How to Keep Your Home Phone Number When You Move Abroad

Key takeaways

• You can keep your phone number when moving abroad, but only with a provider in your home country. A carrier in your new country can't take it over.
• There are two carrier routes: keep your line on the cheapest plan that works abroad, or move the number to a low-cost provider at home before you leave.
• Keep the home number for banks, government services and account recovery. Those are the accounts that are hardest to change later.
• For new sign-ups and calls, add a second number instead of handing out the old one. 2Phon gives you a new, real mobile number for verification codes and calls on iPhone. It doesn't send texts, and it doesn't replace your carrier line.

You can keep your phone number when moving abroad, as long as it stays active with a provider in your home country. In practice that means one of two things: keep your current line on a cheaper plan, or move the number to a low-cost provider at home before you leave. What you can't do is hand the number to a carrier in your new country.

Most people who move end up with two or three numbers, each with one job. The old home number keeps bank codes and old accounts working. A local SIM in the new country handles data and daily life. Then a second number takes the new sign-ups and calls you'd rather keep off both. That last part is where 2Phon fits: it's an iPhone app that gives you a new, real second phone number from dozens of countries, for receiving verification codes and making and receiving real calls.

This guide covers what your home number is still needed for, the carrier options, the iPhone settings, and a checklist to run before you leave. New to the idea of a second line? Start with what a second phone number is.

Can you keep your phone number when moving abroad?

Yes, but the number can't move with you to a foreign carrier. A phone number belongs to one country's numbering system. Moving it between providers, which carriers call porting, works inside that country only.

The rules are written that way. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) explains in its guide to porting that you can keep your existing number when you switch providers and stay in the same geographic area. The same guide warns that if you move to a new geographic area, you may not be able to keep your number when you change providers.

So your choices are all at home:

• Stay with your current carrier, usually on a cheaper plan.
• Move the number to another provider in the same country that costs less to keep.
• Let the number go and update every account that uses it. This is the risky one, and the next section explains why.

What do you still need your home number for?

Mostly for verification codes from accounts that are hard to change. Calls matter too, but codes are what lock people out.

The top three rows are the reason to keep the number. If you give it up, a carrier can later hand the same number to someone else, and codes for your old accounts would go to that person's phone.

Option 1: Keep your line on the cheapest plan that works abroad

This is the simplest route, and the safest one for banking. The number stays on a normal carrier line, exactly as your bank knows it.

Before you move, ask your carrier four questions:

• What is the cheapest plan that keeps this number? Some carriers have a low-use or prepaid plan that costs less than a full contract.
• Does the line receive texts and calls while roaming where I'm going, and what does that cost? Carriers set their own roaming prices. Receiving a code may be included or may be charged.
• Are there limits on long-term roaming? Roaming is designed for trips. Some carriers restrict or charge extra for lines that spend most of their time abroad.
• What keeps the line active? Prepaid numbers can be deactivated after a period with no top-up, call or data use. The period differs by carrier. Our UK number guide shows one network's published rule as an example.

Two things make this option easier on an iPhone:

• Wi-Fi Calling. If your carrier supports it, your home line can take calls over Wi-Fi when there's no home network. Whether it works abroad, and how calls are billed, is up to the carrier.
• eSIM. An eSIM is a digital SIM built into the phone. Apple's eSIM setup guide says: "If your carrier supports it, you can convert your physical SIM to an eSIM on the same iPhone" (page dated October 22, 2026). That frees the SIM tray for a local SIM in your new country.

Option 2: Move the number to a low-cost provider before you leave

If your current plan is expensive, you can port the number to a cheaper provider in the same country. The number stays the same. Only the company behind it changes.

Do this while you're still at home. Porting usually needs your old account details, and often a code sent to the SIM itself.

• In the US, the FCC's porting guide advises keeping your current service active until the new one has started, and checking your contract for early termination fees first. Cancel first and you can lose the number.
• In the UK, Ofcom's guide to switching mobile provider says you text PAC to 65075 to get a switching code that lets you keep your number. The code is valid for 30 days, and the new provider must complete the switch within one working day.
• Elsewhere, the national telecom regulator's website describes the process. The idea is the same: start the transfer with the new provider, and don't cancel the old line yourself.

What about internet-based number services?

Some services hold your number without a mobile plan and deliver calls and texts over the internet. Google Voice is the best-known example in the US. Its help page on porting says Google Voice charges a $20 fee to port in a mobile number, that not all mobile numbers can be ported, and that US users can only port an active US mobile number. It also says: "After the port is complete, your service provider cancels your phone service" (checked November 11, 2026). If you live elsewhere, see these Google Voice alternatives outside the US.

