Permanent roaming, country by country

The decision in one minute

Staying in one country long term points to a local profile. Moving across countries points to multi-IMSI or eSIM orchestration. Unsure points to a quote request where we scope it with you. The decision starts from dwell time, not from the monthly rate: how long the device stays in one country, whether it needs voice or SMS, and who is named as the subscriber.

For long-lived devices, ask for a local profile in each market. Local profiles are available from us in Brazil, Mexico and other markets; ask us for the countries you need. Brazil, Mexico and Colombia each have their own registration and roaming rules, and they change; confirm the applicable path for the deployment with your counsel. This is general information, not legal advice.

What permanent roaming is

Roaming is a temporary attachment. The device uses the visited network's radio and core while the home operator remains the subscription, and the visited network serves it because the two operators have a roaming agreement. The home network keeps the subscriber record and the billing relationship.

Permanent roaming is not a separate 3GPP service. It is the industry and regulatory label for a device that stays on a visited network long enough that the arrangement stops looking temporary. Regulators and operators use different thresholds and different remedies, so the word does not carry one universal number of days. Networks can see dwell time in location updates and call or data records. A roaming agreement may limit the number of days, require a local subscription after a threshold, or leave the risk with the operator. The contract and the regulator, not the handset, define the limit.

Why regulators care

A permanently roaming device consumes local radio resources but is registered, numbered and often taxed somewhere else. Regulators also care about who is accountable for the line, how lawful requests are handled, and whether emergency services can reach the user. That is why the remedy is usually a registration or local-presence rule rather than a technical block.

Mexico links mobile lines to an identified person or legal entity. Brazil's competition plan addresses domestic roaming between Brazilian operators. Colombia's CRC has registration rules for prepaid mobile users. The detail differs by country, and a data-only profile can sit in a different category from a voice line.

Brazil: the domestic roaming rule

Brazil's Anatel approved the PGMC in Resolution 783/2025. Article 66 §4 treats domestic roaming as permanent once it passes the time limit the resolution sets, and the rule covers people and M2M/IoT devices alike. The limit applies to national roaming between Brazilian operators.

The PGMC addresses roaming between Brazilian operators; it is not a foreign-SIM rule. Do not assume that the domestic time limit applies to an inbound foreign profile, and do not assume there is no limit. For long-lived devices, a Brazilian local profile avoids the question; confirm the current position with counsel before deployment.

A local profile is more than a local APN. It means a Brazilian subscription with a Brazilian IMSI and, where the service needs one, a Brazilian number, held by the entity that passes the registration checks. A local breakout on a foreign IMSI changes the data path; it does not change the subscription. Brazil also requires identification at prepaid activation, so a local profile goes through that process rather than around it. The home routing vs local breakout article covers the path side.

Mexico: line identification first

Mexico's CRT issued Lineamientos for mobile-line identification in December 2025, in force from 9 January 2026. Every mobile line must be linked to a natural or legal person; individuals present official ID and CURP, and legal entities present their RFC.

Data-only profiles with no voice, SMS or VoIP capability are outside the scheme under Article 1, as tracked. That exclusion is narrow: a profile that can send an SMS, or that supports calls through the internet, is back inside the registration question. Confirm the classification with counsel before relying on it.

The Lineamientos also limit how many lines one individual may link, to ten, and require the provider to keep the linkage record; legal entities are outside that cap. For a fleet, the legal entity, the RFC and the line list have to match; a reseller arrangement does not remove the identification step.

Colombia: confirm the path per deployment

Colombia's communications regulator is the CRC, the Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones. Its general rules include identification obligations for prepaid mobile users, and the roaming and registration position for a given device is confirmed per deployment rather than generalized from Brazil or Mexico. The practical questions are the same: who holds the subscription, which identity documents are required, whether the profile is data-only, and how long the device may stay before a local subscription is expected. Ask for the current resolution or guidance in writing, with its date.

How the four options differ

Roaming is fastest to start and simplest to operate, but the subscription stays foreign and the long-dwell risk stays with you. A local profile gives the device a local IMSI, number and subscription, which fits long-lived devices in one country and registration-heavy markets. Multi-IMSI puts several IMSIs on one SIM or eUICC and switches according to network or policy; it fits regional fleets that need a local identity in more than one market, but it is not automatically compliant. eSIM orchestration downloads and switches profiles remotely under the GSMA specifications, SGP.22 for consumer devices and SGP.32 for IoT; the device, the module and the subscription model all have to support it. The multi-IMSI explainer and what an eSIM is cover the SIM side.

What to ask before you commit

Dwell time: the maximum consecutive days in each country, and how the platform measures them. Mobility: fixed, regional or global. Service: data only, or voice and SMS too. Identity: who is the subscriber of record, and what documents that entity can provide. Hardware: removable SIM, soldered eSIM, or both, and which GSMA specification the module supports. Operations: how a profile change is triggered, what happens when it fails, and how the old number is retired. Commercial: which legal entity contracts in each country, and what happens at the end of the term.

Ask for the applicable rule in writing, with its date and source. A provider that cannot name the regulator or the resolution is asking you to carry the risk. A sample route test shows how to record the evidence: the route test sample report is a method, not a benchmark.

Common mistakes

Treating roaming as a permanent service because the device works today. Treating a local APN as a local profile. Treating multi-IMSI as a compliance answer. Buying an eSIM device without checking the provisioning specification. Assuming a data-only profile avoids registration everywhere. Applying one country's time limit to another. Leaving number and asset migration to the end. The cheapest monthly rate is not the decision; the cost of a forced migration, a disabled line or a re-registration project usually outweighs the difference.

What this guide does not do

It does not replace the regulation tracker entries or legal advice. Rules change; the tracker carries dates and sources, and your contract carries the commitment. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a compliance determination for your deployment. The regulation tracker carries the dated entries, and roaming and IMSI explain the vocabulary.