Getting an eSIM for an existing account

[ArloHowe]

Hello,

I’m trying to figure out if it is possible to get an eSIM for an existing account.

Im struggling because the new phone Im looking at buying only has eSIMs. Right now I have a physical SIM card but would love to swap to an esim. I’ve been seeing a lot of unclear and confusing messaging about if I can get an eSIM for an existing Virgin Mobile account.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[enlli]

Is this an American iPhone? If so a word of warning. Apple do not have a world wide warranty policy and you will have no guarantee with the phone in the UK. Also, they will not accept mail from outside of the USA so sending it back for service would need someone in the US to do it for you. I say this as I saw someone caught in this trap.

[Megan_L · Accepted solution]

Hi ArloHowe,

Thanks for using the forums to post about how to get an eSim, I am sorry if you've been given lots of contradicting information about these. 

I'll be happy to confirm a few things for you. 

• We did launch a campaign last year where we started to offer eSims to customers with compatible devices, however this caused a lot more problems than we predicted and so eSims were discontinued on the most part. 
• However, if you're really desperate to get an eSim, our mobile sales team may be able to help, they'll need to ask you a few questions around your device to see whether it's compatible etc. But they may not be able to add it onto your existing account - It's something you can chat with them about. 

If you do want to go ahead and call the mobile sales team after reading this information you can do so by calling 0800 052 0238. 

Please let us know if you do manage to get an eSim 😊

Thanks,

Megan_L

[ArloHowe]

Unfortunately Im out of the country right now (the main source of my issue) and am not able to make calls to the UK. That's why I've been seeking clear answers online. 

[ArloHowe]

Thanks for this. It is an American iPhone. I've spoken to Apple and they've assured me that the warranty will still be good in the UK. They said there are some services are not available in the UK but I will still be covered.
I live between the US and UK so either way I'll have some hoops to jump through.

[enlli]

@ArloHowe 

Just to make you aware that sometime this Year your Virgin account will be moved to O2

I say this as the roaming policy ŵill change and this will effect you if you intend using the UK SIM in the USA. Firstly, you will need to ensure that you have Travel Plus applied to your account or it will cost you £6 everyday you use the UK SIM, even for incoming text. Secondly, at the moment O2 are restricting data speeds in the US to an almost unusable 0.5Mmb/sec. Lastly they have a roaming policy that only allows you to use the phone abroad for 63 days in every 180.

I suggest you check out roaming on the O2 website to decide if it is for you