One of the big questions I had before moving to the United Kingdom was, “dude, what happens to my American cell phone number?” To find answers to this question, I asked the venerable folks over at T-Mobile (my American mobile network provider) if there were any products or services for people like me looking to move to Europe.

Unsurprisingly, the answer was no. International movement is still something that’s pretty rare in the grand scheme of things. To the credit of the lady I was chatting with on the support line, she agreed with me that it was a bit silly that T-Mobile (and I assume the other American providers) didn’t have a service for “parking” your phone number while living overseas.

The problem is that once you stop your mobile phone service, your number gets released into the wild, forever out of your control and beyond your retrieval – it’ll simply be assigned to a new customer at some point in the future. That is, unless you’re willing to keep paying your expensive phone bill. Even then, I was told by the T-Mobile rep that their network analysis would eventually catch on to the fact you’re living in Europe full time and you’d be required to upgrade to a very expensive global plan or terminate your service.

Naturally as well, a lot of folks have become attached to their mobile phone number over the years – I’ve had mine since 2003 and I’m quite sentimental about it. There’s also the fact that your entire network of friends, family, business contacts, etc. all have your current mobile number saved in their digital rolodex. Not to mention all the 2-factor authentication you should be using on all sorts of services you will want to continue to access.

So, what to do? Luckily, there’s a solution.

Now, a word of caution before we continue, this method should only be used if you are moving overseas to live on a long-term basis. Think “you need a residency visa” levels of being overseas. Traveling, even for extended periods of time, should not require this technique. In this modern age, most American cell phone plans have cheap international options for traveling and you should absolutely use those over what I’m about to describe for you. I was able to continue using my cell phone on my T-Mobile plan while on short term visits to the UK between 2015 and 2019 without any extra fees or charges, for example.

What we’re looking for here is a way to have both a European cell phone and keep your American number at the same time. I’ll be discussing this method in the context of the UK and Europe, but I suspect this will work anywhere in the world – so read on expats, wherever you may be off to.

Say Hello to Google Voice

Google Voice is something I’d been using for a few years before moving to the UK. It’s really handy if you need a functional US phone number for handing out to people you don’t want knowing your “real” number. A burner number, if you will, as you can simply delete that number if you ever need to. I used my old virtual Google Voice number as a “business” line to deal with people I didn’t want calling my “real” number. It worked remarkably well for that, was easy as heck to use (it’s just the Google Voice app used over your mobile data network) and best of all – it’s free.

Those “free” and “over data” properties are going to come in handy for us intrepid nomads.

One of the little-known features of Google Voice is that it isn’t just for generating new US phone numbers, you can also port your phone number to Google Voice for a one-time $20.00 fee. This is huge – this will allow us to “park” and even use our US phone number without paying any monthly fees. No contract, no charges, nothing.

But, in order to utilise a data network in Europe, you need a provider – that’s the next part of our plan.

First Step – Identify a Mobile Network Provider Before You Move

I highly recommend setting this in motion just before you actually move to your destination. I found it to be a lot more difficult to handle all the moving parts while I was already in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, COVID-19 put a spanner in my plans and I had to move to the UK on very short notice. Hopefully you’ll have a lot more time and heads up!

You’ll want to research providers before setting off on your new expat life. I went with giffgaff here in the UK on the recommendation of some of my British friends. My fiancée was already a giffgaff customer too. I think these guys are brilliant – cheap, straightforward, and super easy to set up. What’s really great about them is that you can order a SIM card delivered to your door in America so that you have it before you even arrive in the UK. I would suspect other providers don’t go above and beyond like this. With giffgaff it’s as simple as filling out a short form on their website. As a note, giffgaff is UK only.

giffgaff have pay as you go plans or monthly recurring data bundles they call “goodybags” that are pretty great value – no contract, cancel at any time. I currently have the £8 3 GB monthly top up and it’s more than enough for my usage. Yes, you read that right my fellow Americans – I have a full mobile phone plan that’s only about 10 bucks a month. It’s awesome.

Second Step – Begin to Port Your Phone to Google Voice

Either the day before or the day you’re set to depart on your move, you’ll place your order to port your phone number from your current carrier to Google Voice after paying the $20.00 fee by card. WARNING – submitting this request to Google will terminate your mobile phone plan with your current provider and you will be liable for any early termination penalties if they apply to your plan. Luckily, if you’re like me and you used T-Mobile, there’s no contract so nothing to worry about. If you need copies of any past bills or other information contained within your mobile phone account, download those now – there’s no guarantee you’ll have access to them once your plan is terminated (I didn’t with T-Mobile).

