Which rules actually reach you
Every rule on this site falls into one of two shapes, and the difference decides whether it is your problem. A rule written about the handset you carry reaches you no matter what SIM is in it. A rule written about a local line reaches you only if you buy one. Sellers blur the two, because half of this table says «yes, this reaches you».
9 rules follow the phone — a roaming profile changes nothing
27 rules apply to a local line you would have to buy
Rules that reach any traveller
These follow the device. Buying our profile — or anyone's — does not move you out of scope, and the country page says what to do instead.
| Country | What is regulated | What it demands | Read at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | Getting round an internet block, and the handset you own | Do not bypass internet filtering; own a device that is type approved | Telecommunication and Information Technology Act, Royal Decree M/106 of 1443 AH, Articles 24, 26 and 27; Implementing Regulations, Nov 2022, Article 92 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇲🇪 Montenegro | The handset you connect, not the SIM you carry | Equipment that meets the safety, interference and spectrum conditions; no registration, no document, no fee | Zakon o elektronskim komunikacijama, consolidated text Sl. list CG 100/24 and 119/26, Articles 90, 141 and 217 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇴🇲 Oman | Providing voice or video calls over IP | A permit from the Authority — and it cannot be issued for private individuals | TRA Decision 1152/2/3/2022/1, Official Gazette 1458, 11 Sep 2022 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | The handset itself | IMEI registration and a duty past 120 days | BTK / MCKS read 10 Aug 2026 |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | The handset itself | 90-day tourist exemption from the activation date | tra.gov.eg read 12 Aug 2026 |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | The handset itself | IMEI registration; duty and VAT above the USD 500 allowance | beacukai.go.id read 12 Aug 2026 |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | The handset itself | 60 days unregistered, or 120 free days with temporary registration | pta.gov.pk read 12 Aug 2026 |
| 🇳🇵 Nepal | The handset itself | MDMS registration; the notice states no fee | NTA MDMS notice read 12 Aug 2026 |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | Calls over messaging apps | Nothing from you — the block sits in the network | TDRA VoIP Regulatory Policy v2.0, §3.2 read 14 Aug 2026 |
Rules that stop at the local line
These are written about a contract with a local operator. A roaming profile is a contract with a foreign one, so the requirement never starts — not as a loophole, but because the document names a different thing. The «why» column quotes the reason from the text itself.
| Country | What is regulated | Why it stops there | Read at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | A contract with a Vietnamese operator Full and accurate details when you sign with a Vietnamese carrier | Article 3.29 defines a telecom enterprise as one established under Vietnamese law; a foreign profile has no such contract. | Law on Telecommunications 24/2023/QH15, Articles 3 and 15; Decree 163/2024/ND-CP read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | A prepaid line sold by a Singapore licensee Identity document at purchase; three prepaid lines per person per operator | The licence defines the service as one “provided by the Licensee in Singapore”, which a roaming profile is not; a visitor’s handset is deemed licensed automatically, with no application and no fee. | IMDA FBO licence Schedule C cl. 1.1; Telecommunications (Radio-communication) Regulations Rg 5, reg. 65 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | Registration of the end user of a Malaysian prepaid line Passport in person before activation, for a Malaysian prepaid SIM | Clause 4 addresses Service Providers and Dealers only; the subscriber is not among the persons bound. | MCMC Commission Determination No. 1 of 2026, cll. 4, 7.2(c), 10.1(b) read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇫🇷 France | The operator, not the traveller Identification when a French prepaid line is sold | The duty in the Code sits on the operator issuing a French line, and a roaming profile is not one. | Code des postes et des communications électroniques read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇬🇷 Greece | A Greek prepaid connection Identity registration for a Greek prepaid line | The obligation attaches to connections issued by a Greek provider, not to a foreign profile roaming on the network. | Greek prepaid registration law, read via EETT read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | The sale of a Swiss prepaid line Identity check by the Swiss provider before the line works | The ordinance binds the Swiss provider