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communick@expats.zone

A US virtual number just doesn't cut it (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by goodpeoplewin@alien.top to c/digitalnomad@expats.zone

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Okay so I run a few businesses and travel, and my US LLC gets paid in USD.

US PayPal account, and US bank account. Sweet.

BUT I'm not from the US. So I always get blocked by banks and paypal, asking to SMS verify my US phone number

How do you guys solve this problem?

I've tried virtual numbers / Skype but often the stupid site will not accept it saying "sorry that number is not acceptable".

I got a real US SIM, but somehow the US carriers cancel it after I've been nomading outside of the US, even though I'm still paying for it. It lasted for a while but now I'm stuck again.

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[–] ThePoeticVoyage@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I use data sims locally, but keep an active Google Fi account (about $25 per month). You can get your SMS messages via the web interface (messages.google.com). This does not require the sim to be active on the phone. Or even in a phone. Never had any issues with SMS/banks/authenticators, etc. To be clear, this is the only thing I use the line for. I'm not using my Fi account for international roaming. As far as they know, I'm still in the US with the phone off in a drawer.