Sending packages and mail
to your student

Shipping to Scandinavia is more complicated than sending a package to your student’s home campus. If you need to send a package to your student at DIS, check out our guidance. 

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+ Copenhagen
+ Stockholm

General guidance

Couriers

Various couriers deliver packages in Denmark and Sweden. While you may recognize some of them from the U.S., others may be new to you. It is not always possible to choose who delivers your package.  

DIS recommends you use the U.S. Postal Service to ship items, as these packages are received by PostNord (the Scandinavian equivalent to USPS) and students can easily pick them up at a package delivery site, if not at their housing. FedEx does not have pick-up locations in the city, so it can be difficult to obtain packages/mail if sent via FedEx.   

Mailing to DIS

Packages cannot be sent to DIS. We cannot accept flowers, chocolates, or any other deliveries for students. All mail should be sent directly to students’ housing address.

The only exception is if you are sending important legal documents (like a passport or credit cards) and would feel more comfortable sending these directly to DIS. If you are interested in doing so, please contact us.

Find our contact information.

Other important mailing details

  • It is illegal to ship medication to Denmark or Sweden. If you do so, the medication will be confiscated by the authorities
  • Most of the time, packages won’t be delivered straight to your student’s door. Instead, it is likely they will receive a paper in their mailbox and/or a text/email from the courier indicating where they should pickup the parcel (e.g. their local grocery store or a designated post drop box)
  • Do not ship items to arrive in Scandinavia before your student is here, as it may be returned to sender

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Copenhagen

Writing Danish addresses

Double check that you/the sender write your address in the correct format, and always include your room number.

Example:

  • Building name (if applicable i.e. Nimbus Kollegium)
  • Your name
  • Street address, number, and floor
  • Room number
  • Zip code and city (note that zip code must come first)
  • Denmark

If you leave out any of this information, you risk that your packages may return to sender.

Danish customs

When you buy something online from outside the EU or receive a package sent from the U.S., the value of the package and its contents determine whether Danish customs charges you with a tax.

Check the Danish Customs Agency to see if you will be charged a fee for your package.

Students are not required to pay 25% in VAT if they are sent items that are needed for their time while studying abroad in Denmark. For these items, students can use the following Customs Procedure Code (CPC): 40-00-C06. The code needs to be written clearly on the package.

When your student is expecting mail

  • Let your student know to keep an eye out for texts and emails from the courier. If the messages are in Danish, use Google Translate to read them. If the courier sends your students texts or emails, it is because they are important, so they shouldn’t be ignored
  • Make sure the sender of the package always lists your student’s Danish phone number and their email in the contact information, as that is what the local courier will use to communicate with them if they need to

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Stockholm

Student Resources, accessibility and accommodations, Stockholm

Writing Swedish addresses

Double check that you/the sender write your address in the correct format, and always include your room number. Here’s an example:

  • Your name
  • Street address and number
  • Apartment number
  • Zip code and city
  • Sweden

Note: for the apartment number, you can write “lgh” (which stands for the Swedish word for apartment, lägenhet) followed by the number. If you leave out any of this information, you risk that your packages may return to sender.

Swedish customs

When you buy something online from outside the EU or receive a package sent from the U.S., the value of the package and its contents determine whether Swedish customs charges you with a tax.

Check the Swedish customs agency to see if you will be charged a fee for your package.

When your student is expecting mail

  • Make sure your student’s mailbox is labeled properly with their first name, last name, and room number in order to receive mail
  • Confirm that the sender of the package always lists your student’s Swedish phone number and their email in the contact information, as that is what the local courier will use to communicate with them should they need to
  • Let your student know to keep an eye out for texts and emails from the courier. If the messages are in Swedish, your student should use Google Translate to read them. If the courier sends texts or emails, it is because they are important, so they shouldn’t be ignored

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