Using a UK SIM in Pakistan and Saudi: keeping the family reachable

Using a UK SIM card in Pakistan works, and for a short trip it is often the simplest choice. Your phone will connect as an international roamer, and Pakistan's phone-registration system does not ask roamers to register anything. The catch is cost and timing, not permission. Roaming outside Europe can be expensive, and the moment you put a Pakistani SIM into that same phone, the registration rules apply to you. So the real decision is not "will my phone work?" but "which number will a driver, a cousin and your parents in the UK actually be able to reach, at what time, and on what budget?"

Below: what to ask your network, the phone-registration rules, which number each driver gets, and a contact sheet that works across three countries.

Three setups for using UK SIM card in Pakistan

Most families end up with one of three arrangements. Pick the one closest to your trip before you look at tariffs.

What causes trouble is changing plan mid-trip without telling the people trying to call you.

Roaming on a UK SIM: what to check with your network

Before you fly, ring your network or open its app and ask these questions. Write down the answers, because the person meeting you at arrivals will not know them.

1. Is Pakistan in a roaming add-on or "passport" style bundle, or is it pay-per-use? The same question applies to Saudi Arabia if you are going on for Umrah. The two countries are often in different price zones.
2. What does an incoming call cost? Depending on your tariff, simply answering a call abroad may be charged. That matters when a driver rings you three times from the car park.
3. Is there a spending cap, and can you set one? UK government guidance on mobile roaming limits describes a £45 monthly limit on data roaming with alerts at 80% and 100%, but that guidance is written around EU and EEA roaming. Do not assume the same protection covers Lahore or Jeddah; ask your provider what limit applies there.
4. Will roaming be switched on automatically? Some accounts, especially pay-as-you-go ones, need roaming activated before departure.
5. Does your plan support Wi-Fi calling abroad? If it does, you may be able to make and receive calls on your UK number over a home broadband connection.

Once you have the answers, decide on one rule for the trip. A common one is: mobile data off, roaming on for calls and texts, WhatsApp only on Wi-Fi. That keeps your UK number alive for drivers and banks without running up a data bill.

A UK number is a good arrival number

Your UK number has one big advantage on arrival day: it already works when the wheels touch down, before you have bought anything or queued at a SIM counter. For that reason it is usually the right number to give the driver collecting you from the airport, even if you plan to switch to a local SIM later. Our late-night arrival contact plan goes further into what to agree with the driver if your flight lands after midnight.

PTA registration for overseas Pakistanis and visitors

Pakistan runs a device-registration system called DIRBS (Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System), operated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. Its purpose is that only registered, type-approved handsets work on Pakistani mobile networks. For a traveller, the practical points from the PTA DIRBS FAQs are these:

• Roaming on your UK SIM needs no registration. The FAQs state that users on roaming services continue to use their phones without registering, and that an international SIM used as a roamer is allowed service.
• A Pakistani SIM changes things. The same FAQs say roamers need to register if they insert a local SIM. If you skip this, the phone can be flagged as non-compliant and blocked on Pakistani networks.
• There is a temporary allowance for short visits. Overseas Pakistanis and foreign nationals visiting on a short-term basis can temporarily register one device for 120 days from their date of arrival. You apply through the DIRBS portal with your passport number, CNIC or NICOP if you have one, the Pakistani mobile number issued in your name, the phone's IMEI, an email address, and your arrival and intended departure dates.
• The temporary registration is tied to one SIM. It covers the declared Pakistani number only. The FAQs say that if you insert any other SIM, the device will not get network connectivity, and that you are expected to take the phone back with you when you leave.
• Permanent registration means paying duty. If you want a phone to work in Pakistan long term, the portal generates a payment slip for the duty and taxes, which you pay at a bank; the handset is then whitelisted. The FAQs note that the free baggage exemption for phones was withdrawn in 2019.
• You can check a handset's status by texting its IMEI to 8484, or through the DIRBS website or app. Dial *#06# on most phones to see the IMEI.

Rules and duty amounts change, and outdated versions circulate in family WhatsApp groups. Check the DIRBS site in the week before you travel rather than relying on what a relative was told last year.

