexico China, etc. you can verify global addresses in just a few clicks.
Our address verification tool first parses the details into smaller components such as street name, number, city, and postal code. This helps in systematically identifying and correcting errors, ensuring that the information is correct. We check for the address for the casing, spelling mistakes, missing information, and abbreviations, and correct the information.
Once parsing is done, we standardize the address in accordance with the national and local postal standards. Through standardization, we eliminate any variations that may confuse the mailing service and cause delays or misdeliveries. The example below will help you understand the difference between a non-standardized and a standardized address.
| Non-standardized Address | Standardized Address |
| David RossHamilton Street, 96
Near the park New York, NY USA |
David Ross,96 Hamilton Street,
Apartment 23 New York, NY, 10114 USA |
After parsing comes validation. We run the address against the national and international databases to check whether the Mexico address with zip code, street name, and house number exists or not. Once checked, we return the verified address to you.
Aside from verification, we also offer autocomplete API. Based on your input, we will generate address suggestions, from which you can choose the right one. We provide suggestions right down to the apartment suite and room number so that you know the address is correct and deliverable. Incorporating this feature will come in handy for businesses who are looking to simplify the checkout process of their eCommerce store.
To further enhance our address verification method, we also offer geocoding API. It offers forward and reverse geocoding. By converting an address into longitudes and latitudes and vice versa, we enable precise location identification. This enhances data accuracy. Take for instance, when you look up geocode for the Empire State Building, our geocoding API will return 40.74861, 73.9852.
Business owners who want to check multiple addresses in one go can leverage our bulk address verification feature. With PostGrid, you can verify over a million addresses in one go. When you are managing large datasets, bulk address verification can prove helpful in accelerating data processing and enhancing accuracy at scale.
Conclusion
Understanding Mexican address format and examples is necessary to make sure that your mailer reaches the right person. Adhering to a standard format prevents the possibility of delays or misdelivery. While you can manually verify the address for any discrepancy, it will be a time-consuming process. A better alternative would be to have an address verification API like PostGrid take care of it. The automatic verification, validation, and standardization ensure that your address is accurate according to the postal standards.
Curious to see how our address verification tool works? Request a demo and know it for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Mexico Addresses Have ZIP Codes?
Postcodes in Mexico are called Código Postal. ZIP code is the term used for postal codes in the U.S.A.
How Can I Verify Mexico Address Code Online?
You can visit the Mexican postal service’s official website i.e. Correos de México and check the validity of the address. If you want to save time, you can use PostGrid’s address verification API which will automatically verify your address against the national and local postal standards.
How to Address a Letter To Mexico?
The format for writing mail to your friends/family/clients in Mexico is as follows
Line 1: Street name and number
Line 2: Dependent locality/ Municipality
Line 3: Codigo Postal, City, Province
Line 4: Country name
How to Send Mail To Mexico?
You can use PostGrid to create, print, and send mail to many countries including (but not limited to) Mexico, Japan, Australia, and Canada.
How to Read a Mexican Address?
Address in Mexico starts with the street name and number on the first line. The second line contains the name of the locality. The third line will mention the postal code with the name of the city and province. In some cases, you will find the third line starting with C.P., which is short for Codigo Postal (postal code in Mexican).
Can I Verify Postcode Format With Address Verification Tool?
Yes, with PostGrid’s address verification API, you can verify the entire address details down to the postal code to ensure address accuracy. We can also help with validating address information, structure, and normalization.
