# FYI to those using Google Voice (US expats only applicable)



## papaia

Google seems to be going after the US Google accounts showing logins from outside the US. One of my accounts got flagged, and I was informed that it will be migrated to France at the end of this month, process at the end of which I will be losing the google voice number tied to it. Luckily it is one with lesser importance, compared to others, which have financial dependencies and had real cell numbers ported. This is - indeed - result of a little neglect on my part, as I may not have used consistently split tunnel on the mobile VPN, with all Google apps tied to the US exit point, or specific VPN US exit points from my macbook, while connecting to Google services (mail, maps, chrome logged in, google play, etc., etc.), but - hey - something to keep an eye on, moving fwd. HTH others.


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## bhamham

It happened to me. But is it really a big deal? Helps me with my French and after all we live in France now.


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## papaia

bhamham said:


> It happened to me. But is it really a big deal? Helps me with my French and after all we live in France now.


I wish it was that simple. I have US accounts which rely exclusively on SMS (or call, if they refuse to text to GV numbers) to US numbers, for their approach on MFA. Unfortunately MFA apps - as we all use for a lot of other accounts - cannot yet be used with some of these financial services.


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## Nunthewiser

Does anybody know what some of the other options for 2 factor authentication are if Google Voice shuts you out?


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## Stevesolar

Hi,
we use a virtual phone number on our iPhone - this can receive SMS messages from our bank
cheers
steve


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## J&R

What about Tello? My husband and I initially thought about using GV to port our Verizon numbers, but we have been researching Tello and it seems to be another good option. We need to make a decision sooner rather than later because we are leaving for France at the end of August. Other suggestions are also appreciated. 

Thanks.


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## RayRay

You might want to explore MagicJack (magicjack.com). For about $45/year, Magicjack offers unlimited calls from and to the United States and Canada. There's no per call fee and no limit on the number of calls. It uses Voice over Internet Protocol telephony (VoiP).

The device one uses to set up a "landline" phone is a bit smaller than half a pack of cigarettes. There's also a smartphone app. If you have a US phone number, it can be ported to MagicJack. If you don't, you can select one that is appropriate to the region where you used to live in the US (or to a different region). 

We've used it in the US before we moved for a year and in France for 12 years. 

Best of luck.

Ray


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## Peasant

Before leaving the US I transferred my mobile number to MagicJack (www.magicjack.com) and it's been working well for almost five years. You install an app on your smartphone. N.B. that some US banks demand that you first log on to their smartphone app using a US land line, and they reject VOIP numbers.


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## J&R

Thanks for the MagicJack recommendation. I actually looked into the MagicJack Wireless and I think it will work for us, mainly because we will need a cell phone service when we land in France. We can also port our current Verizon numbers. The cheapest plan costs $15.00 a month and it does international roaming. Until we get a French SIM card, we can use the international roaming in case of emergency. Better be safe than sorry!!!!


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## garypen

That sucks! I've never heard of this. I, too, rely on my Google Voice numbers (originally ported from our US home and mobile phones) for US-based services. But, I have never had any issues with Google geo-tagging my accounts, even after being out of the country for over 3 years. I do VPN through US servers on occasion. But, that's only for video streaming purposes. I wonder if that's been enough to keep them off my ass?


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## burner987

Interesting. My Google Alert for Google Voice picked up this forum thread. I ported my old Verizon cell number to GV when I knew I was staying in Canada. It's been well over 10 years since I did that and I never regretted it. Somewhere along the line a couple years back I changed my country on my Google account from US to Canada without thinking... But they never forced me to change my number to one in Canada. So I've got a US number on my Canadian Google account. I also pay for 1TB cloud storage with Google One as well. Posting in case I stumbled onto some loophole. But I've never been hassled, or notified of any wrongdoing.

TL;DR: port your US number to GV on your US Google account, then change the country of the Google account. Might help to pay google for other service too.


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## jweihl

J&R said:


> What about Tello? My husband and I initially thought about using GV to port our Verizon numbers, but we have been researching Tello and it seems to be another good option. We need to make a decision sooner rather than later because we are leaving for France at the end of August. Other suggestions are also appreciated.
> 
> Thanks.


I've used Tello for a year and it works very well for me. I have an iPhone 11 with an Orange eSIM for my french phone number (with 80 Gb data plan), and a physical Tello SIM with my US phone number. I was able to port my long-standing mobile number from Verizon to Tello without issue (saving me about $50/month. Since Tello doesn't "roam" in Europe, but DOES operate as a VOIP phone using wifi or cellular data, it works perfectly well piggy backing on my Orange service for $5 per month (lowest cost Tello plan which keeps my service working).


I just spent three weeks in the US. The week before I left, I changed my Tello plan to unlimited data and calls/SMS for $20/month. I also bought an Orange "pass" that would give me calls/texts to my Orange number while in the US, but since I mostly use iMessage and Whatsapp, I really didn't need it. 

I got back to France yesterday and changed my Tello plan back to the $5 plan. You can do that on the fly online or on the Tello app. It's super easy. 

Having Tello on a dual SIM phone means that I can have a US and French number for a really reasonable price.

All two factor authentication works perfectly using this solution.

The only downside is that I still get the odd spam calls to my US number .... usually when I'm sleeping!


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## jweihl

burner987 said:


> Interesting. My Google Alert for Google Voice picked up this forum thread. I ported my old Verizon cell number to GV when I knew I was staying in Canada. It's been well over 10 years since I did that and I never regretted it. Somewhere along the line a couple years back I changed my country on my Google account from US to Canada without thinking... But they never forced me to change my number to one in Canada. So I've got a US number on my Canadian Google account. I also pay for 1TB cloud storage with Google One as well. Posting in case I stumbled onto some loophole. But I've never been hassled, or notified of any wrongdoing.
> 
> TL;DR: port your US number to GV on your US Google account, then change the country of the Google account. Might help to pay google for other service too.


I have a GV number that doesn't work as reliably as I wish, and didn't work for one of my two factor authentication accounts. It also wouldn't let me port my Verizon number to GV (apparently, based on the history of who owns which local exchange that your number was originally assigned to porting to GV might be impossible. I tried for months to get it to port, but no go.

I was successful in porting my Verizon number to Tello though. It took 15 minutes and worked on the first try.

I still keep my GV number, because, why not. But I almost never use it.


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## J&R

We signed up with Connect by T-Mobile for $10.00 a month. It's a prepaid plan and we were able to port our Verizon numbers. It works on both physical SIM and eSim, but it does not roam intentionally. We initially thought about porting our numbers to GV, but after reading the comments, we decided to sign up with a prepaid plan mainly for the two factor authentication.


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## LeeSEA

Connect by T-Mobile sounded interesting, but I don't think it will work for me: (from Connect T-Mobile)
*Are Tethering and International Roaming available on Connect by T-Mobile?*

Connect by T-Mobile plans include tethering up to the data amount included on the customer’s existing plan.
International features like roaming, calling, or SMS are not available.

I need to have SMS for login codes, so this is not an option for me.


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