LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
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Longer than domestic mail and less predictable: an international letter typically takes days to a few weeks depending on the destination, the route, and how the receiving country's postal system works. Plain documents travel faster than goods because they skip customs inspection. Tracking often goes quiet after the letter leaves your country, so build in extra time.
| Factor | How it affects timing |
|---|---|
| Destination country's postal system | The biggest variable: some national posts are fast and reliable, others are slow |
| Customs inspection | Applies to goods, not plain documents; goods can sit for days |
| Handoffs between postal services | Each transfer adds time, and tracking often stops at the handoff |
| Service level chosen | Ordinary airmail vs registered vs express courier make a real difference |
| Time of year | Holidays slow every border crossing, just like domestic mail |
No, and this is the detail that confuses people. Customs declarations, the CN22 and CN23 forms, are for goods crossing borders: merchandise, gifts with value, anything a customs officer might want to tax or inspect. A plain letter with documents inside needs no customs form at all. It flies through the document stream while parcels queue for inspection, which is a big part of why letters beat packages across borders.
The moment you put anything of value in the envelope, though, it stops being a document. Don't tuck a gift card, cash, or merchandise into an international letter and call it correspondence: if it's found, it can be held or returned, and you've slowed down the letter for nothing.
International tracking is a relay, not a single system. Your post office scans the letter until it leaves the country, then hands it to the destination country's post, which may or may not scan letter mail at all. Many national posts only scan parcels and registered items, so an ordinary international letter's tracking ends with "departed" and resumes never.
If you need visibility, international registered service is the answer: it keeps the custody chain and scanning across the handoff in most destination countries. It's slower than express couriers but far more trackable than ordinary airmail, and it's the right middle ground for important documents.
The US-Canada lane is the fastest and most predictable international route either country has: high volume, daily flights, and postal systems that scan each other's mail. A letter between the US and Canada typically moves in days, not weeks, barring customs-adjacent delays that mostly affect goods.
One honest limitation: LetterAgent serves recipients with US or Canadian addresses only, so cross-border US-Canada letters are covered but Europe and beyond aren't. For destinations outside North America, you'll need the post office counter or an international courier.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it's printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant. It can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com