Living abroad
A virtual number for expats and remote workers
Banks, delivery apps and government portals still text your old country's number. A permanent virtual number keeps those messages reachable.
Written and maintained by the VNumbr team · Last updated 24 September 2026
Key points
- When you move abroad, the accounts you left behind often stay tied to a phone number from your home country.
- A permanent virtual number in the relevant country receives those SMS in a dashboard you can open from anywhere.
- Pick the country, choose a monthly or yearly plan and pay.
- The inbox is private to you.
The expat problem
When you move abroad, the accounts you left behind often stay tied to a phone number from your home country. Your bank sends a confirmation code, a delivery service texts a driver's message, a tax portal wants a one-time password. If you cancel your old SIM, those messages have nowhere to go.
Keeping a roaming plan or an old contract just to receive a handful of texts a year is expensive and fragile.
How a virtual number helps
A permanent virtual number in the relevant country receives those SMS in a dashboard you can open from anywhere. You do not need a handset, a local address or roaming. Where the account allows it, update the number on file to the new one and codes will follow you around the world.
Choose the country whose prefix the service expects. The catalog shows what is available today.
Setting it up step by step
Pick the country, choose a monthly or yearly plan and pay. When the number appears in your dashboard, add it to the account, request the confirmation code and read it from the inbox. Repeat for each account you want to keep reachable, and switch on auto-renew.
Many financial and government services apply their own rules about which numbers they will accept and may require a mobile number issued to a resident. A virtual number can help with ordinary sign-ins and alerts but cannot promise acceptance everywhere.
Privacy and cost
The inbox is private to you. We do not share your data with third parties or the mobile network operator. The yearly plan works out cheaper per month, and you pay by cryptocurrency or wallet balance.
How VNumbr works
Choose a country
Pick where the number should be based. The prefix tells apps where you are.
Pay in crypto or wallet
Cryptomus, NOWPayments or your balance. Email-only signup, no ID.
Use it for verification
Enter the number where the app asks and request the SMS code.
Read it in your inbox
Messages appear in your dashboard in real time and through the API.
Common questions
Can I keep my exact old number?
No. VNumbr issues its own numbers and does not port existing ones. You choose a number in the country you need and update your accounts to it.
Will my bank accept it?
Many banks and government services set their own rules. Check with each one; acceptance cannot be guaranteed.
Do I need to live in the country?
No. You choose the number and read messages from anywhere.
Can it receive calls?
No. It receives SMS only.
Are VNumbr numbers real mobile numbers?
Yes. They are allocated on real mobile carrier networks rather than internet-based VoIP pools. Each app decides for itself which numbers it accepts, so no provider can guarantee a specific result.
How do I pay, and do I need ID?
Pay with cryptocurrency through Cryptomus or NOWPayments, or from a wallet balance. Signup needs only an email address and no identity documents.
What is the difference between a permanent number and an OTP number?
A permanent number is billed monthly or yearly and stays assigned to you for as long as you renew it. An OTP number is billed per activation and receives a single code before it is released.
Only need one code, not a number to keep?
This guide is about VNumbr's permanent numbers. For a single sign-up instead, VNumbr also sells OTP numbers billed per activation.
Get a number you keep
Pick a country, pay in crypto or from your balance, and receive SMS on a permanent line.