# Not Receiving OTP Abroad? Why Codes Stop and What Works > Bank OTPs not arriving while you’re abroad? Why codes stop, what to check on your iPhone, and how Fwrd forwards codes from a SIM left at home. Last updated: 2026-10-23 Canonical HTML page: https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/not-receiving-otp-abroad Published: 2026-10-22 OTP texts usually stop abroad because your home line isn’t receiving texts on the network you’re in, or because your bank only sends codes to that one number. Check your iPhone first. If the codes still won’t arrive, leave the SIM in a spare iPhone at home and let Fwrd forward each OTP to you over the internet, to Telegram or any of its eight destinations. **What you need:** your home SIM or eSIM; a spare iPhone on iOS 26 or later, someone at home who can keep it plugged in, Fwrd, and a chat app you can read abroad, such as Telegram. ## Why aren’t OTPs arriving abroad? Almost always because the text never reaches the phone, not because of anything on the iPhone itself. The usual causes: - **The home line isn’t on a network.** If your iPhone shows No Service for that line, nothing arrives. - **Your plan doesn’t receive texts in that country.** Whether texts reach you while roaming, and what they cost, is up to your carrier and plan. - **The line has lapsed.** A prepaid SIM that isn’t recharged within the carrier’s rules can be suspended, and a suspended line gets no texts. - **The bank’s codes can’t reach you there.** Whether a bank’s sender delivers to a roaming phone is between the bank and your carrier, and neither is something you can fix from the iPhone. ## What to check on the iPhone you carry Apple’s page on connection problems abroad ([Apple](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201643), read October 22, 2026) gives two checks worth doing before anything else: 1. **Set the date and time automatically.** In Settings, open General, then Date & Time, and turn on Set Automatically. 2. **Restart the connection.** Turn on Airplane Mode for about 30 seconds, then turn it off, so the iPhone picks the best network. If the home line still shows No Service, or the code never comes, the text isn’t reaching that SIM while you travel. The next section gets the code to you another way. ## Get the codes anyway: leave the SIM at home The SIM doesn’t have to travel with you. In a spare iPhone at home, it receives codes as if you’d never left, and Fwrd forwards them over the internet. 1. **Add a chat in [Fwrd](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6759069713?pt=128544281&ct=blog-otp-abroad&mt=8) on the spare iPhone.** Telegram works on any connection; the [Telegram post](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/forward-iphone-sms-to-telegram) shows how to make the bot. Any of Fwrd’s eight destinations works; for WhatsApp or email, Fwrd hands the text to WhatsApp’s or Apple’s own send action, added after Fwrd’s. 2. **Create a Message automation.** On iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, then +. If you see Describe a shortcut, tap Edit. Tap Automation, then Message, and change Sender to Message. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, tap +, and choose Message. 3. **Type OTP or code.** Bank codes often come from lettered names the Sender picker can’t offer, so match on the words in the text instead. 4. **Let it run without asking, and add Fwrd’s action.** On iOS 27, turn Confirm Before Run off and Allow Running When Locked on; on iOS 26, choose Run Immediately. Then add Forward Message to All Destinations, with its Message field set to Shortcut Input. 5. **Keep only the codes, if you like.** In Fwrd, open the destination and choose Which Texts, then verification codes. A text that doesn’t look like a code is skipped and doesn’t use one of your free forwards. Try a Text checks the filter against a sample first. 6. **Show who sent each code.** Turn on Include Who Sent It in Fwrd’s Settings, then choose Sender on Fwrd’s action in Shortcuts. Each forward then starts with a From: line, so you can tell your bank from a shop. The [home number abroad post](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/receive-sms-from-home-number-abroad) has every tap, and how to keep the spare iPhone working for months. The spare iPhone needs someone at home to unlock it every two or three days: an iPhone that isn’t unlocked for three days restarts itself, and after any restart Fwrd can’t forward until someone unlocks it once. **About the free plan:** Fwrd forwards 15 texts a month for free. If your bank texts a code for every card payment, you can pass that within a couple of weeks, and the alert appears on the phone at home. Fwrd Pro removes the limit for $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year in the US; set it up before you leave. ## What forwarding OTPs can’t do - **It can’t keep the line alive.** Pay or recharge the SIM according to your carrier’s rules. If the line is suspended, there’s nothing to forward. - **It can’t reply as your home number.** Fwrd only forwards. Replies still come from the phone at home. - **It can’t make sharing codes safe.** Anyone who sees an OTP can use it, so forward only to a chat only you can read, and never because someone else asked you to. - **It isn’t banking advice.** What your bank allows from abroad is up to your bank. ## Questions about OTPs abroad ### Can I receive an OTP abroad if my SIM stays at home? Yes. A spare iPhone at home receives the code in your home country, and Fwrd forwards it to a chat you read over any internet connection, so the SIM never has to connect to a network where you are. ### Why do my OTPs come through at home but not abroad? Because abroad, the text has to reach your line through a network in the country you’re in. If the line shows No Service there, the code is never delivered. A SIM left at home sits on its normal network, so it keeps receiving. ### How do I keep my SIM active while I’m abroad? The SIM at home has to stay a working line, because Fwrd can only forward what arrives. Keep the plan paid or recharge it before it lapses, and put payments on autopay if you can. Each carrier sets its own limits, so read them on its own site. ### Is it safe to forward bank OTPs? It’s as safe as the place they land. Forward codes only from your own number, only to a chat or inbox that you alone can read, and turn the automation off when you’re home. ## Keep reading - [How to receive SMS from your home number abroad](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/receive-sms-from-home-number-abroad) - [How to keep your US number while living abroad](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/keep-us-phone-number-living-abroad)