eSIM for a student abroad

An Erasmus in the EU doesn’t need an eSIM: your Polish SIM works as it does at home. A semester in the UK, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA or Canada is another story: your Polish SIM charges for data at the non-EU rate, and a local SIM is something you sort out after you arrive, sometimes with a contract and an address you don’t yet have in the first week.

How it usually goes

1. 1.
   The first two to four weeks on an eSIM. Data from landing: the map to the halls of residence, the WhatsApp group, university registration, the bank. A plan of 10–20 GB for 30 days.
2. 2.
   Then a local SIM, if you are staying longer and want a local number; in the UK you buy a prepaid SIM in a shop, in the USA in an operator’s store.
3. 3.
   Your Polish SIM stays in the phone for the whole stay: texts from the bank, codes for USOS, the family. Data roaming off on it, calls through messaging apps.

How much data a month

Where to

UK, USA, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan. The guide for each country says what does and doesn’t work there.

What to watch out for

• •
  A phone bought on a contract with a SIM lock won’t take an eSIM; check before you leave and install the eSIM at home: the guide.
• •
  The plan ends after 30 days or when the data is used up; for the second month buy another one or move to a local SIM.
• •
  University Wi-Fi often needs a login through a portal; the eSIM saves you in the first days, before you get an account.