Carrier Dual SIM options for a British expat/digital nomad?

[Kingofclouds]

HK/Chinese physical dual sims are readily available here in the UAE. I have an XS Max from last year and an 11 pro. They can be delivered to the UK securely although you will have to pay import duty. Check out amazon.ae

 

[alexjholland]

Would a cheap UK contract esim work? I know that no UK networks don’t offer a PAYG esim but if you can get a ‘sim only’ contract at say £10 per month which provides you with a UK number and use of the esim, it frees up the nano sim slot for your travels.

Sure, I'd be happy to do that. Even £20. But UK contracts seem to cut you off for long-term roaming.

Even 3's 'Roam Abroad' option cuts you off at 60 days.

If there's a cheap UK contract that doesn't cut you off for roaming, please tell me!
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I have to say this is one of the most ridiculous "reasons" I've ever seen for not getting an iPhone made for the China market... it's not even true. It has the same "low battery warning" popups as the rest of the world and nothing more.

Next people will be complaining about the different app closing animation as a reason not to get it.

I don't think a Chinese-made iPhone will do anything awful to me.

I just feel uncomfortable about it. I disagree with everything about their stance on democracy and freedom of expression.

 

[alexjholland]

Yup, your best bet is a HK iPhone.

Oh and just FYI if you’re traveling to Indonesia, our government implemented whitelist IMEI, so a foreign phone cannot use local carrier SIM unless you pay a tax to get it whitelisted. There’s supposed to be a grace period for tourists, but the details are murky. Right now the safest bet is to just roam using your country’s SIM, or get one of those international roaming SIM, or if you stop by Singapore to get their local SIM which can give you roaming data in many countries (Indonesia included). I know Starhub prepaid SIM can do this. Just FYI.

Ugh I forgot about that.

It was talked about... has it actually happened?

TBF this will affect me, no matter what I do.

What's the tax like?
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Just seems like a big hassle to secure a phone if you weren’t planning to be there in the first place. Good luck!

My friend's a pilot who lived in HK. At the weekend he mentioned he has friends who can buy one and mail it to me.

 

[alexjholland]

HK/Chinese physical dual sims are readily available here in the UAE. I have an XS Max from last year and an 11 pro. They can be delivered to the UK securely although you will have to pay import duty. Check out amazon.ae

Nice! Turns out a friend who lived in HK has friends there who can hook me up.

Good to know though!

 

[ian87w]

Ugh I forgot about that.

It was talked about... has it actually happened?

TBF this will affect me, no matter what I do.

What's the tax like?

It happened, although implementation is still super rough on the edges. Us locals have been getting text messages that our handsets are whitelisted since the beginning of the year.

For hand-carried phone, I believe if it's above USD $500, there's a 10% entry tax and 10% VAT, and then you have to register the IMEI with custom. That's the theory. Personally I haven't had any experience, but there are rumors that the system is still borked as the database wasn't actually ready. We now have updated news that September 15 will be the "final days" of non-whitelisted phones.

There's good news though. I'm reading that tourists can go to the local operators' shops and get a 90-day grace period without paying any taxes/registering their IMEI. Can't comment on real life experience though.

If you are stopping by Singapore in between, there's an easier option, to simply get and use Starhub prepaid SIM. With Starhub prepaid SIM, you can data roam in Indonesia using the same data quota that you get for Singapore. That might be easier for you.

Happy Roam Data Roaming Service | StarHub Mobile

All packed up and ready to travel? Don't forget to get the StarHub Happy Roam too! Find out more about Happy Prepaid Data plans and how to activate here!

www.starhub.com

 

[alexjholland]

It happened, although implementation is still super rough on the edges. Us locals have been getting text messages that our handsets are whitelisted since the beginning of the year.

For hand-carried phone, I believe if it's above USD $500, there's a 10% entry tax and 10% VAT, and then you have to register the IMEI with custom. That's the theory. Personally I haven't had any experience, but there are rumors that the system is still borked as the database wasn't actually ready. We now have updated news that September 15 will be the "final days" of non-whitelisted phones.

There's good news though. I'm reading that tourists can go to the local operators' shops and get a 90-day grace period without paying any taxes/registering their IMEI. Can't comment on real life experience though.

If you are stopping by Singapore in between, there's an easier option, to simply get and use Starhub prepaid SIM. With Starhub prepaid SIM, you can data roam in Indonesia using the same data quota that you get for Singapore. That might be easier for you.

Happy Roam Data Roaming Service | StarHub Mobile

All packed up and ready to travel? Don't forget to get the StarHub Happy Roam too! Find out more about Happy Prepaid Data plans and how to activate here!

www.starhub.com

Great, thanks for the tip!

Many of my friends live in Bali permanently... I've reached-out to ask them.

I remember when they bought in the rule making SIM cards stop working after 30 days.

It was chaos, until the process for extending them was standardised.

 

[Danny Knight]

Hey, interesting post.
Did you get any definitive solution. I'm having the same problem in Moscow although ironically when I'm in Bali I've no problem because the Russian SIM (2-Step verification) works perfectly.
Can't seem to find an easy way.

