Living the expat life!

March 14, 2016 9:56 AM

I need recommendations for services that would let me do the following: Have a virtual US address. Maintain a US phone number. Ship packages internationally. Watch US TV channels. VPN services that are reliable and can let me access US based content. I don't mind paying a small fee for decent, reliable service.

Having lived in the US for approximately the last 15 years, when I first moved here for my undergraduate degree, I am now thinking of moving back to India as I wait for my Green Card to get processed (which I expect to be sometime within the 2017-2018.)

I may not return to the US immediately when the Green Card gets approved but will do so for time to time sometime in the future.

I need recommendations for the services I mentioned above, that would let me have a virtual presence in the US so I can keep my ties to the country. The secondary objective is to also just make it easier for me, for when I do return to the States. I will be keeping my bank accounts and credit cards open. I have a mobile phone with ATT that I can switch over (I would like to keep that number).

For my mail, I don't expect to be receiving too many pieces of mail. The address will mainly be used for my banks and credit cards for making purchases. For my phone service, I would like to be able to receive texts. I plan on unlocking my iPhone and taking it with me to be used with a local number. As far as VPN services go I'd like to be able to access Netflix, Spotify, US versions of most sites, and watch US news and TV channels.

What services have you personally tried or would recommend? Is there anything else that I should sign up for?

Here are some services I have checked out - EarthClass Mail (too expensive ~$50/month), Vonage vs MagicJack (no idea which one to choose), Shipito

Notes: Currently in Cambridge/Somerville MA. Banking with Chase (which has no presence in MA), phone with ATT

posted by anonymous to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

For TV, get an android TV box. You can watch all the tv shows you want (streaming on demand essentially) and you can add USTV (free or more depending on what channels you want) and stream real-time TV, also. There are netflix unblockers, but I admit I got my android box because I lost patience with Netflix's annoying attempts to block the unblockers. Netflix still works, but only if I reset it multiple times in an evening.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:24 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've used VPN Unlimited and Unlocator, and both work quite well. But it is true that Netflix is cracking down; my own setup for it stopped working last week.
posted by neushoorn at 10:38 AM on March 14, 2016

But it is true that Netflix is cracking down; my own setup for it stopped working last week.

Did you contact them? When I contacted my service they set me up with a fix that fixed it in a few minutes (but as mentioned, I now have to fix constantly).
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:39 AM on March 14, 2016

> Vonage vs MagicJack (no idea which one to choose)

I'd recommend neither. I'm currently using Callcentric. Rock solid. Others like Ooma. Callcentric would be more tinkery/configurable, Ooma more user friendly. The most tinkery but cheapest would be voip.ms, but I haven't used them.

FYI: Earth Class Mail just filed for bankruptcy. You might be able to find a cheaper service that doesn't do labor-intensive opening and scanning of mail, but instead forwards you a box of unopened mail periodically. There's a thread on mail services at the FlyerTalk forum.

The VPN/DNS crackdown is new and developing. There's a subreddit dedicated to the topic called NetflixByProxy. Many there seem to think the methods to defeat Netflix's blocks will need to be more sophisticated and expensive, so some of the cheap DNS geo-unlockers will go out of business soon. I guess see how it shakes out in the coming months? A more rock solid method might be a VPN with a static IP so Netflix doesn't see your account switching so often, but that's obviously more expensive.
posted by bluecore at 10:52 AM on March 14, 2016

I may not return to the US immediately when the Green Card gets approved but will do so for time to time sometime in the future.

I'm not sure why you mentioned this, but I wanted to make sure that you know you aren't really free to live outside the US once you have a green card - you will lose the green card if you don't move to the US and take up permanent residence there within six months of receiving it, or if you are considered to move your residence outside the US at any time after taking up the green card status.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:53 AM on March 14, 2016 [6 favorites]

I've used Vonage for nearly 10 years and never had a problem, FWIW.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:55 AM on March 14, 2016

When my wife and I were overseas a couple years ago, we used Ooma for phone. The service was just fine, but it was nigh impossible to cancel once we no longer needed it. We were also able to keep our US phone numbers by porting them over to Google Voice accounts and then forwarding those calls to the Ooma number. We were also able to make texts through the Google Hangouts app. Overall it was pretty seamless to make and receive calls. Texts were less seamless. That said, if we were to go overseas again, we probably wouldn't bother with an IP phone service and make FaceTime audio calls instead since most of our family and friends tend to be iPhone users.

For US media, we used Unblock-Us. It worked fine for our needs, but I have no idea how it's faring with the VPN/DNS crackdown.
posted by Joe Schlabotnik at 11:36 AM on March 14, 2016

For US media, we used Unblock-Us. It worked fine for our needs, but I have no idea how it's faring with the VPN/DNS crackdown.

that's the one I use. I know people for whom it is still working fine. For me, it's constantly blocked. It worked fine for weeks after the start of the crackdown and then started constantly being blocked. So I assume they're identifying users in batches or something, but once you're identified, it's a constant PITA.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 11:59 AM on March 14, 2016

Seconding Google Voice. A one time fee of $20 will give you that US number permanently.
posted by NailsTheCat at 2:03 PM on March 14, 2016

For mail I've used St. Brendan's Isle for 5 years. They've been in business since 1988. Unfortunately, although they forward packages, package consolidation is very limited.

Shipito can be a nightmare, according to complaints, reviews and employee stories. In short, they lose packages in their warehouse. Their fee system gives them zero incentive to fix the problem.
posted by Homer42 at 3:57 PM on March 14, 2016

For mail, try Traveling Mailbox. They will scan your mail so you don't have to have it shipped to you unless you need a physical copy. They also accept and ship packages.
posted by vivzan at 6:49 PM on March 14, 2016

I use US Global Mail for my US-based postbox. They're great, very reliable, and package consolidation/shipping rates are reasonable. They'll scan things for you if you want, or you can just let them pile up and periodically ship it. They've never yet lost anything of mine.

For phone, I just ported my cell number to Google Voice. It was quick and painless, and the transcriptions of all the election-related robocalls make priceless entertainment.

I use my Netflix account over a TunnelBear VPN sometimes, but also I just have it on my smart tv so it definitely sometimes is used from obviously-foreignland. Haven't had any troubles, but I'm an infrequent viewer, so YMMV.
posted by sldownard at 12:44 AM on March 15, 2016