You moved abroad. Maybe it was Lisbon, Chiang Mai, or Buenos Aires. But your US bank still texts that old number. Your brokerage sends 2FA codes to it. Half your accounts use it to recover your password. Losing that number isn’t just inconvenient: it can lock you out of critical accounts.
Here’s how to keep your US phone number working while living outside the country, and what breaks with each option.
A quick note, since we make a calling app: NomaPhone doesn’t give you a phone number and doesn’t receive calls or texts, so it isn’t one of the options below. It makes outgoing calls from your browser, which helps with the other half of the problem, covered further down.
Why Your US Number Matters More Than You Think
A US number is often tied to:
- Bank and brokerage 2FA: one-time codes sent by SMS to verify sign-ins, transfers and new devices
- Account recovery: email, Apple, Google and payment accounts often use it to reset your password
- Government and tax logins: services such as ID.me and Login.gov, used for IRS and Social Security online accounts, can use your phone for verification
- Contacts back home: family, clients and doctors who already have the number
If the number goes dead, recovering accounts that rely on it can take days or weeks of support calls.
The Problem with Traditional Roaming
Keeping your existing plan active abroad sounds simple. It’s expensive.
The big US carriers typically charge a daily international pass on days you use the line abroad, and full international plans cost far more than a line you mostly use to receive texts. Prices change, so check your carrier’s current rates.
There’s also a long-term catch: carriers’ terms generally let them limit or end roaming if most of your usage is abroad over an extended period. A plan built for vacations isn’t built for living overseas.
Paying a full monthly plan just to hold a number is a tax on being an expat.
Your Options for Keeping a US Number Abroad
Option 1: Move Your Number to a Cheap Prepaid Plan
For most expats this is the safest choice. You port your number to a low-cost prepaid plan from an MVNO (Tello, US Mobile, Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile, Red Pocket and others) and keep it on the cheapest tier that includes texting. Check current pricing; it changes often.
Why it works: the number stays a real mobile number, so banks keep sending codes to it. Put the line on an eSIM in your phone, turn on Wi-Fi calling, and texts and calls reach you over Wi-Fi without roaming, on carriers and phones that support it.
Watch out for: auto-renew (a lapsed prepaid line can release your number), each plan’s roaming terms, and whether Wi-Fi calling works with your phone model.
Option 2: Port Your Number to Google Voice
Google Voice can take over your existing mobile number for a one-time porting fee (check current pricing). Calls and texts then arrive in the Google Voice app over the internet, anywhere.
The caveats matter:
- You need a Google Voice account first, and signing up requires a US number and generally being in the US. Do it before you leave.
- Porting ends your carrier service, and the number becomes a VoIP number.
- Many banks reject VoIP numbers for 2FA, and short-code texts often don’t reach Google Voice. Accounts that worked with your old number may stop sending codes.
- Inactivity: Google can reclaim numbers that go unused for an extended period.
Good for keeping the number reachable for people; risky as your only number for banking. More in why Google Voice stops working abroad.
Option 3: Park Your Number with a Parking Service
Number parking means porting your number to a service whose job is just to hold it, such as NumberBarn, for a small monthly fee. Depending on the plan, calls can go to voicemail or be forwarded, and some plans forward texts to email.
Parking is the cheapest way to make sure the number isn’t lost. But like Google Voice, a parked number usually shows up as non-mobile or VoIP in carrier lookups, so bank 2FA may stop working. Park once your critical accounts no longer depend on SMS to that number.
Option 4: Keep Your Current Carrier, Scaled Down
Ask your carrier about a cheaper plan, a prepaid plan from the same carrier, or a temporary suspension. Some carriers let you suspend a line for a limited period while keeping the number. Ask exactly what happens to the number and to texts during a suspension.
Option 5: Start Fresh with a New Virtual Number
If your old number is already gone, an app-based US virtual number takes minutes to set up. It’s a VoIP number with the same bank limitations, and you’ll need to update it everywhere.
How to Port Without Losing the Number
- Don’t cancel your current plan first. Canceling before porting can release the number permanently.
- Get your account number and port-out PIN from your current carrier.
- Start the port from the new provider. It often completes within hours to a few business days.
- Confirm calls and texts work on the new provider before you touch the old account.
- Port while you’re still in the US if you can, so activation texts and support calls are easy.
