Confused about iMessage with Dual SIM

[mc510]

When I go overseas, I will tell my main mobile carrier to block international roaming, and then I will install a data-only eSIM for my destination country. So I'll be using the foreign eSIM for all data, and my main mobile phone number will doing WiFi Calling using the eSIM mobile data.

Okay, but what about iMessage/FaceTime? I understand that I will need to tell iMessage/FaceTime to use either the main SIM or the foreign data-only eSIM, but I am confused about which one I should select. My main SIM is the phone number associated with iMessage but it won't have any data (unless we count the data that it can access from my eSIM?). Or if I select the eSIM, that will provide data but won't provide an identity (phone number). Help?

 

[Fred Zed]

Sorry can't help. But when I went overseas for over 7 weeks I made sure not to have my local sim registered with iMessages and I was good.

 

[Cruncher]

I do the same. I have my main carrier and when I am overseas I have my local Prrepaid SIM with data and cellular. I don`t activate iMessage on my Overseas SIM because I don`t use it there. But with my Home Sim still active, I can use iMessage with the data plan from my Overseas SIM.

You can even activate iMessage/Facetime for both SIM-Cards with no problem.

 

[cjkastoun]

When you plug in the overseas SIM, it will ask you if you want to add the local number to iMessage. Say yes and iMessage will work seamlessly. You will receive iMessages addressed to both numbers even if you don’t have data on your US number.

You can configure this a bit more in the settings for iMessages.

i travel a lot and my iMessage is linked to 4 diffferent phone numbers at the same time. It works quite seamlessly.