Will this work on my phone?

It needs a phone that takes an eSIM. Recent iPhones and most flagship Android phones do, though iPhones bought in mainland China do not. We ask which phone you have before you pay.

When does the plan start?

When the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination, not when you buy it. Buying a few days early costs you nothing.

Do I keep my own number?

Yes. The eSIM is a second line, for data. Calls and texts stay on your usual SIM, and you can leave its data switched off while you travel.

Can I move it to another phone?

No. An eSIM installs on one phone only, and deleting it from that phone uses it up for good. Put it on the phone you will actually be travelling with.

Help and troubleshooting

Last updated 2026-08-08

Draft, under review. The wording on this page is not final yet, and the page is kept out of search results until it is.

How to put your eSIM on your phone, and what to check when the data does not move.

Before you fly

Install on Wi-Fi at home. It takes about a minute, and it is far easier than doing it in an airport.
Install it on the phone you will actually be travelling with. An eSIM goes onto one phone only.
Installing does not start the plan. The clock starts when the eSIM first connects at your destination.

Install on iPhone or iPad

The short way: open your order page on the iPhone itself, from the link in your email or from your account, and tap Add this eSIM. Tapping it hands the plan to Settings, which shows you what you are adding and asks you to confirm before anything changes.

If nothing opens, your iOS is older than 17.4 and the link cannot hand over. Add it by hand instead: Settings → Mobile Service (Cellular in some regions) → Add eSIM → Use QR Code → Enter Details Manually. Then type in the SM-DP+ address and the activation code from your order page.

Your order page also shows the whole activation string on one line, for the phones that ask for it that way.

Install on Android

Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → Add eSIM → Enter details manually. The exact wording changes from maker to maker.

Paste the two values from your order page into the two boxes, in this order: the SM-DP+ address first, the activation code second. Then follow the prompts.

Some phones take the whole activation string in one box instead of two. That string is on your order page as well.

Troubleshooting

In the order we would check them. The first one is the answer more often than everything below it put together.

Turn Data Roaming on for the eSIM lineA travel eSIM works by roaming onto local networks, so the line stays dark until Data Roaming is on for it. On these plans that is simply how the plan works, and it adds nothing to your bill. Turning it on for this line does not turn it on for your usual SIM. On iPhone: Settings → Mobile Service → the eSIM line → Data Roaming. On Android: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → the eSIM → Roaming.
Point mobile data at the eSIMA profile can be installed and still switched off. On iPhone, tap the eSIM line and use Turn On This Line, then set Settings → Mobile Service → Mobile Data to the eSIM. On Android, open the data SIM picker (Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → Mobile data) and choose the eSIM.
Set the APN, if your plan carries oneMost plans do not need this. If your order page shows an APN and data still does not move after the two steps above, set it on the eSIM line: on iPhone under Settings → Mobile Service → the eSIM → Mobile Data Network, and on Android under Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → the eSIM → Access Point Names.
Dual SIM: calls on your usual number, data on the eSIMLeave calls and texts on your home SIM so your own number keeps working, and leave data on the eSIM. That split is also what stops your home carrier billing you for roaming data in the background: switch Data Roaming off for the home line, and on iPhone turn off Allow Mobile Data Switching (Allow Cellular Data Switching in some regions).
When the clock startsThe plan starts when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination, not when you buy it and not when you install it. After that the days run continuously, whether or not you use the data. If a plan looks like it has not started yet, that is usually the reason rather than a fault.
A deleted eSIM cannot be reinstalledAn eSIM can be installed once. Deleting the profile from your phone uses it up: it cannot be added back on that phone or on any other, and data left on it goes with it. That is the industry rule for every eSIM, not something we chose, and there is nothing on our side that can undo it. If it has happened, nothing you did was wrong, and the only fix is a new eSIM. Keep the profile on the phone until the trip is over, even if you switch the line off in between.

Still not working

An eSIM that never activated, or that does not work, is the one case we refund. Write to support@seferesim.com from the email address on your order, tell us what the phone shows and where you are, and we will look at the operator record for your eSIM.

Read the refund policy

Questions people ask

Will this work on my phone?It needs a phone that takes an eSIM. Recent iPhones and most flagship Android phones do, though iPhones bought in mainland China do not. We ask which phone you have before you pay.
When does the plan start?When the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination, not when you buy it. Buying a few days early costs you nothing.
Do I keep my own number?Yes. The eSIM is a second line, for data. Calls and texts stay on your usual SIM, and you can leave its data switched off while you travel.
Can I move it to another phone?No. An eSIM installs on one phone only, and deleting it from that phone uses it up for good. Put it on the phone you will actually be travelling with.