The two-phone trick

Because a temporarily registered phone only works with its declared Pakistani SIM, many regular visitors carry two handsets: an older phone for the Pakistani SIM, and their main phone kept on the UK SIM for banking codes, the airline app and calls from home. If you do this, register the older handset, not the one you rely on for UK security texts.

Local SIM for tourists in Pakistan: what to bring

The DIRBS rules say the Pakistani number must be issued in your own name, against your CNIC or passport, by a Pakistani mobile operator. In practice that means buying the SIM yourself at an operator's own outlet or authorised franchise, with your original document in hand. A SIM bought in a relative's name will not match a temporary registration made in yours.

Bring:

• your passport (and NICOP or CNIC if you hold one);
• the handset you intend to register, charged, with its IMEI noted;
• your arrival date and return flight date, for the DIRBS form;
• enough time. Do not plan the SIM purchase for the hour before a wedding function or an intercity departure.

Ask at the counter how long a visitor SIM stays active and what happens if you leave and come back later in the year. Operators set their own packages, so the answer may differ between them.

For longer stays a local number pays off: the tailor, the caterer and a driver on a multi-day booking will all find a Pakistani number easier to ring than a +44 one.

Which number to give Pakistan and Saudi drivers

This is where most mix-ups happen. A driver has one number in the job details, and if that number is switched off, in a handbag, or roaming without credit, the pickup starts badly. Give each driver one primary number and one backup, and say which is which.

Pakistan airport pickup

• Primary: the number that will be on and in your hand as you walk out of arrivals. For most UK travellers that is the UK SIM on roaming, because the local SIM does not exist yet.
• Backup: a relative in Pakistan who knows your flight, ideally the person you are staying with. Add their name and relationship so the driver knows who is answering.
• Tell the driver that you will message on WhatsApp once you reach the arrivals hall, if you can get online.

If a parent or older relative is the passenger and you are organising from the UK, the primary number is usually the person travelling with them, not you. Our guide to arranging an airport pickup for parents while you are abroad covers how to split that responsibility.

Pakistan journeys later in the trip

Once you have a local SIM, switch the primary number for future journeys. Do it in writing and ask for confirmation. "Please use 03xx for Thursday's Lahore to Sialkot run; the +44 number will be off" is enough. Do not assume a change you made for one booking carries over to the next one.

Saudi Arabia for Umrah or a visit

A Pakistani SIM will only work in Saudi Arabia if it roams there, and a temporarily registered Pakistani phone is tied to its declared SIM. So for the Saudi leg, plan on one of these:

• your UK SIM on roaming (check the Saudi rate separately);
• a Saudi SIM bought on arrival, in a separate handset or a dual-SIM phone. Rules for issuing SIMs to visitors are set by Saudi Arabia's regulator, the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, and applied by the operators, so ask at the counter what documents they need.

For the Jeddah or Madinah pickup, give the driver the number that will be live when you land in Saudi Arabia, which is usually the UK SIM again. Our sister company Saudi Cab Co has a practical note on where airport assistance ends and your driver begins, which is worth reading if an Umrah group operator is also meeting you. If you are flying Pakistan to Saudi Arabia rather than from the UK, the Pakistan to Jeddah ground-journey guide connects the two ends.

Before you go, check the FCDO travel advice for Saudi Arabia. At the time of writing it advises against all travel within 10km of the Yemen border and all but essential travel in a wider band that includes Abha and Khamis Mushait, and it describes missile and drone attacks on major cities. Advice can change quickly, so read the current page rather than an old screenshot.

WhatsApp calls in Pakistan: a backup, not a plan

WhatsApp calls in Pakistan are how most families and many drivers actually talk, so it makes sense to rely on them as a second channel. Just do not make them the only one.

• Arrivals halls are not a guaranteed Wi-Fi zone. If airport Wi-Fi works for you, treat it as a bonus. The driver needs a phone number that rings without data.
• Mobile and internet services can be interrupted. The FCDO Pakistan travel advice warns visitors to be prepared for short-notice disruption to transport, mobile and internet services, including around protests. When that happens, a normal call or SMS may still get through where WhatsApp does not.
• Your WhatsApp account follows your number. If you keep WhatsApp on your UK number, people reach you there whichever SIM is in the phone, as long as you have data or Wi-Fi. If you set up WhatsApp on the new Pakistani number, tell everyone, because it looks like a stranger.

