Keep your Saudi phone number active while abroad

stc's mobile terms page prints a SIM validity of 180 days from the last paid activity, and a different stc terms page still prints 360 days. Keep a Saudi number active abroad by opening the stc card before you leave. The 90-day lines on both of those pages are the balance.

Virgin Mobile prints a different 90. If the customer does not recharge or use the line for 90 consecutive days, the account may be closed and the number may be reassigned. The Mobily remaining-balance page and the Zain addresses opened on 6 October 2026 are not these cards, so use the stc card when the SIM is stc and the Virgin Mobile card when the SIM is Virgin Mobile. Open Doors Fast Facts for 2025 prints 12,702 students from Saudi Arabia in the United States in 2024/25, 1.1 percent of the total, a change of -14.3 percent from 14,828 in 2023/24.

What do the two stc pages print for the SIM?

stc's mobile terms, checked 6 October 2026, state: "SIM Validity is 180 days, and it will be extended maximum by 180 days from the last paid activity performed by the customer."

That sentence is the SIM on the mobile page. The extension is a maximum of 180 days, and the starting point is the last paid activity the customer performs. A person who was told the number is already gone on day 180 has stopped at the validity figure. The next item on that list says that if the SIM card is canceled or expired, the balance available in the SIM card will be canceled, and the company has the right to re-disburse the number. The customer is not entitled to claim. Re-disburse is the word printed there. Canceled is the spelling printed there.

The other stc terms page, opened the same day, extends SIM validity for a maximum of 360 days from the last activity paid from the balance. The item after that says the SIM card will expire if no paid activity is performed for 360 days, and that the service will be permanently canceled. The mobile page's 180 days and that page's 360 days are both under the heading Prepaid SIM Cards. They are two lengths on two pages.

Further down the mobile list, sawa hybrid prints a SIM validity of 15 months, and it says the SIM and the balance will be extended for a maximum of 15 months from the last paid activity. That item is on the same list as the 180-day sentence. The card's twelve-month cell stays unverified, because neither stc page prints a 12-month hold, and 15 months is the hybrid item. Ghana is one MTN contract, with shall at the moment of cancellation and may if MTN cancels. The changelog dates this reading.

What do the stc pages print about the balance?

The 90 days sit in the balance items, above the SIM sentence on the mobile page. Those mobile terms state: "The validity of the balance in all recharging categories is 90 days from the recharging date."

That 90 days runs from the recharging date. It is the balance in the recharging categories. A later item on the same list renews the balance validity for a maximum of 90 days from the last activity paid from the balance, and that renewal item excludes a transfer from prepaid to prepaid. The exclusion stays on that renewal item. It is not part of the 180-day SIM sentence quoted above. The other stc page also prints a 90-day balance from the recharging date. Its SIM item is the 360 days, not a second copy of the 180.

If there is not enough credit, the customer will not be able to complete the calls until the balance is recharged. That sentence is the credit. It is not the 180 days, and it is not the 360 days. The saved items name a paid activity. Whether an incoming bank code or a call placed while roaming counts as that activity is unverified. The options page is where this hold sits next to parking the number or letting it go.

What does Virgin Mobile print for 90 consecutive days?

Virgin's 90 is a recharge or a use of the line, and the verb is may. Virgin Mobile's terms, checked 6 October 2026, state: "If you don’t recharge your account or use your line for (90) consecutive days, your account may be closed and your mobile number may be reassigned, in line with CST regulations."

May is the verb on closed, and may is the verb on reassigned. The phrase about CST regulations is inside that sentence. It is Virgin's sentence. The stc pages quoted above print 180 days and 360 days for the SIM, and 90 days for the balance. Clause 15.2, later in the Virgin terms, says Virgin may terminate the agreement if the customer is a prepaid customer, the services have been suspended, and following a further 90 day period the customer has still failed to make a chargeable call or incurred a Charge. That further 90 days starts after suspension. It does not replace the 90 consecutive days.

The sentence just before the consecutive-days sentence is the zero balance. If the balance reaches zero, the customer will still be able to receive calls, and will not be able to make calls or use other services until a recharge, except to call customer services or the emergency numbers. That is the balance at zero. It is not the 90 consecutive days. The number may be reassigned in the sentence quoted above.

Page	Day count as printed	What the page says happens	Calls and texts as printed
stc mobile terms, SIM	180 days from the last paid activity	If the SIM is canceled or expired, stc has the right to re-disburse the number	a paid activity. Whether a call, a text, or roaming counts is unverified
stc general terms, SIM	a maximum of 360 days from the last activity paid from the balance	the SIM expires if no paid activity is performed for 360 days	a paid activity from the balance
stc balance, both pages	90 days from the recharging date	balance validity in the recharging categories	the customer will not be able to complete the calls until the balance is recharged
sawa hybrid, mobile list	15 months from the last paid activity	SIM and balance validity extended for that maximum	unverified
Virgin clause 3.2	(90) consecutive days	the account may be closed and the number may be reassigned	a recharge or use of the line. Roaming is unverified
Virgin clause 15.2	a further (90) day period after suspension	Virgin may terminate if there is still no chargeable call and no Charge	a chargeable call or a Charge

Questions people ask

How long can I keep a Saudi phone number while abroad?

stc's mobile terms print a SIM validity of 180 days from the last paid activity, and if the SIM is canceled or expired, stc has the right to re-disburse the number. A different stc terms page prints a maximum of 360 days from the last activity paid from the balance. On both of those pages, 90 days is the balance from the recharging date. Virgin Mobile's terms say that if the customer does not recharge or use the line for 90 consecutive days, the account may be closed and the number may be reassigned.

Does day 180 mean my stc number is already gone?

Re-disbursement on the mobile page is tied to the SIM being canceled or expired, and the other stc page prints 360 days.

What does Virgin Mobile say happens after 90 days?

After 90 consecutive days without a recharge or use, the account may be closed and the number may be reassigned. A later clause adds a further 90 days after the services have been suspended, and Virgin may terminate if there is still no chargeable call and no Charge.