topic Can’t unlock esim on iphone in SIM cards & Porting

Can’t unlock esim on iphone

Julia1610 — Sat, 23 May 2026 22:57:27 GMT

I have an esim and want to use a different esim whilst travelling to Japan. However I cannot unlock it online. One of the reasons for not unlocking seems to be that I need to have the esim for 6 months. I think I’ve had mine for just under 6 months. However, I still need to unlock the eSIM and don’t want to spend a fortune calling customer services. Is there another way. I’ve tried the app and the website too.

Re: Can’t unlock esim on iphone

Peter_W — Sun, 24 May 2026 07:56:00 GMT

Welcome to the Community, @Julia1610

Since December 2021, all EE handsets have been sold as unlocked by default, and this applies to both physical SIMs and eSIMs too.

Is this showing as locked if you head over to our online unlocking page?

If you're not able to check things here, then speaking to our team is definitely going to be best.

You can contact us free of charge from the UK if you're on pay monthly, or alternatively there's also the 'Message Us' Option in the Help section of the EE app.

Peter

Re: Can’t unlock esim on iphone

Julia1610 — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:13:50 GMT

thank you - the message us option is very poor and provides limited answers beyond the standard answer. That didn’t work for me. You don’t say how I can phone customer care from Japan without incurring a huge phone bill. I have managed to resolve my eSIM problem without your help but would advise that you provide more helpful information for those people who are already overseas.