Hey @LucyCath
Hope you’re well.
You may be overcomplicating this one. So if I’m understanding right, you’re in NZ and the ultimate aim is to dual sim (have your EE service and your local NZ service in the same phone) ?
If so, first question is what handset make and model is your new phone. The one you want to use moving forward? Assuming it accepts both an eSIM and a physical sim. You could perhaps get an eSIM from your chosen local network in NZ and use the sim slot for your physical sim from EE.
However you then say you don’t want to continue paying for a phone you’re sending home? So that makes me believe you’re planning to end your EE pay monthly agreement at the end of your contact. If this is the case then to keep your number, you’d need to either give EE notice to move to prepaid. Or take a PAC code and port to another networks prepaid service. End result is, you’d still have a physical sim and you’d need someone in the UK to support with this (as the prepaid service would have to be activated in the UK before the sim could then be sent to allow you to use it roaming in NZ…. It’s then up to you to keep up with the criteria of the prepay network, e.g. ensuring you recharge / make calls at least once every 6 months to keep your service active)
You talk about not wanting to lose contacts. Gone are the days where numbers are linked to SIM cards. Your contacts will be in your old phone. If it’s a smart phone then ensuring you’re backing up to Apple’s iCloud or Google’s backup should make life easier when moving your content to your new device. If this isn’t the case, you may need to manually re-enter your numbers on your new phone.
If you were opting to stay as an EE pay monthly customer then you could actually arrange a sim swap from physical to eSIM via your My EE app. But I don’t think this is your plan?
Hope this makes some kind of sense. Be good to know what your current set up is. As in do you have service with a local NZ network in your new phone. If so, will they transfer that service to eSIM to keep your sim tray freed up for whichever option you take for your UK number.
