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I have a claro prepaid plan which is R$30 / month.  When I'm not in Brazil, I make a payment every three months to keep it active, although I believe you can actually skip payments for up to 6 months, or even longer.  I stick to the at least every 3 months to stay on the safe side.  I've been doing this for at least 10 years with no issues.

    I have a claro prepaid plan which is R$30 / month.  When I'm not in Brazil, I make a payment every three months to keep it active, although I believe you can actually skip payments for up to 6 months, or even longer.  I stick to the at least every 3 months to stay on the safe side.  I've been doing this for at least 10 years with no issues.        -@mikehunter

Thank you @mikehunter. 

Sounds like a great option.  R$30/month is very affordable.  Do you have enough cell minutes / data  with that?  And if you happen to plan to exceed the minutes /data for a particular month, can you go online and add money for that month?  Or is this pretty much fixed and the only way to address unexpected data usage is to upgrade the whole prepaid plan?  Or is there rollover minutes / data over the monthly boundary so that the minutes that are not used when you are out of the country can be used when in country?  Not sure how prepaid plans work with Claro.

@Pablo888 It's unlimited calls and text messages and includes 12Gb data for whatever and 3Gb data specifically for Youtube.  Whatsapp doesn't count against the data allowance (doesn't help me because I use Telegram, but whatever).  Anyway, with the advent of Wifi in most places, I find that it's more than enough for me.  If you do run out of data, you just renew early or pay more and switch to another prepaid tier.  TIM and Vivo have more or less similar plans within 1Gb or 2 for R$30 also. Pick whichever carrier you like better or has better coverage in your area.

Thank you @mikehunter.  R$30/month for 12Gb and free whatsapp..... that's all I need.

Claro, Vivo and TIM are all on my to-get list now.

Much appreciated.

@Pablo888 Everyone in Brazil seems to use WhatsApp these days instead of a telco.

Ya get a Brazilian number. The roaming plans when you travel abroad are actually amazing for price.

Try getting a country specific individual phone# via Skype ......

I have just added a Claro esim to my iPhone. 90% of the time i am on Wi-Fi and just keep my phone in airplane mode. When I go outside the house I switch off my primary US number and switch on my Vivo account and select off airplane mode. Claro works good for us and use primarily for Uber, WhatsApp and google maps. I did get a new phone number with this account and now have two numbers available for calls. Cost is low for the plan we have. I can suspend my Verizon account for max of three months but there are catches with that option which makes it just easier to keep the plan as is. Recently retired and trying to see what works and what doesn't given our situation of more time in Brazil than the US. Next is trying to figure out taxes! I have read many helpful posts on the subject in this forum and am grateful for all of the information.

@Paul6611, thank you for the response.  Sounds like signing up with Claro or other providers works.  One problem solved.

Re:  taxes - this is something on my to-do list too.  May be we should find or create a thread entitled "how to file Brazil taxes in addition to filing taxes in other countries".  What do you think?

And yes, I would much rather be on a beach sipping caipirinhas rather than thinking of taxes.

@Paul6611 WhatsApp allows multiple devices to access one account. I’m not sure if that may help you. I have one WhatsApp account that I can access from iphone, Android and Windows. There is still no iPad app.

@alan279

While the larger portion of my communications with friends and family are via Whatsapp the fatal flaw with Whatsapp is that it serves no purpose in contacting those without Whatsapp - like [in the case of the USA] banks, lawyers, any/all of my siblings, the IRS and so many more places. Having a USA telephone line is a great advantage and given I'm having Vonage issues (need a new Vonage-authorized ATA box) and my Google Voice currently only functions on a mostly unused tablet, I find the Skype telephone cheap (US$3/month) and effective (works on all of my devices.

Others have found their own best solutions. What might be handy is a compiled list of possibilities for newbies headed to live overseas. The challenge is to create list without user bias, without a sales angle and with pointers (links) to places where more informative details might be found.

mberigan in Paraíba

@mberigan I used Skype initially, then switched to Google Voice.