Think about one trade-off before you go this way. Once a number leaves a mobile network for an internet-based service, it's no longer a carrier mobile line. Each bank and app decides which kinds of number it sends codes to, and some are stricter than others. Read virtual vs real phone numbers for how the two differ, and ask your bank before you move the number it relies on.

How to run a home line and a local line on one iPhone

Dual SIM lets both numbers stay active on the same phone. Apple's Dual SIM guide lists the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR and later, and says Dual SIM lets you "have two active phone numbers or SIMs to make and receive calls and text messages" (page dated October 22, 2026).

1. Put your home number on an eSIM, if your carrier allows it

   Ask your home carrier to convert the line before you leave. It's much harder to sort out from another country.

2. Add the local line when you arrive

   Use a physical SIM or a second eSIM from a carrier in your new country. Check first that your iPhone is unlocked in Settings → General → About.

3. Make the local line your data line

   Go to Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data and select the local line. Apple notes that "your iPhone can use one cellular data network at a time."

4. Turn off Data Roaming on the home line

   In Settings → Cellular, tap the home line and turn off Data Roaming. The line can still receive calls and code texts, but it won't use data on your home plan.

5. Turn on Wi-Fi Calling for the home line

   In Settings → Cellular, tap the home line, then Wi-Fi Calling. If you don't see the option, your carrier may not offer it.

For more on the settings, see how two numbers work on one iPhone.

Where does a second number fit after you move?

A second number takes the new sign-ups and calls, so your home number can stay quiet. After a move, the home number has one job: keeping old accounts alive. Every new app you register with it is one more account tied to a line you're paying to keep from another country.

A second number is useful in two directions:

• Back home. A number from your home country for new sign-ups with services there, and for calling people who'd rather dial a familiar country code.
• In your new country. A number to give to apps, booking sites and strangers while you're still settling in.

What 2Phon does, and what it doesn't

2Phon gives you a new number. It doesn't take over the number you already have, so think of it as an addition to your carrier line, not a replacement for it.

• Real mobile numbers, not VoIP. They work with WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and all the popular apps that verify by phone.
• Verification codes. A code shows up in the app with a push notification, usually within seconds. If a service offers a code by voice call, pick "Call me instead" and answer on your 2Phon number. More in how to receive verification codes safely.
• Real calls, at home or abroad. People you call see your 2Phon number, not your personal one. Calls use minutes in the app, and current options are shown there.
• Dozens of countries. The coverage list shows a sample, and the app shows what's available today. Your account has one number, so pick the country that fits most of your sign-ups and calls.

The limits are just as important. 2Phon is iPhone only, and it doesn't send texts. The number is yours while your subscription is active. If the subscription ends, the number may be released and later given to someone else. For banking and account recovery, use a number you'll keep for years, which for most people is the home carrier line.

Get 2Phon on the App Store to set up a second number for sign-ups and calls. Start with a free trial; current plans are shown in the app.

If you'll keep moving between countries, see the digital nomad phone number setup. If you decide to let the old number go after all, read what happens to your old phone number when you change it first.

Ways to keep a home number compared

Each option suits a different job. Many people combine the first or second with the last.

Checklist before you move

Most of this is quick at home and slow from another country. Start a few weeks before you leave.

What can go wrong (and how to fix it)

Most problems show up in the first few months, and most have a simple fix.

• A bank code doesn't arrive. Check that the home line is turned on and connected, and that your carrier allows roaming where you live. Then try the bank's app or phone line. More fixes are in why verification codes don't arrive.
• The home line stops working. Contact the carrier straight away. Ask whether the number can be restored. Each carrier sets its own rules for how long a closed number is held before it's reused.
• Roaming charges appear. Check that Cellular Data points to your local line and that Data Roaming is off on the home line.
• A service won't accept your new local number. Some home-country services only take numbers from their own country. That's the case for keeping the home line.
• Someone asks you to read out a code. Don't. A move means lots of account changes, and that's when a verification code scam is easiest to fall for.

The bottom line

You can keep your home phone number after a move, but it has to live with a provider at home. Keep the current line on a cheap plan, or port it to a low-cost provider before you leave, and use it for banks and account recovery. Give the new sign-ups and calls to a second number so the home line has less to carry.

For a wider look at lines, data and calls outside your home country, see how to set up a phone number for travel.