at the point of sale; presence in the country triggers nothing. | Fernmeldegesetz (FMG), consolidated version in force 1 June 2026, and the Verordnung über Fernmeldedienste (FDV) read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | Undertakings providing networks in Portugal Identification for a Portuguese line, on the provider | The Electronic Communications Law addresses undertakings offering networks and services in Portugal. | Lei das Comunicações Eletrónicas (Lei 16/2022) read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | A service contract with a Korean carrier Identity verification when a Korean line is opened | The Act regulates concluding a contract for service with a Korean provider, not using a foreign one. | Telecommunications Business Act (전기통신사업법) read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | A South African SIM and its holder’s address Identity and a physical address for a South African SIM | RICA binds the electronic communication service provider issuing the SIM; a roaming profile is issued elsewhere. | RICA, Act 70 of 2002 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇦🇱 Albania | An Albanian prepaid line Identification for a line issued in Albania | The electronic communications law reaches the Albanian provider and the line it issues. | Ligji për komunikimet elektronike; registration forms approved by AKEP decision VKD No. 2422 of 19 Feb 2014 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | Number-based person-to-person services, defined in the act Unique identification of the end user, documented by the provider | Sections 2-8 and 2-9 of the 2024 ekomloven bind the provider of a public number-based person-to-person service, and the act defines that class in § 1-5 as one connecting to numbers in a numbering plan; a data-only profile has none. | Lov om elektronisk kommunikasjon (ekomloven), LOV-2024-12-13-76, §§ 1-5, 2-8 and 2-9 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇲🇹 Malta | Nothing: the act carries no subscriber or device rule No registration, no document, no device declaration | Counted as whole words on the consolidated English text of Chapter 399, the strings SIM, IMEI, passport and register appear zero times; the single use of identity is a definition of an associated service type. | Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act, Chapter 399 of the Laws of Malta, consolidated English text read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇬🇪 Georgia | A subscription opened by written contract in Georgia Nothing found: the act names no SIM registration, no IMEI and no document | Article 2(a) defines a subscriber as an end-user served under a prior written contract with a Georgian provider, and the act's identification duties in Articles 81 and 82 are interception obligations on the electronic communications company. | Law of Georgia on Electronic Communications, official English translation, Articles 2(a), 81 and 82 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | A prepaid SIM registered by a Polish provider A passport or residence card number for a non-EU, non-Swiss foreigner, verified before the line works | Article 296 binds an abonent, defined in Article 2(1) as a party to a contract with an electronic communications provider, and Article 45(5) names the user roaming on a foreign contract and puts the duty on the Polish network instead. | Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej, Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1221, Articles 2(1), 45(5) and 296 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | Selling voice over IP to the public, not using it Nothing of a visitor: the regulator states that no law prohibits using the technology | The regulator published a policy saying there are no laws or rules prohibiting use of VoIP in Qatar, and Article 9 of the telecom law reserves the licence requirement for providing service to the public for a fee, including resale. | Qatar VoIP Policy, ictQATAR, 20 Jul 2008; Telecommunication Law No. 34 of 2006 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2017, Article 9 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | A SIM card activated by a Dominican provider A cédula, passport or residency card, kept on file, with the IMEI tied to the IMSI | Article 10.1 of Resolución 070-19 keeps the SIM inactive until the provider validates the user, which describes a line issued in the country; INDOTEL added in Resolución 041-2020 that a tourist in transit reports a stolen handset to the provider in their home country. | Resolución 070-19, Article 10, as modified through 054-2023; Resolución 041-2020, Recital 110 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇵🇪 Peru | Entry of your handset in the national IMEI White List Nothing, and the regulation says so: equipment temporarily in the country is excused | Article 5.4 of the Reglamento of Decreto Legislativo 1338 excuses equipment temporarily in