Which Option Should You Pick?
| Option | Banks treat it as mobile? | Ongoing cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap prepaid plan | Usually yes | Low monthly fee | Missed refills |
| Google Voice | Often no | Free after porting fee | VoIP rejection, inactivity |
| Number parking | Often no | Small monthly fee | VoIP rejection |
| Current carrier, scaled down | Yes | Higher | Roaming limits |
| New virtual number | Often no | Varies | New number everywhere |
A Common Setup: Two Numbers
Many long-term expats don’t pick just one. They keep the original number on a cheap prepaid plan for banks, brokerages and government logins, and use a separate Google Voice or app-based number for everything else: friends, job applications, shopping and sign-ups. The real mobile number stays reserved for accounts that insist on it, and the free number takes the everyday traffic. If you go this way, keep a simple list of which accounts use which number.
Making Calls Back to the US Without a Phone Plan
Keeping a number lets people reach you. Calling US numbers from abroad is a separate problem.
NomaPhone lets you call US and international numbers directly from your browser, with no app to install, no account and no monthly commitment. You buy prepaid credit, open the page, enter a number and call. US numbers, including toll-free 800, 888 and 877 lines, cost $0.03/min, billed per second.
This matters in specific situations:
- Calling your bank’s 1-800 number from a café in Tokyo, when a code won’t arrive and you need to verify your identity or change your 2FA method
- Reaching a US government agency or airline whose toll-free line doesn’t connect from foreign phone networks
- Calling a US client’s desk phone without paying roaming rates
NomaPhone calls don’t show your US number as caller ID, and you can’t receive calls back on NomaPhone. You pay only when you call. For details on toll-free lines, see how to call US toll-free numbers from anywhere and our guide to calling banks from abroad.
Handling SMS 2FA When You’re Abroad
You log into your bank from Lisbon and it sends a code to a US number that’s in a drawer, switched off, or gone.
What works:
- Real mobile number plus Wi-Fi calling: keep the US line on a prepaid plan, in your phone’s eSIM slot, with data roaming off and Wi-Fi calling on. Use a local SIM or travel eSIM for data.
- Authenticator apps, passkeys and in-app approval: switch every account that allows it before you leave, and save the backup codes.
- Foreign number as a backup: some services accept a non-US number. Many US banks don’t.
What breaks: once your number moves to Google Voice, a parking service or another VoIP provider, many banks and payment apps stop sending codes to it. Move those accounts to an app-based method first, then switch the number.
More detail: how to receive verification codes from abroad, will 2FA work with a foreign SIM, and receiving SMS OTPs without roaming.
What to Do Before You Leave
If you’re still in the US and planning a move abroad, handle this before you get on the plane:
- Audit which accounts use your US number for 2FA and recovery
- Switch accounts to authenticator apps, passkeys or in-app approval where possible
- Choose your option (prepaid, Google Voice or parking) and port before canceling anything
- Turn on Wi-Fi calling and test receiving a code with airplane mode on and Wi-Fi connected
- Lock your carrier account against port-outs and SIM swaps
- Save your bank’s and carrier’s phone numbers, and set up a way to call US toll-free lines from abroad
- Tell important contacts if your number is changing, and leave a voicemail greeting on the old line that points to the new one
- Keep a second way to verify for every critical account (an authenticator app, backup codes or a second number), so one outage doesn’t lock you out
In your first week abroad, test again from your new location: request a code from each critical account and make sure it arrives. Settings that worked at home don’t always work on a foreign network.
Two more things to plan for. Your new country may expect a local number for residence paperwork, a local bank account, deliveries and apps, so get a local SIM for local life and keep the US number for US services. And if you’ll be back in the US for long stretches several times a year, a regular plan from a US carrier may end up cheaper than juggling day passes; do the math for your own travel pattern.
If you’re already abroad and your number is gone, contact your former carrier immediately. A recently canceled number can sometimes be recovered.
The Bottom Line
Keeping a US phone number while living abroad isn’t complicated, but it takes deliberate action. A cheap prepaid plan with Wi-Fi calling keeps a real mobile number your bank will accept. Google Voice and number parking cost less but can break SMS 2FA. Move your accounts to app-based verification first, then pick the cheapest option that still works for you.
For the calls you need to make back home, make a call with NomaPhone from your browser.