How to Keep Your US Phone Number When Moving Abroad

To keep your US phone number when you move abroad, you have four realistic choices: keep it on a cheap US carrier plan and use WiFi calling, port it to Google Voice, park or port it with a number-parking or VoIP service, or let it go and get a new US number for calls. The right one depends on a single question: do you need that number to receive bank and security text codes? If yes, a real carrier line is the safest choice. If you mostly need US calls, the cheaper options work well.

Do the setup before you leave. Several of these routes require you to be in the US, or to still have an active carrier account, when you start.

Start with what the number actually has to do

Write down every job your US number does today. Most people find it falls into three groups:

• Security codes. Your bank, credit cards, brokerage, payroll, healthcare portal and government logins text a code to this number.
• People who call you. Family, old colleagues, doctors' offices, your landlord, anyone who has had the number for years.
• Calls you make to the US. Banks, insurers, the IRS, customer service lines and friends.

Security codes are the hard part. Calls are easy and cheap to solve from anywhere. Keep that split in mind as you read the options below.

Option 1: Keep a carrier line on the cheapest plan you can find

Move your number to a low-cost prepaid plan (or downgrade your current plan), put it on an eSIM or a second SIM in a dual-SIM phone, and turn on WiFi calling. When you are on WiFi abroad, calls and texts to and from US numbers usually go over the internet to your carrier as if you were in the US.

Why people pick it: it is still a normal mobile number on a US network, which is what banks and many apps expect when they send verification texts.

The catches:

• You keep paying a monthly bill, and you need a phone that can hold two lines if you also want a local SIM.
• Many plans are written for people who live in the US. Read the terms on long periods abroad before you rely on one, because some carriers limit or end service when a line is mostly used outside the country.
• Some carriers want WiFi calling switched on, and an emergency address registered, while you are still in the US. Do both before you leave.
• Calls to non-US numbers over WiFi calling are billed at your carrier's international rates. We explain that trap in our guide to whether WiFi calling is free internationally.

Option 2: Port your number to Google Voice

Google Voice lets you move ("port") a US mobile number into it, after which the number works in the Google Voice app and in a web browser over any internet connection. According to Google's port-in help page, as of October 2026:

• Porting a mobile number costs a one-time $20 fee.
• You can only port an active US mobile number, and US users must make the port request from within the US.
• You need the account number and PIN from your current carrier.
• Keep your phone plan active until Google Voice confirms the port is complete. Your carrier ends service on that line once the port goes through, so check with it first if the number is part of a family plan.

The catches:

• Google Voice for personal accounts is a US service. Google's App Store listing says it "only works for personal Google Accounts in the US", so set it up before you go.
• Google can reclaim a number if you do not place calls or send texts with it for three months. Make a call or send a text every few weeks.
• Some banks and services refuse to send verification codes to Google Voice numbers. Test each one that matters before you leave.
• Google's calling rates page says almost all calls to the US and Canada are free "when you're calling from the US". It does not promise the same once you live abroad, so check the rate the app shows before relying on it.

Option 3: Park or port it with a VoIP or number-parking service

If you only want to stop the number being recycled, you can port it to a service that holds numbers. NumberBarn, for example, lists Number Parking at $2.99 a month and a Call Forwarding plan at $6.99 a month with 600 minutes, as of October 2026, on its pricing page. Text forwarding is a $1 a month add-on there, and it works through NumberBarn's app only.

Full VoIP providers (the kind sold to small businesses) will also take a ported US number and let you use it in an app or desk phone anywhere with internet.

The catches:

• Parking alone usually means the number is held, not used. Calls and texts may not reach you without a paid add-on.
• Verification texts to VoIP numbers are hit and miss. Some services block them outright.
• Moving the number out again later works, but each provider has its own process and fees. Ask before you port in.

Option 4: Let the old number go and get a new US number for calls

If your banks will accept an email or an authenticator app, and the people who call you can be told about a new number, you can cancel your US line and get a US virtual number that works over the internet. Incoming calls reach you wherever you are, and you can show the number as your caller ID when you call the US.

This is the cleanest option for calls. It is the weakest option for security codes, because it is a new number and many virtual numbers cannot receive verification texts at all. We cover how to choose a provider and an area code in our guide to getting a US virtual phone number.

The four options side by side

	Carrier line on a cheap plan	Google Voice port	Parking or VoIP service	New US virtual number
Keeps your existing number	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
One-off cost	Possibly a SIM or eSIM fee	$20 port fee	Varies by provider	None to port
Ongoing cost	Monthly plan	No monthly fee, per-minute rates for some calls	From $2.99 a month at NumberBarn	Monthly number fee
Bank text codes	Most reliable	Some banks refuse	Hit and miss	Often not supported
Must set up in the US	Strongly advised	Yes	Before you cancel the old line	No
Main risk	Plan terms on long stays abroad	Reclaimed after 3 months of no use	Parking may not ring through	People still call the old number

Prices are as of October 2026 and change often. Check each provider's own site before you commit.

