Colombia… When you buy a sim card in Colombia you will be asked to register your mobile phone EMEI. This is to reduce the stolen phone and resell market in the country.
What is an number
It’s 15 digit code. You might need to find your IMEI number if you want to unlock your device to use with other networks, or for some insurance policies. You will find your IMEI number by entering *#06# on your phone’s call screen.
What happened to me
I bought a “” SIM card as soon as I arrived in Colombia. I actually grabbed it at the Cali airport Alfonso Bonilla Aragón. Downstairs, there is a little shop where they sell Tigo and Claro SIM card. The lady was very nice and helpful. I needed a local sim card for the two months in Colombia.
I looked at what was available online before to go and I chose Tigo. As I could do a monthly package good enough for my need and not expensive.
So I got my sim card, working all good. A few days after I received a text message from Tigo saying I need to register my device otherwise my service might be blocked. You have some time to do this.
I let it go for a while, then I received another text saying I have 14 days to do it. I tried to do it online with the Tigo website. It didn’t work for me. I got in touch with the online chat help. I chatted to a lady but she said I could do it with a call, didn’t work either. She said the only solution is to go to a Tigo office to do it. I replied I will wait and hopefully nothing will happen.
However, my phone got blocked. Meaning I couldn’t use it anymore. Luckily I had a second one so I used my sim card into this one. I finally went to the Tigo shop, queued to ask to unlock it. You need your passport not a copy of your passport. Online it says you also need a proof of purchase, I downloaded my invoices from Amazon on my phone, but they didn’t ask me for it. I successfully registered my second phone.
But they weren’t able to unlock my phone (the first one) as I only had my passport and not Cédula de Extranjería. So my phone is now locked forever in the country of Colombia… I was really annoyed explaining I am only there for a short period of time and the phone is my phone, costing more than the sim card. The agent explained the solution would be to have a Colombia person to come to Tigo with my phone and register it under his name. Obviously, no one is going to spend the time to do that, doing the queueing etc.
So I gave up. Moral of the story, do the registration before they lock your phone. It’s free to do, it takes a bit of time but that’s the Colombian law…