As the holidays draw closer, the time to mail presents to relatives and friends dwindles down.

Debra Fetterly, spokes-person for the USPS, said they offer guidelines for those who are “dropping holiday wishes in the mail.”

“Cust-omers who use the U.S. Postal Service as their ‘official shipper of the holidays’ can trust that (we) will provide reliable, trusted and secure delivery at home or abroad,” she said. “Postmarking for domestic mail – mailed from and delivered within the U.S. – and international mail destined for overseas should occur by (specific dates).”

First-Class mail should be mailed by Dec. 20; priority mail by Dec. 21; Express mail by Dec. 22; parcel post by Dec. 15; DNDC drop ship by Dec. 19 and DDU drop ship by Dec. 22.

Fetterly reminded customers to take into consideration that the cutoff dates do not take into account time needed for customs clearance. People should allocate extra transit days for delivery outside major cities, she said.

The last day to ship to Afghanistan is Dec. 19, and to Iraq is Dec. 16.

For more information on international shipping, contact your local post office.