@mberigan I've been using Google Voice since the Grand Central days (2006), exclusively as my Telephone number, and haven't had any issues with it, either with the Android or iPhone client.   I don't even know what my T-Mobile number is without looking it up.  As they used to say, "One number to rule them all."  It's nice because there is also a web client so I can also check when I'm using the PC - and last but not least, the price is right... free. ;-)  What problems are you having with it on your phone?

I also use google voice and the only problem that I have experienced is that there are some 2 Factor web authentication that do not accept virtual phone numbers such as google voice.  Those will ask for actual phone numbers rather....

In order to cover all the bases, it may be better to have both a google voice AND a cell phone number in each country.

Another possible drawback of google voice is that this service can be terminated at any time.  Or that's the rumor anyways.

@Pablo888 I have Google Voice with a US number. I haven't had a problem with two factor authentication in recent years.

    @Pablo888 I have Google Voice with a US number. I haven't had a problem with two factor authentication in recent years.
   

    -@alan279

Thank you @alan279.  Most 2FA rely on the code that they send - but I think that banks or the like check whether this is a real phone number as part of some sort of fraud detection mechanism.

Just something to remember...  but by and large, I like google voice.

@mberigan, BTW, you can access google voice on the web - in the same way that you access your gmail.  If you allow google voice to use your mike and speakers in the browser, this works as well as anywhere else.

Google voice has been a life saver for me many times - mainly during the long phone calls to reschedule / rebook flights.  I prefer to use google voice rather than cellular because WiFi uses less power than cellular - and I can stay with the airline customer support longer before my batteries die.

May be TMI here - but IMHO it is definitely easier to use GV rather than skype - mainly because the google servers have way more up time worldwide than the skype servers... 

All my contacts who used to communicate via skype have moved to WhatsApp or Facetime (apple specific) as those services have become better over time.

@Pablo888 The problem with GV and some SMS messages is that GV does not support SMS short codes.  Some financial institutions use short codes, hence the issue.  GV also doesn't support RCS, even though Google has been throwing shade at Apple for years for not supporting it.  Kind of a pot calling the kettle black IMO, but whatever.  Most banks I use work fine with GV, the few that do not, I simply give them my T-Mobile cell number and that solves the issue.  However, if I do give out my actual cell number because their systems use short codes, I specifically tell them to keep my GV number on file and if they want to call me, they have to do it throught GV.  I never accept voice calls on my actual cell number and I've set up my cell service to have voice mail turned off, so if anyone calls that number I know it's spam

I don't use GV to replace paying for a phone service.  Instead, I use GV as my "one number to rule them all", and when I give out my phone number, I use GV.  That way, my phone number always remains the same, and if I change my phone number for some reason, my business cards, etc. stay the same. 

GV is also handy when I'm in Brazil, people call my GV number and it comes across on my phone, as long as it has an internet connection.  If for some reason I'm in an area with no coverage, it rolls to voicemail and I get a transcription sent to my gmail. 

@Pablo888 My two US banks and Wise text verification codes to Google Voice now. I remember one bank not liking Google Voice in the past.

    @Pablo888 My two US banks and Wise text verification codes to Google Voice now. I remember one bank not liking Google Voice in the past.
   

    -@alan279

Thank you for the explanation.

@alan279 In my experience, AMEX, Capital One, Discover, Schwab and Chase work fine with GV.  Wells Fargo uses short codes.  Wise, Capital One and Chase  also have a mechanism to get authentication from their Android/iPhone apps.  Others may have this also, but this is what I know about.

@Pablo888

Pablo, I am getting local recommendations from family here in MG about tax accountant and will have to file for the upcoming year.  I will post what I find out when the time is closer. In the mean time, just enjoying retirement in Brazil and getting ready to make application for drivers license.

