Uzbekistan local SIM for visitors: Beeline Hello, Ucell, Uzmobile Travel and the IMEI rule

Part of our Uzbekistan eSIM guide: all articles and key facts →

An Uzbekistan local SIM is one of the cheapest ways to get mobile data in Central Asia, but it comes with paperwork that a travel eSIM avoids: an office visit, a passport check and, for longer stays, IMEI registration of your phone. We read the visitor offers of Beeline, Ucell, Uzmobile and Mobiuz, and the official IMEI rules, on 20 October 2026.

Should you buy a local SIM or use an eSIM in Uzbekistan?

A local SIM costs much less per gigabyte, but a travel eSIM is simpler for a trip of a week or two, because it needs no shop visit and no IMEI registration. The numbers make the trade-off clear. Beeline sells visitors 7 GB for 7 days for 30,000 UZS, about €2.22 at the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's rate of 20 October 2026 (13,525.02 UZS to the euro). The cheapest Uzbekistan-only unlimited week we verified on a travel eSIM cost €24.50, and Yesim's 10 GB valid 30 days cost €16.

The local SIM wins clearly for a long stay, heavy data use or if you need an Uzbek number for taxis, deliveries or bank codes. The eSIM wins if you want data from the moment you land at Tashkent, if you do not want to queue at an office, or if you will cross into Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. Our comparison of the best eSIMs for Uzbekistan lists those prices in full.

The four mobile operators and what they offer visitors

Beeline and Uztelecom publish plans aimed at foreign visitors; Ucell offers self-registration for foreigners but no tourist plan we could find; Mobiuz lists its Tourist SIM among archived tariffs. The four networks are Beeline Uzbekistan, run by Unitel LLC for the Beeline group VEON; Ucell, run by COSCOM; Mobiuz, the brand of Universal Mobile Systems; and Uzmobile, the mobile service of Uztelecom.

What does Beeline's Hello plan for visitors include?

Beeline's Hello plans are built for foreigners, with cheap data add-ons, incoming calls at 0 UZS and a validity of 90 days from the first connection. The page is titled "Hello plans for foreigners, tourists and guests visiting Uzbekistan". It does not show the monthly fee or the allowances of the Hello plans themselves, so ask for them at the office. It does list the add-ons you can buy on top, all prices including VAT:

Beyond the plan's limits, local calls and SMS cost 300 UZS and data 225 UZS per MB. Calls to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan cost 4,500 UZS a minute, and to Europe 10,000 UZS. Beeline states that the plan "is valid only on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and is not valid in international roaming", and that its allowances apply "during 90 days since the first day of SIM card connection"; after that, usage is charged at the out-of-plan rates.

What is Uzmobile's Travel plan?

Uztelecom's Travel 5 plan includes 6,144 MB, 500 minutes and 500 SMS a month for 55,000 UZS (about €4.07), and is sold only to foreign tourists. Its page says: "Connection to the tariff plan is available only for foreign tourists (individuals) at UZTELECOM sales and service offices, as well as at dealer points." The plan also includes 5 international minutes and 5 international SMS a month, and calls between Travel subscribers are unlimited.

Travel 10 doubles everything for 110,000 UZS a month (about €8.13): 12,288 MB, 1,000 minutes, 1,000 SMS, and 10 international minutes and SMS. Beyond the allowance, data costs 84 sum per MB on Travel 5.

The key condition is the length: "The tariff plan is valid for 2 (two) months; after two months from the date of activation, the number is blocked and then automatically deactivated." Unused allowances do not carry over to the next month. Uzmobile's network led nPerf's 4G coverage index in a study reported by UzDaily in October 2026, which we cover below.

Can you register a Ucell SIM yourself as a foreigner?

Yes, since 12 June 2026, but you need an Uzbek bank card to pay, which limits the option for most tourists. Ucell announced that "foreign citizens staying in the Republic of Uzbekistan can now independently register a Ucell SIM card through the mobile application". You buy the SIM envelope at Assorti stores and minimarkets or online (Uzum Market, Yandex Market, Yandex Lavka, Asaxiy and Olcha.uz), then activate it in the Ucell app.

Ucell's self-registration page lists what you need: a smartphone or tablet with a camera and internet access, "a foreign citizen's passport", and "an UzCard or Humo bank card to pay for the selected communication services". Verification means scanning the front page of your passport and a face scan with the phone's camera. Ucell adds that, for foreign non-residents, the connection kit fee is not credited to the balance.

In an office, Ucell's documents list includes a "passport of a foreign citizen (with a mark on permanent or temporary registration/visa)". We found no plan on ucell.uz aimed at tourists, so you choose among its standard plans.

Is the Mobiuz Tourist SIM still available?

Mobiuz still publishes the Tourist SIM's terms, but in the archive section of its tariffs, so do not count on it. The archived page describes a plan at 0 UZS a month with 100 MB for 7 days, calls at 50 UZS a minute and data at 100 UZS per MB beyond the allowance. It adds that the SIM "is active for one calendar month from the date of activation", after which the number "will be forcibly blocked". Subscribers who joined before 7 January 2025 keep the earlier 1,000 MB package; later ones get the 100 MB, valid 7 days.

Do you need to register your phone's IMEI with a local SIM?