Sort out banks and two-factor codes before you fly

Losing access to bank codes is the most common problem people hit after moving. A short checklist avoids it:

1. List every account that texts you a code. Banks, cards, brokerage, PayPal, email, tax and benefits portals.
2. Switch to an authenticator app or passkey wherever it is offered. These work anywhere and do not depend on any phone number.
3. Test text delivery to your chosen setup while you are still in the US. If you are porting to Google Voice or a VoIP service, do this after the port and before you cancel anything else.
4. Update your address and phone details with each bank so the account is not flagged when you log in from abroad.
5. Save each bank's international phone number. Toll-free 1-800 numbers often cannot be dialed from outside the US, so look for the "calling from outside the US" number on your card or the bank's contact page.

One clear line on BoraPhone here: its phone numbers are for voice calls and caller ID only. They do not receive text messages, so do not plan to move bank codes onto one.

Calling US banks and the IRS from abroad

Whatever you do with your number, you will still need to call US organizations. Two things trip people up.

Toll-free numbers. Many 800, 888 and 877 numbers do not accept calls from outside the US, or only accept them from certain networks. Use the international number the organization publishes. Our guide to calling your bank from abroad when your card is blocked lists what to dial for the big US banks.

The IRS. The IRS International Taxpayer Service Call Center is 267-941-1000 (not toll-free), open Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time, according to the IRS international contact page. From abroad, dial your country's exit code, then 1 267 941 1000, or +1 267 941 1000 from a mobile. More detail is in our guide to the IRS international phone number.

To place those calls cheaply, BoraPhone calls real US numbers from a web browser, with no app or SIM. Calls to the US start from $0.04 a minute at the time of writing (October 2026), and the dialer shows the exact rate for the number before you call. A 15-minute call to the IRS at that rate is $0.60. Billing is per minute, rounded up, from a $5 minimum top-up, failed calls are refunded and your first call is free. If you kept your old number and can still answer calls on it, you can verify it in BoraPhone (it calls the number and you type in the code shown on screen) and show it as caller ID, so your bank sees the number it has on file. If you went with Option 4, BoraPhone also sells US numbers that ring in your browser tab, with the monthly price shown on the pricing page before you buy.

Your pre-departure timeline

When	What to do
4 to 6 weeks before	Decide which option fits. Make sure your phone accepts SIMs from any carrier and supports eSIM or dual SIM.
3 to 4 weeks before	Start the port (Google Voice or VoIP) or switch to the cheaper carrier plan. Keep the old plan active until the move is confirmed.
2 weeks before	Turn on WiFi calling and register an emergency address. Move as many logins as possible to an authenticator app.
1 week before	Test a bank code, an incoming call and an outgoing call on the new setup. Save international numbers for your banks, insurer and the IRS.
After you land	Make a call from the number in the first month, then regularly, so it is not flagged as inactive.

If the move is for a new job, use the same weeks for the rest of the paperwork. In some countries a CV is expected to carry a photo: in Norway, for example, Smil makes CV and LinkedIn portraits from a few selfies (the site is in Norwegian).

Frequently asked questions

How do I keep my number when overseas?

Keep it active on a low-cost US carrier plan with WiFi calling, or port it to Google Voice or a VoIP service before you leave. A carrier line is the most reliable for bank text codes, while Google Voice and VoIP services are cheaper but not accepted by every bank. Whatever you choose, start the process while you are still in the US and keep your old plan active until the move is confirmed.

Can I port my number to Google Voice after I have moved abroad?

Google's help page says US users must make port requests from within the US, and the number must be an active US mobile number. In practice that means porting from abroad is not supported. If you have already left, a parking or VoIP service may still accept the port, so check their requirements directly.

Do I get charged for calling a US number that is abroad?

The person calling you pays for a normal US call, because they are dialing a US number. What you pay depends on your setup: with WiFi calling, Google Voice or a VoIP app, incoming calls usually reach you over the internet at no extra roaming cost. If your phone is roaming on a foreign mobile network instead, your carrier may charge you for incoming calls, so check its roaming rates.

Will my bank send codes to a Google Voice number?

Some will and some will not, and the policy can change without notice. Test each bank before you cancel your carrier line, and switch to an authenticator app or passkey where the bank offers one. If a bank refuses internet numbers, keeping a cheap carrier line is the dependable fallback.