 

[alexjholland]

Hey, interesting post.
Did you get any definitive solution. I'm having the same problem in Moscow although ironically when I'm in Bali I've no problem because the Russian SIM (2-Step verification) works perfectly.
Can't seem to find an easy way.

I bought a standard UK iPhone 12 Pro and a Google Pixel 4a.

I now have two physical and two eSIM slots.

I've got a UK SIM in each phone (business + personal numbers).

My iPhone has a Portuguese eSIM.

When I visit any other countries I can either use the Pixel's eSIM, or drop one of my UK numbers.

If the UK gets PAYG eSIM that'll be fantastic, as I can switch both over and have two physical SIM slots.

 

[alexjholland]

Hey, interesting post.
Did you get any definitive solution. I'm having the same problem in Moscow although ironically when I'm in Bali I've no problem because the Russian SIM (2-Step verification) works perfectly.
Can't seem to find an easy way.

Issue 2 is that Bali just introduced a crazy import tax on any mobile phone worth more than $500.

Your phone's IMEI is blocked if you don't pay it, 60 or 90 days later.

So it's a tax on phones owned by long-term visitors.

Some friends have had luck by declaring their brand-new iPhone 12 as worth less than $500.

I might just buy a MiFi unit for 4G data in Bali and use that for both phones when I'm there.

 

[Fred Zed]

Hey, I think I need a true dual SIM iPhone.

I'm British and have a UK-based business, but I spend most of my time travelling abroad - I'm a 'digital nomad'.

I need a constant UK phone number for things like 2FA-based banking authentication (yes, SMS-based 2FA is dumb but unavoidable) and subscribing to various services.

However, I also need a local data package in the various countries where I spend time (Bali, Australia, Thailand, Portugal etc.).

Here are two potential solutions, both of which have problems:

1. A true dual SIM iPhone from Hong Kong
I planned to pop to HK next time I was in Bali and buy one, but that could be a LONG time away. Bali and most SE Asian countries are closed-off until at least early 2020. I haven't even checked HK's entry rules because I'm not flying the whole way there and back to buy a phone.

2. An eSIM with my UK number.
This would work great. I could then pop in a local data SIM. I know digital nomads from other countries (eg. the Netherlands) who do this.

However, eSIM is currently useless for UK expats/digital nomads.

• No UK network offers eSIM for PAYG - they're ALL contracts-only.
• No UK contract allows data roaming for more than 60 days in one foreign country (No, Three don't offer it either).

O2 have said they plan to add a PAYG eSim option, which will be cool - but no sign yet!

HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS:

1. Where can I reliably buy a second-hand iPhone with TRUE dual SIM, in the UK?
   (eBay sucks as SO many people list iPhones with 'dual SIM' that are in fact eSim + physical SIM.)
2. Are there any UK eSim solutions that I haven't considered?
3. Do you think the new iPhones out next month will improve the situation?
4. Do you have any other bright ideas to give me a UK number and local data SIM?

I leave for Portugal in nine days and could do with a solution by then.

Cheers!

That’s a good one- digital nomad , I’m going to use that also moving forward during conversations with people in the USA where I currently reside. 😂

 

[alexjholland]

That’s a good one- digital nomad , I’m going to use that also moving forward during conversations with people in the USA where I currently reside. 😂

'Digital nomad' is a funny phrase.

Most of us that have legit online businesses and travel around have grown to shudder at 'digital nomad' - because it's plastered all over Instagram by utter scam artists.

But still. When I have to describe my lifestyle, it works.

 

[Fred Zed]

'Digital nomad' is a funny phrase.

Most of us that have legit online businesses and travel around have grown to shudder at 'digital nomad' - because it's plastered all over Instagram by utter scam artists.

But still. When I have to describe my lifestyle, it works.

I’ll try and not use that when asked by immigration officers what my job is. 😂

 

[alexjholland]

I’ll try and not use that when asked by immigration officers what my job is. 😂

Definitely don't!

Many 'digital nomads' break immigration laws by working on holiday visas.

However, many developing countries don't enforce these rules rigorously (or at all, in some cases).

But immigration agents in a number of developed countries have been known to search computers for signs of work and consequently ban entry.

General rule of thumb is that serving clients outside the country you're visiting is a grey area; while serving clients in that country (while on a holiday visa) is totally illegal.

A number of countries are rolling out 'digital nomad visas' that offer a legitimate opportunity to work remotely.

However, as a friend noted, once you've got one 'digital nomad visa' stamped in your passport, it's a clear red flag to any customs officials in any other country that you work online - regardless of what story you feed them.

 

[Danny Knight]

Issue 2 is that Bali just introduced a crazy import tax on any mobile phone worth more than $500.

Your phone's IMEI is blocked if you don't pay it, 60 or 90 days later.

So it's a tax on phones owned by long-term visitors.

Some friends have had luck by declaring their brand-new iPhone 12 as worth less than $500.

I might just buy a MiFi unit for 4G data in Bali and use that for both phones when I'm there.

 

[Danny Knight]

Hi, yeh I heard about that.
So specifically about the banking 2-step verification whilst in Bali or wherever , did you fix that issue ?