UK eSIM — London, Manchester, Birmingham and all of Britain

Students: why the first week needs data

A UK student visa is no longer a plastic BRP card — it is an eVisa held in your UKVI account. That puts several first-week tasks online:

• University enrolment — the Right to Study check asks for a share code generated in your UKVI account.
• Accommodation — a landlord's Right to Rent check asks for a share code too.
• Opening a bank account — usually an online application, with OTPs to your phone.
• Getting to campus by Uber or bus, and finding your way round a new city on Google Maps.

A pay-as-you-go SIM needs no bank account, but it means a shop visit or a wait for delivery; a contract or the cheapest monthly plans need a UK bank account and address — neither of which you have in week one. The eSIM covers that gap: you are online from landing, and once your UK bank account is open you can switch to a local SIM in your own time.

One more thing: UKVI and bank verifications often send OTPs to your Pakistani number. The eSIM is a second line, so your Pakistani SIM stays in the phone and those codes keep arriving.

• SIM guide for UK students — eVisa, first week, local SIM

Family visits — London, Birmingham and Bradford

Around 1.6 million people of Pakistani origin live in the UK — 290,000 in London and 195,000 in Birmingham alone (2021 census). That is why many Pakistanis fly to Britain: to see a son, a daughter, a brother or the wider family.

Those visits tend to run for weeks or months. The UK Standard Visitor visa allows a stay of up to six months, which is exactly why we carry a 50 GB plan that lasts 180 days — one eSIM for the whole visit.

The house will have Wi-Fi, but the market, the mosque, a hospital appointment or an evening at a relative's all need mobile data for Maps, WhatsApp and video calls — without leaning on someone else's hotspot.

Coverage — on both EE and Three

This eSIM runs on two UK networks: EE, one of the UK's widest 4G and 5G networks, and Three. The phone picks whichever has the stronger signal.

You get 4G and 5G across London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Glasgow and Cardiff, and along the main rail routes; coverage inside the Underground varies by station. Signal can be weaker in the Scottish Highlands and rural Wales, as it is on every network.

WhatsApp calls, video calls and FaceTime work normally in the UK — there are no restrictions.

Landing at Heathrow, Manchester or Birmingham

• Uber or Bolt — both run in London and the big cities.
• Trains and the Tube — a contactless bank card or Oyster; Citymapper and Trainline for routes and tickets.
• Telling your family you have landed.
• Your accommodation address and booking, in an email or on WhatsApp.

Elizabeth line and Heathrow Express tickets into London are sold on your phone, and university airport-pickup details usually arrive by email — both need data the moment you land. Airport Wi-Fi asks you to register and slows to a crawl when the terminal is busy.

How much cheaper than Jazz roaming and Holafly

Jazz's own international roaming bundle, which covers the UK, charges Rs. 7,767.50 including tax for 3 GB over 30 days. Our UK 3 GB for 30 days is Rs. 890.

Holafly, an international eSIM brand, sells only unlimited plans for the UK: $27.50 for 7 days (about Rs. 7,650), $51.50 for 15 days (about Rs. 14,300) and $76.50 for 30 days (about Rs. 21,300). You pay in dollars by card, with your bank's foreign transaction charge on top, and hotspot sharing is capped at 1 GB a day. For most visits our 5 GB for 30 days at Rs. 1,350 is plenty — and 50 GB for six months is Rs. 15,490.

And leaving mobile data on while roaming without a bundle is the most expensive mistake there is — at per-MB rates, one day of Maps can run into thousands. With the eSIM, keep data roaming switched off on your Pakistani line.

Is a UK local SIM better?

The straight answer: if you are staying a year or more, yes — a local SIM works out cheaper in the end. Pay-as-you-go SIMs are easy to find in the UK.

Week one is the hard part: a contract needs a UK bank account and address, a local SIM means removing your Pakistani one if the phone has a single SIM slot (and losing your OTPs), and until you have it you are offline. That is why most students run an eSIM for the first month and move to a local SIM after.

For a family visit or any stay up to six months, the eSIM is simply easier — nothing to swap out, nothing to register.

How much data to take

• A week-long business trip: 1 to 3 GB.
• Two to three weeks with family, on their home Wi-Fi: 5 GB — what most people choose.
• A student's first month — share codes, banking, flat viewings, Maps: 10 GB, the Student Pack.
• A first term spent mostly on campus Wi-Fi, with Maps and WhatsApp outside: 5 GB is enough.
• A visit of three to six months: 50 GB for 180 days — the Long Stay Pack.

Validity starts when the eSIM first connects to a network in the UK, not on the day you buy it. Buying and installing a few days before you fly is completely safe.

How it compares

Common questions

Other destinations

Going somewhere else? We have eSIMs for these countries too.

• Saudi Arabia eSIM — from Rs. 890
• Iraq eSIM — from Rs. 790
• United Arab Emirates eSIM — from Rs. 940
• United States eSIM — from Rs. 490
• Azerbaijan eSIM — from Rs. 1,090