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How I Keep My American Phone Number While Living in France

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My first year of living abroad in France, I was quick to get a French phone number. Not only is it necessary for banking and other local services, but French phone plans are very reasonably priced. However, instead of ditching my American number, I decided to keep it as well. After all, I still had my American bank, and with 2-factor authentication everywhere these days, having an American number remained essential. I was on T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond plan at the time, which came with plenty of foreign data every month, and no up-charges for being abroad. Since my phone has a dual e-SIM capacity, like most new smartphones, living with two numbers was a no-brainer. Thus, my double number life began. 

While I was in the States this summer, my family and I decided to all switch to AT&T for our phone plans. I followed the crowd and thought the package would be comparable on the foreign front. I was wrong. On arriving back in France, I received a notification that I would be charged $10 a day while traveling. That simply was not going to work for me, so I turned off my American number and looked into what my options were after I finished unpacking. 

Solving the Problem

My research led me to find US Mobile and Tello, both cost-efficient mobile companies that boast good customer service and cell service while abroad. I opted for Tello, bought a cheap $6 a month plan to test it out, and tried to activate the new e-SIM. The prompts online and on my phone made it look pretty easy, but after a moment it was clear that my new number wasn’t going to activate on its own. I gave customer service a call on my French number and explained my situation. They were kind and regretted to inform me that an American number could only be activated on American soil. I wouldn’t be able to start using my newly purchased number until I was back in the States. 

I accepted the reality and swallowed my pride. After all, it was my own fault for not being more proactive about this from the outset. Thankfully, I had a trip planned back to the States in three months, so I transferred my iMessage account to my French number, asked all my friends and family to contact me through WhatsApp, and lived without my American number until my return. 

Once back in the US, I did my research, updated my account through Tello and activated the number that had been patiently waiting for me. I called another friendly customer service representative and asked her all the details about how foreign roaming would work on my account when I was back in France. I purchased the additional “buy as you go” credit that is necessary for their foreign travel (this was a $20 charge) and I took a deep breath — grateful to have my phone problems behind me, or so I thought. 

Rubber Meets the Road

When I landed in Paris a week later, I turned off airplane mode to find only my French number receiving service. The American number showed no signal. I searched in my phone settings and enabled roaming while abroad on the new number. Hours later, and still nothing. 

Frustrated, a week later I finally logged into my Tello account to see what the issue was. I scrolled through my settings to discover that I had missed checking the box to authorize foreign service while abroad. I checked the box, hit refresh, laughed at myself, and turned off my phone for the reset. When I turned it back on a few minutes later, there were those little bars I had been searching for the last three months. 

So far, I have had both numbers activated on my phone for a week. As my French phone plan is my primary source of data, I have only used five cents worth of data on my Tello plan. This is incredibly reasonable for a safety net in case I should need to receive pass keys or other identifying information that can only be sent to an American number. Overall, I am very pleased with my experience with Tello, minus the hiccups of getting my service activated in the beginning. 

Whether you are traveling abroad or starting a new life for yourself in France, be sure to do research on the allowances of your phone plan well before you land on the other side of the ocean. You may even consider activating a new SIM beforehand accordingly. We live and we learn, so with all this learning I guess I can be sure that I’m living. Do you have another American service provider that you’ve used abroad? We’d love to hear about your experience. 

Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash

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A Page from 29 Days to France: Getting the Essentials Sorted

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For those of us who have moved to France, we know there’s a moment that comes right after the dream becomes reality — when the plan lands, your feet finally hit French soil, and you realize… Okay, now what?

It’s where the idea of moving to France meets with the very real logistics of actually living in a foreign country. It’s also where a lot of people tend to freeze, and then the panic sets in. What comes first? What needs to be done? What’s “normal” in France compared to what you’re used to back home?

When we wrote 29 Days to France, we wanted to walk people through not just the big picture of immigration paperwork or visa timelines (which are also included, fear not😉), but also the smaller minutiae of getting settled into your new French life. Details like getting a cell phone. Setting up electricity. Opening a bank account.

Are they glamorous tasks? No. But they’re the foundation of pretty much everything else. So today, I wanted to share one full day from the book to give any of you preparing for a move to France a sneak peek at what’s inside. 

Day 13: Getting the Essentials Sorted

Congratulations, you’ve officially arrived in France! You’ve most likely spent the first few days soaking it all in: your new neighborhood, the sound of chattering French, and the smell of buttery croissants in the air. Now that you’ve touched ground and are ready to start your new French life, you need to take care of a few essentials.

What are the essentials? Your cell plan (and new French number), your electricity and gas (handled by the national carrier, EDF), and your French bank account (which will provide you with a debit card). This won’t be the most exciting part of getting settled, but it’s necessary.

Cell Phone Carrier

There are several French cell phone carriers to choose from, including Orange, SFR, Bouygues, and Free. If you’re coming from the United States, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Cell phone plans in France are much less expensive. I personally have Free and I pay around 20 € per month for unlimited texts and calls within Europe, unlimited internet access, and 30 days of free calls and 25 GB of internet within the US, among other locations. You can sign up for most cell phone plans online, but you can also go to a store and practice your French, if you’d like.

Electricity & Gas

EDF, which stands for Electricité de France, is the leading supplier of electricity in the country. It is majority-owned by the state, which keeps prices affordable. You’ll want to set up your home’s electricity and gas directly with them.

Your landlord most likely will not arrange this for you, so you’ll have to make a few phone calls. Alternatively, you can sign up online, but you need to get used to making these kinds of calls in French so I suggest that you get all of the practice you can! Once you have your French cell phone sorted you can call EDF at 3004. Make sure you have your address on hand.

This is the single most important and reliable proof of residence in France: the attestation that you pay for electricity.

Bank Account

There are also several different French banks to choose from. I have Crédit Agricole and I am really happy with them. They are a smaller bank and I find that the fees are reasonable. To choose for yourself, you’ll need to think about your personal needs. Do you want a larger bank? One that’s foreigner-friendly? Or maybe a small, local bank?

If you want a bank with a reputation of friendliness to foreigners, go for BNP Paribas. Its headquarters are in Paris and it’s the largest bank in France. It’s also among the largest banks in Europe. BNP is used to working with foreigners and I know that they have several representatives who speak English well.

Exercise: Be aware of your needs and do your research, especially when it comes to what you’re looking for in a cell phone and bank account. Practice (write it down if you need to!) what you’ll need to say in French before you call EDF or head to the bank.

Questions to answer: What do I need in a cell phone plan? What do I need in a bank account?

Why This Page Matters

I chose to share this page because it’s such a real moment in the move-to-France journey — one that not many people online talk about. No matter what kind of visa you’re on, no matter your job, family status, or even the city where you live, everyone has to navigate these basics.

And if you’re feeling intimidated by the idea of making a phone call in French, or choosing between a dozen different banks, or not knowing whether you need to bring ID to the phone store (you do) — that’s normal!

The entire goal behind 29 Days to France is to make this process feel less overwhelming and more doable. Not perfect, and not even necessarily easy, but possible. One small, essential step at a time.

If you liked this little excerpt, the full book features 28 other mini-guides just like this one. Each is focused on a task, a mindset shift, or a key moment in the move-to-France journey.

As a special treat for our American in Paris readers, you can purchase the 29 Days to France ebook for just $10 with the coupon code TAIP. We wrote this book with all of you in mind, and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did writing it 🙂

Photo by Kristina Tochilko on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated.  These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just like at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.