iPhone 4S verizon unlocked for overseas use without roaming

In the case of Verizon phones, this is absolutely NOT true. Verizon unlocks for a limited period of time. No iPhone 4S's have been in circulation yet for the SIM slot to re-lock, but they do re-lock eventually (I believe it's 10 months, but I may be off a little on that) and have to be unlocked again by Verizon again to function with anything other than a Verizon roaming SIM. If you are a customer in good standing, this will probably happen behind the scenes without your knowing about it. If you are not, then you will end up with a useless phone.

Thank You junglekingmowgli I appericate your response and thanks for telling us of your experience. I just wanted to make sure some of the stuff the verizon rep told me was true and from what else I read on the web. I know this is a Verizon Thread and not all iphone 4s are the same but the technology is thats why i asked about what sprint customers had or said they needed to do. Just did not know if that applyed to us also. I know that the sim will stay unlock and can't be relock, The Rep told me once its unlock for no reason will it relock as long as you keep your phone on verizon. Which i dont think thats true its just them saying it to keep your bussiness once they unlocked it's perminited. I agree with you on that.

KiltedTim 10 months is the period that they give you for how many phone you can unlock threw Verizon. Its not how long it will stay locked for. You can only unlock one phone every 10 month. When the phone is connect to Itunes for the offfical first time of inserting new sim it goes threw a Factory Unlock.

* Must be a Verizon Wireless customer.

* The iPhone 4S being unlocked must be active on a Verizon Wireless line of service.

* The line of service must be active at least 60 days.

* The line of service must be in good standing for the past 60 days.

* Only one SIM Unlock per line every 10 months.

4. Get confirmation from the rep that the unlock has been applied to your account, then check your phone to make sure it recognizes your SIM and can connect (if successful it will roam on AT&T, assuming you are calling from the USA.) You will NOT see an unlock confirmation in iTunes as that is for a factory-applied unlock only

All of this information was found here http://https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/696707?start=0&tstart=0

junglekingmowgli Thank you for sharing your experinece and giving me some peace of mind. Thanks for answering my questions and concern's. Very much appericated.

KiltedTim, you are incorrect. Once unlocked by the carrier, it is unlocked forever on that specific device. Please verify your information before posting. I am 100% sure on this matter. Once unlocked by the carrier, the phone will work any foreign SIM; the unlocking process should still prevent ATT USA sims, as they don't want customers changing services easily.The point of this thread is to not confuse people with misinformation as it has happened on every other thread here.

Once again, my information applies to iPhone 4s sold through Verizon.

That is true for GSM only iPhones. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA phones and the same does not apply. CDMA iPhones can NOT be completely unlocked.

If you would like to provide documentation from Verizon to the contrary, be my guest. Until you can do so, I'll stand by what I said.

Here is another thread, which confirms what I stated. I do not have written documentation, but have spoken to Verizon Reps many times on this matter. They have confirmed the unlock is permament.

Can you provide proof that the unlock isn't permament?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1274057

I think there is some confusion on this matter. When I asked Verizon to unlock my iPhone 4S before traveling to Europe recently, I was told that it unlocks the phone forever, not just until I returned to the US. Otherwise, if I decided to travel overseas again before the next 10 month period, they wouldn't unlock it for me. The unlock is permanent. That being said, I believe it is only the GSM portion of the phone that is unlocked. I now have a phone which, because it is CDMA based, will only work on Verizon Wireless when in the US, provided it still has the Verizon SIM installed. But it WILL work overseas by inserting a GSM-compatible SIM card, and domestically on providers using the GSM standard. I confirmed this by using AT&T after I got back. What I suspect I could not do would be to switch to Sprint, because they use the same CDMA standard as Verizon Wireless. Hope that helps!

Stephen,

Thank you for putting it so clearly. I believe what you have stated is 100% correct.

Thanks, junglekingmowgli. I should add that my using ATT domestically required the use of the foreign SIM, but their prices are lower than ATT's, so I am essentially paying an Austrian mobile phone provider for service from ATT. :)

I have an iPhone 4S with Verizon in the US. It is on a corporate voice and data plan through my work. I told my IT deparment I was going to Europe next week, and asked what I should do to make the phone compatible with the European cell systems.

I think they contacted Verizon, and then told me to dial *228, hit send (which I did last night), and the plan will be upgraded for international use. After doing this, the iPhone did respond with something like "Your carrier settings have been updated" or something like that. However, nobody has told me that I need a new SIM card. Will my phone work without it? Without a new SIM, will I pay Verizon's international charges? The cost isn't a concern -- rather, I want to make sure the phone works for both voice and data while in Europe.

Can anyone confirm or verify this is correct?

You obviously didn't read that thread very thoroughly. You'll notice that you can not use ANY US network other than Verizon. You can NOT use an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM in the phone after having the SIM slot unlocked. The phone is NOT completely unlocked and REQUIRES service from Verizon in order for the SIM slot to remain usable for a foreign SIM.

Tgara wrote:

I think they contacted Verizon, and then told me to dial *228, hit send (which I did last night), and the plan will be upgraded for international use. After doing this, the iPhone did respond with something like "Your carrier settings have been updated" or something like that. However, nobody has told me that I need a new SIM card. Will my phone work without it? Without a new SIM, will I pay Verizon's international charges? The cost isn't a concern -- rather, I want to make sure the phone works for both voice and data while in Europe.

What Verizon did was enable your phone for international roaming. By default, all Verizon accounts (and it's really the account and not the phone itself) are blocked to prevent international long distance and international roaming. This is to prevent people from making incredidibly expensive calls unawares (or before Verizon is satisfied that they will be able to pay for them). Unless you have your phone unlocked and get a local SIM, you will be paying (varies by country) about $1.99/min per call and $25/100mg for data.

I believe that the first batch of Verizon 4S's was shipped without a Verizon SIM installed. Other than pulling out the SIM tray to check, I'm not sure if there is a way to find out if you have one or not. It would probably be a good idea to verify it's present before you leave.

Wow.... read the thread title..

iPhone 4S verizon unlocked for overseas use without roaming

you are now aruging something completely different. I also mentioned earlier that changing carriers within US is not an option.

"the unlocking process should still prevent ATT USA sims, as they don't want customers changing services easily."

The phone does not "relock" as you stated originally. get your facts straight.

Fine. Believe whatever you want.

Don't come whining to us when your phone becomes a useless brick.