SMS codes not arriving abroad? How to fix it
Codes go to your home number, so keep that line on next to your travel eSIM; data roaming can stay off. If they still don't arrive, it is usually your carrier (roaming never opened, or no VoLTE roaming where 3G is gone) or the sender, as some banks only text domestic numbers. Set up app approval before you fly.
Contents
- The setting that makes codes arrive in the first place
- Your line was never opened for use abroad
- Japan, the US and Australia: where 3G is gone
- Some codes are only ever sent to your home country
- Wi-Fi Calling can rescue your codes, and cost you money
- WhatsApp, Google and your bank without a text message
- Before you fly: a five-minute code check
A travel eSIM carries your data. It has no phone number of its own, so it never receives a text. Every one-time code from your bank, WhatsApp or Google goes to the number on your home SIM, exactly as it does at home, and that line has to be able to receive it while you are abroad.
Most of the time it can, with no cost and no setting beyond leaving the line on. When codes stop arriving, it is almost never the eSIM. It is one of five things: a setting, your carrier, the local network, the sender, or the service deciding your new location looks suspicious. Here is how to tell which one, and what fixes each.
The setting that makes codes arrive in the first place
On a phone with two lines, the home line has to stay on. Apple's guide to travelling with an eSIM explains what keeping both lines on does.
If you choose to keep both lines on, the capabilities on your primary line will continue to work.
On iPhone, check Settings > Cellular (Mobile Service in the UK and Europe), tap your home number and make sure Turn On This Line is enabled. On a Pixel the SIM settings are under Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, and on a Samsung under Settings > Connections > SIM card manager. Our guide to dual SIM line settings covers the rest.
What you can switch off is the home line's data roaming. That does NOT block texts. AT&T confirms you can still make and receive calls and texts with data roaming off. Keeping it off stops the daily fee that background data would trigger. On plans like Verizon TravelPass or Telstra's Day Pass, making or answering a call or sending a text still starts the daily charge, but receiving a text does not.
Receiving a text abroad is free in most places. Inside the EU, EEA, Moldova and Ukraine, EU rules mean you are never charged to receive calls or texts. AT&T, Telstra and Turkcell all say received texts don't cost anything or trigger a day pass. One exception: Verizon's pay-as-you-go rates charge $0.05 for each text received.
Your line was never opened for use abroad
Some carriers block roaming until you ask, and a blocked line can miss texts as well as calls. If your codes have never arrived on a trip, start here.
- Turkcell: your line has to be opened for use abroad. Postpaid customers text ROAM to 2200, prepaid customers dial *111#, or use Yurt Dışı Ayarlarım on the Turkcell website.
- AIS in Thailand: register for roaming by dialling *125 while you are still in Thailand. It is a one-time registration with no annual fee, and AIS confirms by SMS.
- Airtel in India: without international roaming switched on, you cannot receive incoming calls, and texts are not guaranteed either. Activate it in the Airtel app, by calling 121 or by texting IRSTART to 121.
- Jio in India: prepaid roaming services switch on together with an international roaming pack, so a prepaid Jio line needs one bought before it works abroad.
AIS's rule is the one that catches people out: the *125 self-service registration only works from inside Thailand, so do it before you leave. From abroad you would have to go through the AIS call centre.
Japan, the US and Australia: where 3G is gone
In countries that have switched off 3G, texts to a visiting phone travel over 4G, and that only works if your carrier has a VoLTE roaming deal with the local network. Canada's Freedom Mobile puts the worst case plainly.
You will not be able to use messaging, data, and voice services, including to emergency services like 9-1-1 calls.
Freedom's list of no-3G destinations includes the US, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand's One NZ is less pessimistic: on a 4G phone without VoLTE roaming, it says texts will likely still arrive, but calls will not. Both can be right. Whether texts survive depends on how each local network was rebuilt when 3G was switched off.
The practical answer is the same either way. Ask your carrier before you go whether it has VoLTE roaming in your destination, and set up a code method that does not need a text. Japan is the clearest case, covered in detail in why your phone can't call or text in Japan.
Some codes are only ever sent to your home country
Sometimes your phone is fine and the sender simply will not text you abroad. Some banks only send codes through domestic carriers, or only to domestic numbers, and say so in their help pages.
- Community Bank in the US answers the question "can I receive text message alerts?" when travelling with a flat no: its texts only go through US carriers and are only receivable in the US.
- Nationwide in the UK says its codes can only be received on a phone with a UK number. Its app and card reader are the alternatives.
- Emirates NBD lists being out of the country as one reason codes stop arriving, and points customers to its Smart Pass app approval.
- Wells Fargo says app push notifications may be an option for its Advanced Access codes when you travel internationally.
Google adds a twist. Its help page says that if it notices something different about how you sign in, like your location, you might not get a code by text at all. Signing in from a new country is exactly that, so a Google account that relies on SMS is a likely thing to lock you out on day one.