Yes, if you keep a local SIM in your phone beyond the grace period, and the official sources disagree on how long that period is for visitors. Uzbekistan requires every phone used on its networks to have a registered IMEI, under Cabinet of Ministers decree No. 778 of 17 September 2019, as Mobiuz notes. The system is run by UZIMEI, a state enterprise under the Ministry of Digital Technologies.

• UZIMEI's knowledge base says registration "must be carried out within 30 calendar days from the moment of connecting the SIM card of local mobile operators", otherwise the subscriber "will be denied access" to the local networks.
• The government announced in October 2023 that the period foreign visitors "can use their mobile devices without registration has been extended from the previous 30 current calendar days to 60 calendar days", in a news release of the Ministry of Digital Technologies.
• Mobiuz's help page also gives foreign citizens 60 days from the first connection of a local SIM.

Because UZIMEI's own page still says 30 days, the safe course is to register within 30 days if you plan to keep the local SIM longer than that, or to call UZIMEI's 24/7 line, 1170. The fees in force since 1 August 2025 are 88,000 UZS (about €6.51) within 30 days of the first network connection, 110,000 UZS (about €8.13) after 30 days, and 0 UZS for a non-resident using a foreign SIM in roaming.

You can check and register your IMEI by dialling *1170#, by SMS to 1170, on uzimei.uz, in the MyGov or Birda apps, at UZIMEI offices or at post offices. Dial *#06# to display your phone's IMEI. A non-resident registering at a post office needs a passport and a local SIM registered in the same name. Mobiuz adds that a phone not declared on arrival can only be registered after paying duties, and the government's 2023 release introduced the declaration of each phone at customs.

The news site Kun.uz reported in May 2024 that an IMEI registration desk opened in the arrivals hall of Tashkent airport. We found no current page confirming that the desk still operates, so plan to use the USSD code or the website instead.

How do you check your balance and renew a plan?

Each operator uses short USSD codes, and the plans renew only if your balance covers the monthly fee. On a Beeline Hello plan, you check the remaining gigabytes with *103#, minutes with *106# and SMS with *105#, and switch plan with *202#. Beeline adds that a Hello subscriber can still receive calls from local numbers "even with a zero or negative balance", which helps if a driver or guesthouse needs to reach you.

On Uztelecom's Travel plans, the monthly fee is taken from the balance on the same date each month, counted from the day the line was connected. If the balance is too low, the number is blocked until you top up, and the fee is charged once the payment arrives. Remember that the plan stops for good two months after activation.

On the archived Mobiuz Tourist SIM, *100# shows the balance, plan and remaining minutes and megabytes, and *102# the data packs you bought. For help, the operators list these lines: Beeline 0611, Ucell 8123, Uzmobile 1099, and UZIMEI 1170 for IMEI questions.

Which network is best in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva?

All four networks score close to each other, and users' crowdsourced tests show 4G in the main tourist cities. In Opensignal's March 2026 report, based on its users' data from October to December 2025, Ucell had the fastest average download speed (22.9 Mbps), ahead of Beeline (21.6), Uztelecom (20.2) and Mobiuz (19.6). Ucell also won the reliability and consistency awards, and Beeline recorded the highest upload speed.

For coverage, nPerf's study of its Android app users, as reported by UzDaily on 2 October 2026, gave UzMobile the widest 4G coverage at 93.28%, followed by Ucell (91.32%), Beeline (89.43%) and Mobiuz (86.24%). Ucell led 5G coverage at 30.32%, and UzMobile followed at 22.90%.

On nPerf's coverage maps, which show where users ran tests rather than guaranteed coverage, Beeline users had recorded 4G and 4G+ tests across Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench, the city nearest Khiva, when we looked on 20 October 2026. In Bukhara, UzMobile users had also recorded some 5G tests in the centre. We could not find a usable nPerf view of Khiva itself, so we make no claim about it.

Local SIM or travel eSIM: the costs side by side

For data alone, the local offers cost a fraction of a travel eSIM; the eSIM's extra cost buys convenience and no registration. All prices were read on 20 October 2026; euro amounts for Uzbek offers use the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's rate of that day.

A common approach combines both: a small eSIM plan for the first days and the drive from the airport, then a local SIM once you have time for an office. If you do that, keep both lines on the phone; our guide to running two eSIMs at the same time explains how to choose which line carries data.

What should you check before you buy?

Check that your phone is unlocked and supports eSIM, and keep your original passport at hand for any operator office. A phone locked to your home operator will reject both a local SIM and a foreign eSIM; see do you need an unlocked phone for a travel eSIM. To check eSIM support, find your model on our list of eSIM-compatible phones, for example the iPhone 15 range or the Galaxy S24 range.

If you go the eSIM route, install the plan before you fly using our Android activation guide, and keep our fixes for an eSIM stuck on activating at hand. If you continue to Almaty or Bishkek, remember that Beeline's Hello plan does not work in roaming: see one eSIM or two for Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

How we checked

We read the visitor pages of Beeline, Uztelecom, Ucell and Mobiuz, the UZIMEI fees and knowledge base, and the government's 2023 release on 20 October 2026. Euro conversions use the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's rate of 20 October 2026. Network figures come from Opensignal's March 2026 report and from nPerf's studies as reported by UzDaily; coverage maps are nPerf's crowdsourced maps.

We did not buy a SIM in Uzbekistan or visit an operator office, and no operator page we read says which offices sell SIM cards at Tashkent airport. Tariffs and rules change, so check the operator's page or call its line (Beeline 0611, Ucell 8123, Uzmobile 1099) before you rely on them.