Three countries, three clocks

Time zones catch people out more than tariffs do. The UK is on GMT in winter and British Summer Time in summer; according to GOV.UK, UK clocks change on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. Pakistan Standard Time is UTC+5 and Saudi Arabia is UTC+3, and neither country currently uses daylight saving. That gives you a simple rule of thumb:

In other words, Pakistan is five hours ahead of the UK in winter and four in summer, and Saudi Arabia is always two hours behind Pakistan. The table is an example at noon UK time; the gaps are what matter.

So a relative in Birmingham calling at 11pm UK time in winter is ringing you at 4am in Pakistan, so agree quiet hours. And always write pickup times in local time at the pickup place, with the city name next to it. "Pickup 03:40 Islamabad time" leaves no room for doubt. "Pickup 10:40" sent from the UK does.

A printable family contact sheet

Put everything on one page. Print two copies, keep one in your hand luggage, and send a photo of it to the family WhatsApp group and to whoever is coordinating back home. Fill in this template:

Trip: names of travellers, UK departure date, Pakistan arrival date, Saudi dates if any, UK return date.

Numbers in use (and when):

Drivers and journeys: for each booked journey, the date, local pickup time with city, pickup point, the primary passenger number given to the driver, and the backup number.

Addresses: the Pakistan address written in English and Urdu, with a landmark and a relative's number next to it; the Saudi hotel name and address as it appears on the booking.

Emergency: in Pakistan, the FCDO health guidance tells you to dial 1122 for an ambulance. Add your travel insurer's 24-hour line and the relevant British embassy or high commission contact from the FCDO pages.

Phone notes: which handset holds which SIM, the IMEI of any phone registered on DIRBS, and the date that registration ends (120 days from arrival).

Where people travel matters too

If your family home is in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, note that the FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel there. It also advises against all travel to some other areas, including Balochistan and much of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This changes more than the phone plan: it can affect insurance and how you arrange any journey. Read the current FCDO Pakistan advice for every place on your itinerary before you finalise the contact sheet.

Arrival day, step by step

Assuming a UK SIM on roaming and a local SIM bought later:

1. Before boarding in the UK: roaming on, mobile data off, phone fully charged, power bank in hand luggage. Send the driver and your host a short message with the flight number and your UK number.
2. On landing: switch the phone on while taxiing. Send one text to your host: "Landed, at immigration." A plain SMS is often the most reliable first message.
3. After baggage: call or message the driver from the primary number you gave them. If you cannot reach them, call your backup contact rather than wandering the car park.
4. In the car: confirm the drop-off address and share your live location with the host relative only.
5. Next day or two: buy the local SIM in your own name, register the handset on DIRBS if you are putting that SIM in it, and send everyone the updated contact sheet.
6. Before the Saudi leg: switch drivers back to the number that will work in Saudi Arabia, and update the sheet again.

If your arrival is from the Gulf rather than the UK, the order is the same but the roaming questions change; our guide on connecting a Gulf flight to your Pakistan pickup plan covers the differences.

Questions people ask

Will my UK phone be blocked in Pakistan?

Not while you use it on your UK SIM as a roamer. The PTA's DIRBS FAQs say roaming users can carry on without registration. The rules apply once you insert a Pakistani SIM, so register the phone (temporarily for up to 120 days, or permanently with duty) before relying on a local number.

Should drivers call my UK or Pakistani number?

Whichever will be switched on and in your hand at pickup time. On arrival day that is usually the UK number. After you buy a local SIM, tell each driver in writing which number to use for which journey, and give a backup contact every time.

Is WhatsApp enough on its own?

No. It is a very good second channel, but it needs data or Wi-Fi, and the FCDO warns that mobile and internet services in Pakistan can be disrupted at short notice. A driver should always have a number that works for a normal call.

Planning the journeys around your numbers

You can plan a journey with Pakistan Taxi (planned link) and include the primary and backup numbers in your enquiry; the team will come back to you about availability and the details before anything is confirmed. If you are still working out what to include, the help and journey-planning page (planned link) explains what we ask for and why.

If you are travelling to meet family at Islamabad or Sialkot, iDrive, the network behind Pakistan Taxi, has a useful walk-through of how an arrivals pickup at those airports works.