Wi-Fi Calling can rescue your codes, and cost you money
If your carrier supports it, Wi-Fi Calling lets your home number send and receive texts over Wi-Fi, and on iPhone it can often use the travel eSIM's data connection too, if your carrier allows it. Apple notes that with Wi-Fi Calling on, you can send SMS messages over Wi-Fi. Switch it on before you leave: Verizon says that on iPhone, Wi-Fi Calling can't be activated after you leave the US.
The catch is calls. Verizon and AT&T both treat Wi-Fi calls to numbers outside the US as international long distance. On 18 September 2026 the travel writer Zach Griff described a $75 charge after a trip to Greece, on top of the $12 a day he had paid for Verizon's TravelPass, because his phone had quietly switched to Wi-Fi Calling for calls to Greek numbers.
Wi-Fi calls to foreign numbers count as long distance, no matter where you're physically standing.
Verizon credited the charge after he complained. The safe pattern, which AT&T recommends too, is to use Wi-Fi Calling for texts and for calls home, and WhatsApp or another app for calls to local numbers.
WhatsApp, Google and your bank without a text message
The most reliable fix is to need fewer texts. Each of the big services has a way in that does not depend on SMS reaching you abroad.
- WhatsApp: if the text does not come, choose Call me. WhatsApp says the code can be left as a voicemail. If you are re-registering and have added an email address, it can send the code by email instead.
- Google: switch on Google prompts or Google Authenticator, and print or save backup codes. Google says Authenticator works with no internet connection or mobile service.
- Your bank: set up app approval (a push notification or in-app confirmation) at home. Registering it may itself need a text code, so do it at home.
Banks are moving this way anyway. Singapore's banks announced in July 2024 that they would phase out SMS codes for login among digital token users, Malaysia's central bank told banks to migrate away from SMS codes in 2022, and Deutsche Bank began retiring its SMS TAN with its banking upgrade from 25 August 2025. India is the counter-example: the Reserve Bank's 2025 rules add new methods but do not call for SMS codes to be dropped.
| What you see | Likely cause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| No codes at all, from anyone | Home line switched off, or roaming not opened | Turn the line on; ask your carrier to open roaming |
| No codes and no calls in Japan, the US or Australia | No VoLTE roaming on your plan or phone | Wi-Fi Calling, app-based codes |
| Only your bank's codes are missing | Bank only texts in-country or domestic numbers | Bank app approval, card reader |
| Google won't send a text | Sign-in from a new location | Google prompt, Authenticator, backup codes |
| Texts arrive but late, in bursts | Weak or congested network | Wait, or move to Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Calling on |
| Nothing arrives on the travel eSIM | It is data only and has no number | Codes always go to your home line |
Before you fly: a five-minute code check
- Ask your carrier whether roaming is open on your line and whether it has VoLTE roaming where you are going.
- Switch on Wi-Fi Calling for your home line while you are still at home.
- Set up app approval for your bank, and Google prompts or Authenticator for Google. Save backup codes somewhere offline.
- Add an email address to WhatsApp so a re-registration code can come by email.
- Install your travel eSIM, make it your data line and leave the home line on with data roaming off. Keeping your own number on a travel eSIM shows the full setup.
- Log in to your banking app once from home on the phone you are taking, so the first login abroad is not a new device as well as a new country.
Why am I not getting SMS on my travel eSIM?
Because a travel eSIM is data only and has no phone number. Texts and codes go to the number on your home SIM, so keep that line switched on alongside the eSIM.
Do I need data roaming on to receive texts abroad?
No. Texts use your home line's network connection, not its data. AT&T confirms you can still make and receive calls and texts with data roaming switched off.
Does it cost money to receive an SMS abroad?
Usually not. Receiving texts is free when roaming in the EU, and AT&T, Telstra and Turkcell don't charge for them. Verizon's pay-as-you-go rate is an exception at $0.05 per text received.
Why don't my bank codes arrive when I travel?
Some banks only text domestic numbers. Nationwide in the UK says its codes only reach UK numbers, and Community Bank in the US says its text alerts only reach US numbers. Set up the bank's app approval before you leave.
Why won't Google send me a verification code abroad?
Google says it may not send a code by text if your sign-in looks different, for example from a new location. Use Google prompts, Google Authenticator or a backup code instead.
How do I get my WhatsApp code when travelling?
Try Call me, which can leave the code as a voicemail, or get it by email if you are re-registering and have added an email address. Turning on roaming for your home line also helps.
Can I receive SMS over Wi-Fi?
Yes, if your carrier supports Wi-Fi Calling and you switch it on before you travel. Apple says you can send SMS over Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Calling on. Calls to local numbers over Wi-Fi may be billed as international.
Will my texts work in Japan?
Only if your home line can use 4G there, which needs VoLTE roaming. Japan has no 3G left. Ask your carrier before you go, and set up app-based codes in case texts don't arrive.