the country from the White List in order to operate and reach international roaming, while Article 5.3(c) sends a resident bringing a phone from abroad to an operator counter. | Reglamento del Decreto Legislativo 1338, approved by Decreto Supremo 007-2019-IN, Articles 5.3 and 5.4 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | A SIM card issued by a Kenyan operator or its agent For a foreigner, a valid passport or Foreign National Registration Certificate, verified against a government database | Regulation 4 of Legal Notice 90 of 2025 makes registration the operator's or agent's act and an offence for anyone else, and the only offence written for an individual is knowingly giving false information on that registration. | Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of Telecommunications Service Subscribers) Regulations, Legal Notice 90 of 2025, Regulations 4, 5 and 11 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | A SIM card issued by a Sri Lankan operator An NIC number or passport, a permanent address and a new Sri Lankan telephone number | Schedule I of the 2019 regulations tells every operator to collect that form when registering its retail subscribers, and the number being registered is one a roaming profile never receives; the separate question of a section 22 licence for the handset is open and set out on the country page. | Subscriber SIM Cards Regulations No. 01 of 2019, Schedule I, Gazette Extraordinary of 2 Aug 2019 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | A prepaid line issued in Costa Rica Name, passport for foreigners, a residence by province, canton and district, and an email | Article 72 records that data alongside the assigned Costa Rican telephone number, and a roaming profile is assigned none; the regulation's own roaming chapter binds Costa Rican operators toward their own subscribers abroad. | Reglamento sobre el Régimen de Protección al Usuario Final, Articles 72 and 83 to 88, Alcance 200 to La Gaceta 180, 22 Sep 2022 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | Prepaid mobiles, in the regulator's own words Nothing of a visitor: Ireland has no mandatory SIM registration | ComReg wrote in a published consultation that Ireland is one of only a few countries without mandatory SIM registration for prepaid mobiles, and said it is not minded to introduce it. | ComReg 23/52, Combatting scam calls and texts, paragraphs 6.90 and 6.93, 16 June 2023 read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇮🇸 Iceland | A power to make rules, not a duty on you Nothing of a visitor: no registration, no document, no notification | Article 93(4) empowers the authority to set rules for end users assigned numbers on Icelandic networks; it creates no self-executing duty, and a roaming profile is assigned no Icelandic number. | Lög um fjarskipti nr. 70/2022, 93. gr. 4. mgr., read on stjornartidindi.is read 8 Sep 2026 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Voice lines Name, address of residence, date of birth | The Act defines the service through sound; a data-only profile is not that service. | Act No. 31 of 2005, Articles 2–3 read 14 Aug 2026 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | Tourist SIMs and lines per passport Passport only; max 3 numbers per operator; 60-day life, no top-up extension | Clause 8 names a Thai operator’s own tourist product, sold as a Thai line. | Royal Gazette vol. 142, special part 284 ง read 14 Aug 2026 |
| 🇨🇳 China | Joining a Chinese carrier’s network Passport for a foreign citizen | The duty attaches to 入网 — signing up with a Chinese operator. | MIIT Order No. 25 (2013), Articles 3, 6–7 read 14 Aug 2026 |
| 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | The handset, once it carries a local SIM Special registration beyond 30 days on a local SIM; passport, visa, entry stamp | BTRC conditions the visitor duty on using a local SIM; a roaming profile is not one. | neir.btrc.gov.bd read 13 Sep 2026 |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Local SIM registration Passport, nationality and a Philippine address | RA 11934 registers subscribers of Philippine SIMs; a roaming profile is not one. | Republic Act No. 11934 (2022) read 12 Aug 2026 |
Where this list stops
Countries we have not sourced are not here Oman, Qatar and Nigeria carry the language of a real consequence in search results, but we have not read a regulator document for them. A table like this is only worth reading if absence means something.
Every country in the catalogue 204 countries with plans, each with its rule status stated plainly — including «not checked yet». › What a phone costs to register Where a device rule carries a fee, the calculator works it out from each regulator's own formula. › Each row is a summary of the country page behind it, and that page carries the document and the date. Rules change without notice — check before you fly, and tell us if you find one of these out of date.