Relocating to St. Croix

a lot of this info is right on this site - (www.vimovingcenter.com). I also have a number of free reports on my website, ranging from jobs, to healthcare, to schools, etc. They are yours for the asking at www.retireinthevi.com.

A PO box is good, and they are not scarce everywhere...there are a number of POs on the island. I believe about $60 for 6 months.

You might want to start looking for housing soon - it can get scarce (and expensive) the closer we get to high season. Good luck!

A drivers license is about $32 - cars are registered by weight - if they are already on island, small sedan about $45 - plus insurance - if you are shipping one add Customs and excise costs which vary according to make, country of build and market value.
A food handlers card for hospitality job is about $40 yr.
PO box depends on size - my small /mid size is $96 yr. - private mail services are more.

It is now $45 for a drivers license. You also have to provide a driving record report from the current state you are licensed in and many states charge for this (Florida is about $30).

When you figure out where you are living, you could also get a mail box on the side of the road. You pay a one time flat fee ($15 maybe? Whatever it is, it's really cheap) and get the box for life (even if you move physical locations). It's a really good deal and more convenient than having to stop at the post office. Your address is also not a PO box address, so you can avoid the problem of some places not shipping to PO boxes.

You have to pay for a mail box on the street??? This forum is priceless. I would have never thought about that!

So when it comes close to Christmas, how early do I need to make my purchases in order to receive them on time. October?

Yes, you go to the nearest hardware/home improvement store and purchase a mail box and post. Dig a hole, set the post, attach the mailbox and you are good to go. That's the same as anywhere.

Not if the USPS doesn't have a route in your neighborhood. Very few areas outside of the major roads/towns have to-the-door mail service.

I was told, at the Richmond PO, that I could purchase a box (the multiple kind, because we have apartments) and have it installed, but it was totally up to the mail carrier if we could be added to the route.

I found that really odd....they let one person (employee or contract labor) decide if I can get mail delivery.

I was not talking about an actual "stateside" mailbox outside your home. All over the island, there are little clusters of post office boxes on the side of the road. You pull over, open your box, and get you mail and drive off. Mine is part of a little cluster just north of Frederiksted. Its address is 2xx Prosperity, Frederiksted, 00840. They are all over the place, many estates have them. You go to the post office closest to where you live, ask if they have any "side of the road" boxes, and they'll let you know. I requested one in Prosperity and they happened to have one available at the time. I've never seem them stateside--maybe its an island thing?

we do not get home delivery, we use the post office. a p o box

I live in a condo complex and we get delivery to a box outside the gate.
If packages are too big to fit in the mailboxes they deliver the packages to the main office.
UPS and Fedex never make it before the office closes, so they either drop packages to my work (The UPS driver knowing my name/where i work is a perk of living in a "small town")
or they call me and I meet the delivery truck.

We have friends that moved first to the east side of STX, then moved to north shore, their PO box is still East and it stinks 'cause they have to go 30 min out of their way to get their mail.