It takes about 24 to 72 hours for your phone number to be successfully ported and linked to your Google account, assuming you already had one. If you don’t have a Google account already, simply create a Gmail account to set that up. My mobile phone number was ported and available in Google Voice within less than 24 hours, but your miles may vary.

Porting your number before you leave allows you the opportunity to contact your American provider’s support number easily if you need to while still in America. You’ll need to assume your phone will stop working as soon as you proceed with porting to Google, so be prepared to access everything you need over wi-fi at home and while you travel as you won’t have a working SIM card until you arrive at your destination.

Third Step – Set Up Your European Phone and Start Using Both of Your Numbers!

Once you arrive at your new home after clearing customs, grabbing whatever bags you had on the plane, and taking whatever form of transportation you prefer – grab that envelope from giffgaff and plug that SIM card into your smart phone! A word of advice though – make sure you confirm your smart phone is unlocked. Luckily, these days most smart phones come either already unlocked or are easily unlocked – however, if you need to order one, you can find good brand name ones on Amazon for less than $175. Further, you used to have to worry about network and SIM card compatibility issues (European providers often operate in the GSM frequency, for example, while America is mostly CDMA and GSM) – but since we live in the future and technology is constantly advancing, you don’t generally have to worry about this. Your phone will probably automagically configure things when you pop in a SIM card that operates on a different network band than the previous one that was in. You kids don’t know how good you have it, I struggled with that so hard back in 2010 when I lived in Budapest, Hungary.

Follow the instructions giffgaff sent to you to get your phone connected to their network, and voila! You’re all set! Assuming your American number has finished porting, you now have a UK phone number AND your old US number on the same mobile phone! Best of all, since Google Voice is a cloud service, your American number is tied to your Google account and not to a physical SIM card.

Using your American Phone Number through Google Voice

Previously, this solution didn’t allow for full use of your American number as outbound calls from your US number to other US numbers weren’t possible. However, sometime in 2021 this changed – I now have the ability to dial out to US numbers using the Google Voice app in addition to the SMS and inbound call support that existed. So not only do you get to keep your US phone number for essentially a one-time $20 charge, you also get to continue fully using it to call US numbers! I haven’t tried Canada yet, but I assume it works for any +1 country code number. I’ll update here if I ever get the chance to try it out.

Here’s what you can do using Google Voice over European data:

• You can send and receive SMS messages to and from your American mobile phone number through the Google Voice app.
• You can receive incoming phone calls from people who dial your American mobile phone number.
• You can receive inbound 2-factor authentication codes either by voice or SMS.
• You can use your American number to continue to use, or sign up for, American services and companies.
• People can leave you a voice message when you don’t answer these calls, which you can check in the Google Voice app.
• You can dial out using your American phone number to other American phone numbers, as of 2021!

Personally, as I don’t trust Google’s data mining that comes paired with its “free” services, I use Signal for making and receiving calls to people I know in the US – it’s easy, secure since it’s peer to peer encrypted over data, and free. You just need to make sure the people you want to call and talk to (friends and family) have Signal too.

For everything else, just be sure to let people know that they can still call or text your old American phone number while you’re living overseas!

That’s It! Here’s a Short Action List to Recap

• Step 1 – Identify a UK mobile phone provider, I recommend giffgaff for the simplicity and inexpensiveness. Order a SIM card delivered to either your US address before you leave or your UK address so it’s there when you arrive.
• Step 2 – Ensure your mobile phone is unlocked. This step is necessary. If your phone is incapable of being unlocked, you will need to purchase a new one that is. Ask your current mobile network provider for help with this. T-Mobile was very helpful and my phone actually had a pre-installed app that let me unlock my phone with a single click.
• Step 3 – Install Google Voice on your mobile phone. Create a Google account if you haven’t done so already (setting up a Gmail account is easiest).
• Step 4 – The day before or day of your travel, port your mobile number over to Google Voice. This takes about 24-72 hours, but your miles may vary. WARNING – doing this will immediately terminate your current cell phone plan, be sure you want to do so and be aware of any early termination requirements from your American mobile network provider.
• Step 5 – When you arrive in the UK, pop in your SIM and set up your UK mobile phone number and service with giffgaff.
• Step 6 – You’ll be sent an email once your number is ready in Google Voice. Now you can use your American phone number again!

This article contains promotional links for giffgaff’s services and Amazon products that compensate Scott if you sign up for a plan or make a purchase. I’ve not been contacted or solicited by giffgaff to promote their services; I’m just a big fan of their company and product – and I’m a daily user. Thank you for your support, it helps me pay the bills! As thanks, you’ll receive a £5 credit if you sign up using the above link.