Have a good day

@Pablo888

I usually just let the plan expire I have Vevo when I get there just get another sim and get on the Wi-Fi and use WhatsApp to make phone calls if you need to you might want to try even Google Voice which might let you make phone calls if you have Wi-Fi at the airport to contact your people to come get you but usually when you're there you just get well I just get Vivo. I ill consider the 30 reis plan though.

    @Pablo888
I usually just let the plan expire I have Vevo when I get there just get another sim and get on the Wi-Fi and use WhatsApp to make phone calls if you need to you might want to try even Google Voice which might let you make phone calls if you have Wi-Fi at the airport to contact your people to come get you but usually when you're there you just get well I just get Vivo. I ill consider the 30 reis plan though.
   

    -@hocytek3

Thank you @hocytek3 for the response. 

Sounds like a temporary SIM also works when coupled with whatsapp and google voice.

Good to know.

    Ya get a Brazilian number. The roaming plans when you travel abroad are actually amazing for price.         -@Mikeflanagan

I have a Roger's cell with a plan add on called "roam like home".....$10 a day for 2 weeks then free for the rest of the month pretty much anywhere worldwide.

Expensive by Brasilian standards but cheap compared to how it used to be in Canada. I've been using prepaid burner phones in Rio as well, but will have to get legit now that I'm here for good.

Looking at the TIM "Black" plan.

For those interested, I successfully ordered an esim today from Claro and installed it on my Iphone. It’s a prepaid plan with 12gb of data. Cost is 30 Reals per month. The process was relatively painless. Only goofy part was the taking of my photo holding my RNE card. It took about 2 hours to finalize sending me the esim. It’s installed now, and pretty zippy. Good part was no walking to a store and everything was done online. Even though they said they wanted a photo of an RG or drivers license, they accepted my RNE. We will see what develops.

Cost is 30 Reals per month.     -@bepmoht

What is the preferred method to make the payment?  Or at what frequency? 

I read somewhere that you do not need to pay exactly every month but you can catch up after a few months.... just to reduce the frequency of payments.

Not sure what is the best way to set this prepaid e-sim.  R$30/month sounds really good and I am tempted.

Is it 12GB per month?  Or 12GB for the whole year?  (I am assuming GBytes rather Gbits)

Heres the dope.

12GB LIVRES + 3GB DE YOUTUBE

15GB DE INTERNET

*Frete grátis + R$ 4,99 do chip + R$ 29,99 de recarga por 30 dias

+ 3GB para YouTube

So its a 30 day plan.

I dont know how long they hold the number if you dont recharge on time. I do know people dont always recharge religiously.

Its a test case for me

Don’t overthink this. Prepaid cellular plans are cheap in Brazil. I pay Vivo R$60 per month.

@bepmoht You have 180 days after cancellation to pay and reactivate your line.  When cancellation takes place if you don't recharge is dependent on the carrier.  I believe it is 90 days, but to be on the safe side, I would just assume it's when your current plan runs out of funds.  I also wouldn't advise waiting until the 179th day to recharge.  The max I would go is 5 months or approximately 150 days.

@mikehunter

Thanks for the clarification in the payment work arounds Mike. I’m sure it’s good information for the part timers down here. This is not my normal Brazil phone account. I have a VIVO post account for my real phone number. VIVO is king of the providers in west Espirito Santo state where I’m residing.

This Claro  account is simply an experiment I launched to see how the esim technology works in Brazil. I’ve had experience with eSIM‘s in the USA from various companies and most worked well however, this is my 2nd experiment in Brazil. I first tried Correios Celular eSIM . However, it would not activate in my area as there is no TIM network in this area. Apparently the company MVNO that contracts with Correios Celular (surf.com.br) uses the TIM network. So, my 2nd experiment is this Claro set up.

Anywho, time marches on…..

Welcome to the woes of Tim kkkkkkkkk. Also my provider

@bepmoht FWIW, I've been using Claro prepaid with an esim for 8 months so far with no issues.