Colombia eSIM for Americans: The 2026 Tourist Guide

If you use AT&T to access mobile data in Colombia for one week, you will pay $84. Use a Colombia eSIM instead, and you pay $8.99 for the same week. That gap is not a quirk of the fine print. It is the difference between a roaming fee designed for business travelers on expense accounts and a local data plan priced for the actual cost of bandwidth in Colombia.

This guide covers every major US carrier, what Colombia actually costs on each one, and what a Colombia eSIM gives you instead. If you want the short answer: get an eSIM before you fly and set your carrier plan as a backup for calls.

Why eSIMs work well for American travelers

Getting a local SIM card in Colombia means standing in line at a carrier store, presenting your passport, and waiting for activation. At El Dorado airport in Bogotá, that process runs 30 minutes on a quiet day and well over an hour during peak arrivals. At José María Córdova in Medellín, the airport kiosk sometimes runs out of stock during high-season holidays.

An eSIM skips all of that. Buy it before you leave, scan the QR code on your home WiFi, and it activates the moment your phone connects to a Colombian tower. No passport scan at a kiosk. No plastic card. No waiting in any line.

• ✓Install before your flight, active the moment you land
• ✓No Colombian ID or passport scan required
• ✓Works on iPhone XS and newer, and most Android phones from 2020
• ✓Your US number stays active for calls and texts (eSIM handles data separately)
• ✓Fixed price with no hidden daily charges
• ✓Hotspot and tethering included

Every major US carrier in Colombia: real costs

Colombia is in most carriers' Latin America zone, so cellular coverage exists on all of them. The question is always price and speed.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile is the most nuanced situation among the major carriers. Most T-Mobile plans include Colombia in their global roaming coverage, but the included data is throttled to 128Kbps (2G speed). At that speed, a single Google Maps tile takes 30 seconds to load and Google Translate barely functions. You can receive and send WhatsApp text messages, but voice notes and photos will often fail.

The exception: T-Mobile Go5G Next and Go5G Plus include 5GB of high-speed monthly data in Colombia. If you are on one of these plans and your trip is under a week with moderate data use, you may not need a separate eSIM.

Everyone else can add the $5/day International Pass for 512MB of 4G data per day. For a 7-day trip, that is $35. More details in the T-Mobile Colombia guide.

AT&T

AT&T's International Day Pass charges $12 for every 24-hour period you use mobile data in Colombia. It auto-triggers the moment your phone connects to a Colombian network and uses any data, even background app refresh. A 7-day trip where you use data every day costs $84. A 10-day trip costs $120.

The trap most travelers hit: their phone connects to a Colombian tower at the airport before they have a chance to turn off data roaming, and they get billed $12 for that day even if they only loaded one notification. Full breakdown in the AT&T Colombia guide.

Verizon

Verizon TravelPass works the same way as AT&T: $12 per day you use data in Colombia, charged automatically. You get 5GB of high-speed data per day before throttling to 3G. A 7-day trip costs $84. Verizon's $100/month international plan is worth considering only if your trip is longer than 9 days.

Mint Mobile and Visible

Mint Mobile does not offer any mobile data outside the US on any plan. You can make and receive calls over WiFi when connected, but you get zero cellular data in Colombia. If you are on Mint, a Colombia eSIM is not optional.

Visible (a Verizon MVNO) offers a $10/day international pass on Verizon's network. At $70 for a week, it is cheaper than AT&T and Verizon's direct plans but still expensive compared to a Colombia eSIM.

The Colombia eSIM option: what you actually get

A Colombia eSIM runs on Tigo and Movistar, two of the country's largest networks. You get 4G LTE coverage in all major cities and 5G in central Bogotá, Medellín, and parts of Cartagena. Speed is comparable to what you are used to at home for everyday tasks like navigation, messaging, and browsing.

Plans are priced by data amount. Choose based on your trip length and how heavily you use your phone:

• →1GB from $8.99: a short weekend or very light use on a longer trip
• →3GB from $13.99: 3 to 5 days of normal use
• →5GB from $22.99: a full week
• →10GB from $33.99: two weeks
• →Unlimited plans for digital nomads and heavy users

Your US number remains fully active. If someone calls your US number in Colombia, it rings. You can reply to texts. The eSIM only handles data.

For a complete comparison of all options including local SIM cards and WiFi-only approaches, see the full Colombia internet guide.

How to install a Colombia eSIM

On iPhone (XS and newer)

1. 1

   Confirm eSIM support

   Go to Settings → General → About. Look for "Available SIM" or an EID number. Any iPhone XS or newer supports eSIM.

2. 2

   Buy a plan and save your QR code

   You will receive a QR code by email. Keep it accessible from another device or print it out.

3. 3

   Open Settings on your home WiFi

   Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Use QR Code. Scan the code. The installation takes under two minutes.

4. 4

   Set data routing

   Go to Cellular → Cellular Data and select the Colombia eSIM as your data line. Your US SIM stays active for voice and texts.

5. 5

   Land in Colombia

   Your phone connects to the Colombian network automatically. No action needed when you arrive.

On Android (2020 and newer)

1. 1

   Check compatibility

   Go to Settings → Connections → SIM Card Manager. If you see "Add mobile plan" or "Add eSIM," your phone supports it.

2. 2

   Buy a plan

   Save the QR code from your confirmation email.

3. 3

   Install

   Settings → Connections → SIM Card Manager → Add mobile plan. Scan the QR code.

4. 4

   Set data SIM

   Set the Colombia eSIM as your mobile data source under SIM Card Manager. Your original SIM handles calls and texts.