Getting a French phone number (and keeping your US one)
The short version
- Land with a travel eSIM for data, then get a real French SIM in your first days
- Prepaid SIMs need only a passport; monthly no-commitment plans need a RIB and cost far less
- Port your US number to Google Voice for around 20 dollars before canceling US service
- Sans engagement (no commitment) is the French norm; skip anything with a 24-month leash
A French mobile number, the kind that starts with 06 or 07, is quietly one of the most useful things you can get in your first week. Every delivery driver, bank form, doctor booking and government portal wants one, and some flatly refuse foreign numbers.
There is good news twice over: French plans are among the great bargains of the move, and your US number does not have to die. For a small fee it can live on in an app, still catching your bank's security codes.
Landing day: the eSIM stopgap
Before you fly, install a travel eSIM from Airalo or a similar provider. It gives you data the moment the plane door opens: maps, ride apps and messages while you find your feet. It does not give you a French number, so treat it strictly as a bridge for the first days.
Reading French numbers: mobiles start with 06 or 07, landlines with 01 through 05 depending on the region, and 09 belongs to internet boxes. When a form asks for your portable, it wants the mobile.
Prepaid or monthly plan?
You have two real options, plus the roaming non-option many people try first.
A prepaid SIM is the zero-paperwork route: buy one at a tabac (the corner tobacco shop that sells a bit of everything) or a carrier store, show your passport, walk out with a working number. No bank account needed. You pay more per gigabyte and top up manually, but it is a perfectly good first number.
A monthly no-commitment plan, forfait sans engagement in the listings, is the endgame: generous data, absurdly cheap by US standards, cancel whenever. The catch for new arrivals is that carriers want a RIB, the bank details slip from a French account, to set up the direct debit.
| Prepaid SIM | No-commitment plan | US plan roaming | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you need | Passport | A RIB | Nothing new |
| French 06/07 number | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cost over time | Middling, pay as you go | Lowest by far | Highest by far |
| Best for | The first weeks | The long run | The flight home |
Picking a carrier
France has a few big networks and a crowd of budget brands riding on them, so city coverage is rarely the deciding factor; prices and promotions are. We keep a current comparison.
Compare French carriers and plans
One warning: if a deal bundles a shiny new handset, check the fine print for a 24-month engagement. Commitment contracts mostly exist to finance phones. Buy the phone separately and stay sans engagement, which keeps you free to chase better deals. Switching later is painless: dial 3179 free from your line to get your RIO code, the porting reference in a system overseen by Arcep, the French telecom regulator, and the new carrier moves your number for you.
Keep your US number alive
Your US number is the key to years of accumulated two-factor codes: bank logins, brokerage transfers, IRS identity checks. Losing it is the most painful phone mistake an expat can make.
The fix is to port the number to Google Voice for a one-time fee of around 20 dollars. The port itself closes your US plan automatically, so do it before you cancel anything; a canceled number is usually gone for good. Afterward, US calls and texts arrive in the Google Voice app over data, anywhere in the world, with no monthly bill.
Order of operations: port first, and never cancel manually. If your US line dies before the port completes, the number dies with it, along with every login that texts it codes.
Checklist
Taming the répondeur
Your SIM comes with voicemail, the répondeur, which by default answers in rapid robotic French and reads your number aloud, digit by digit. Record a greeting or switch the menu language in the settings; the access code varies by carrier. French friends will rarely leave messages anyway: the local habit is to hang up and text.
A quick word on home internet
The same brands sell home fiber, which is widespread in cities and priced as pleasantly as the mobile plans. You will need a RIB here too, plus a technician appointment whose timing varies by building. Bundling mobile and internet with one carrier usually shaves a bit off both bills.
Can I just keep my US plan and roam?
For the first weeks, sure, if your plan includes international roaming. As a permanent setup it is the most expensive option on the table, and some US carriers throttle or cancel lines that roam abroad for months on end. Get the French SIM and demote your US number to Google Voice instead.
Do I need a French number for WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp stays attached to the number it was registered with even after that SIM is gone, as long as you can receive an occasional verification code, which Google Voice handles. Many expats keep WhatsApp on the US number and give the French one to everything official.
What is a RIB, again?
A RIB (relevé d'identité bancaire) is a slip with your French bank details, and carriers use it to set up the monthly direct debit. Every French banking app lets you download one as a PDF. No account yet? The bank account guide covers opening one as an American.