Does voicemail cost money when you are roaming?
Inside the EU roaming area, your operator cannot charge you when someone leaves you a voicemail; the regulation says so explicitly. Listening to the message is a different service and can be charged. Outside that area there is no such rule, and the EU's own regulators tell operators to warn customers if receiving voicemail there costs money. If you are heading outside the EU and do not want surprises, switch voicemail off before you leave.
See data eSIM pricesWhat the EU regulation actually says
The EU roaming regulation, Regulation (EU) 2022/612, has a sentence just for this. As BEREC, the body of European telecom regulators, summarises it in its retail roaming guidelines, Article 8 forbids any charge, including any surcharge, for voicemail messages that another caller leaves in your network mailbox while you are roaming, and for the SMS you receive. The same guidelines then add the limit: the operator may still apply other voicemail charges, for example when you listen to a message on your network mailbox.
The roaming area is the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and also Moldova and Ukraine, according to the EU's Your Europe portal. There, receiving ordinary calls and texts costs nothing extra whoever is calling, and making calls comes out of your plan as at home. So in practice, inside that area a message being left costs nothing, and listening to it is charged like any call to your mailbox under your tariff. Our guide to roam like at home covers the rest of the rule.
One eSIM for 33 European countries
Several countries on one trip? Same eSIM, same data, no swapping lines at the border.
Black Friday −25 % Ends in 31d 01:42:31Choose your data
For one to two weeks of maps, messaging and the odd video.
Buy up to 180 days before you fly: the plan only starts when the eSIM connects at your destination.
Write the email where we should send the QR code.
We send the QR code and your receipt here. No spam.
QR in your inbox in minutes · If it does not connect, we fix it · Secure payment with Stripe
Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
Not sure about your model? Ask us before you pay and we will tell you — a person answers within 24 hours.
How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Outside the EU, it depends on your operator
Beyond the roaming area the regulation's price rules no longer apply, and each operator decides. BEREC's guidelines are telling here: they encourage operators to include in the free welcome SMS whether receiving voicemail messages costs anything when you are roaming outside the EU area or connected to a network on a ship or plane, and how much. In other words, the regulators expect that it can cost money there.
So the first place to look is that welcome message, which arrives when your phone connects in a new country. The second is your operator's roaming page for that destination. And if neither is clear, ask directly, before you leave: is a message left in my mailbox while I am abroad charged? Is listening charged, and at what rate? Ships and planes deserve their own line, because Your Europe warns that EU rules no longer apply on satellite networks on board and charges can be high; flight mode keeps you off them.
Why the listening is the part that costs
To hear a voicemail the traditional way, your phone calls your operator's mailbox. Abroad, that is a roaming call from your line, priced by your operator outside the EU. Visual Voicemail on iPhone avoids the call by downloading messages, but Apple notes a catch for travellers with two lines: if data roaming is on for the line that uses mobile data, the voice-only line disables Visual Voicemail and MMS. With a travel eSIM carrying data and your home line kept for calls, that is exactly the setup, so the messages wait in the mailbox until you dial in.
That is not a reason to give up the travel eSIM; it is a reason to plan. Inside the EU, dialling the mailbox costs what it costs at home. Outside, you can leave the messages until you are back, or decide before the trip that you do not want voicemail at all.
Switching voicemail off before a trip outside the EU
Voicemail answers the calls you miss, refuse or cannot take, the same cases as the conditional call forwards. Dialling ##002# and pressing call cancels every forward, which can turn voicemail off too; Vodafone UK's help page lists ##002# for cancelling all diverts and gives its own short codes to switch voicemail off and back on. Other operators do it from their app or customer area, so check yours before relying on a code.
Before you leave, call your number from another phone and let it ring, to check that no mailbox answers. Turn voicemail back on when you return, with your operator's code or app, and test it the same way. The full list of forwarding codes, and what forwarding to another number can cost, is in call forwarding while abroad.
A setup that keeps you reachable without voicemail
Keep your usual line switched on with data roaming off, so calls and SMS still reach your number; inside the EU, receiving them costs nothing extra. Use a data eSIM, such as one from Snoozim, for the internet, and tell the people who matter to message you on WhatsApp, which keeps working with your usual number. Save the numbers of your hotel and transfer in your contacts, so a genuine missed call is easy to recognise and call back; this guide on missed calls from unknown foreign numbers explains why the others are better ignored.
If you change your mind on the trip and want to check a message urgently, Wi-Fi Calling may let you call your mailbox over a hotel network, depending on your operator; Wi-Fi Calling abroad explains how it is billed.
Am I charged when someone leaves me a voicemail in another EU country?
No. The EU roaming regulation forbids any charge or surcharge for voicemail messages left in your network mailbox while you roam in the EU area.
Is listening to voicemail free when roaming in the EU?
Not necessarily. BEREC's guidelines say operators may apply other voicemail charges, such as for listening, which inside the EU are charged as at home under your tariff.
Does voicemail cost money outside the EU?
It depends on your operator. EU regulators encourage operators to say in their welcome SMS whether receiving voicemail outside the EU area is charged, so read it and check the roaming page.
How do I turn off voicemail before travelling?
Dial ##002# to cancel all forwards, which can switch voicemail off, or use your operator's own code or app, then test it by calling yourself from another phone. Remember to turn it back on when you return.
Get your eSIM before you fly: the QR arrives by email in minutes and the plan only starts when you connect at your destination.
See data eSIM prices