Vodafone Germany CallYa eSIM, free order and how to keep the number

What this is

Vodafone Germany prepaid is CallYa. The site is clear. eSIM can be ordered free. Money starts at the first top-up. No contract. Plans run in four-week blocks and stop if you do not top up.

People who want a number care about three things. The passport must pass Deutsche Post checks. The inbox must get a password-protected PDF. That PDF has the +49 number, QR code, and 6-digit ePIN. Keep-alive follows the help page. Unused service over 90 days can be cancelled.

The site is German. Browser translate is enough. Prices and entry points move. The live page wins.

Before you start

Who this fits

You are outside Germany, cannot take a physical SIM, and want a German number for SMS and overseas signups. The passport is valid. You can do a video or selfie check. Top-up can use Visa, Mastercard, or PayPal.

What to prepare

Germany has required prepaid ID checks since 2017. A passport works. A German ID card or electronic residence card also works. A mainland China national ID does not.

Name pinyin, birthday, and nationality follow the passport. Birthday is often day.month.year, for example 20.05.1990. Address is a German contact address you are allowed to use.

The order form asks for a customer password. That password opens the email PDF. Save it. Mainland phones without native eSIM need a converter card. Converter cards are third-party. Buttons follow that app.

Steps

1. Open the site and pick eSIM

Use the official CallYa pages.

https://www.vodafone.de/freikarten/travel-germany-esim/

https://www.vodafone.de/privat/handys-tablets-tarife/prepaid-ohne-vertrag.html

Turn on translate. Handle cookies your way. Find the free eSIM order and walk the form. Skip extras you do not need.

2. Personal details

Title, pinyin name, birthday, and nationality match the passport. Use an email you check every day. Codes and the PDF land there.

The customer password needs a capital letter and a number. Check it once, then continue.

3. Identity check

After the order you go to Deutsche Post for a video check. You can also finish the order first. The email link often gives about 30 days to complete it. Video hours on the site are 8:00 to 22:00 Germany time.

The page often jumps to PostIdent. English is easier to read. Copy the Case Number. It is usually 12 digits.

Install official PostIdent. Enter that number. Photograph the passport cover and the photo page, then record a face clip. Light should be strong. Tilt for the security foil if the app asks.

A fast pass can take about ten minutes. Slow ones wait longer. Mail arrives after a pass.

4. Open the PDF

The last mail usually has the PDF. Open it with the customer password you set.

It should hold the full +49 number, the eSIM QR code, and the 6-digit ePIN. If one is missing, do not install. Reply to the mail or ask support.

Official install is those three pieces. Scan, enter the ePIN, finish the phone prompts.

Save the PDF. A new phone needs it.

5. Install the eSIM

If the phone has native eSIM, scan the PDF code on Wi-Fi.

Mainland or other phones without native eSIM use a converter such as Xesim. That is not a Vodafone part.

Android is simpler. Insert the card, open the Xesim app, scan the PDF code.

iPhone is longer. Many converters need a working data eSIM first, then download Vodafone on that data. Menus and LPA paste follow the Xesim version that day. Then enable Vodafone in the eSIM list and wait for a network. Inside China, roaming onto a local carrier is a better sign that SMS may work.

Do not keep the same eSIM live on two devices at once.

6. Move to another phone

Vodafone has said CallYa QR codes and ePINs can be reused. MeinVodafone also keeps a copy. A new phone is not a new order.

Back up the old PDF and ePIN first. If the old phone still works, do not factory-reset yet.

The common path is this. Old phone online, delete the Vodafone eSIM. New phone scans the same QR and ePIN. Some iPhone versions can transfer without scanning.

Confirm the new phone can scan and the password still works before you delete. If the code is gone, check MeinVodafone or a SIM replacement path. Button names change. The app that day wins.

Carriers differ a lot on transfers. Some reuse the old code. Some issue a new one. A shop visit is hard if you are not in the country. A wider table is in the member piece.

eSIM transfer notes

7. Register the web account

Keep-alive and contracts live in MeinVodafone.

Open https://www.vodafone.de and register at the top right. Name matches the application. Same email. Write the mobile the German way, swap +49 for a leading 0.

Link the first contract as a mobile line. The customer password is still the PDF password. SMS goes to the new German number.

Copy the customer number. Browser translate sometimes mangles that label. Use the contract number in the account.

8. Top up

A unused number needs credit before calls, SMS, or data. Official web amounts are €5, €15, €20, €25, €50, €80, €100. Cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and amazon Pay are common.

Inside Germany you can also buy a CallNow code and dial 100code#. From abroad people more often open https://www.vodafone.de/aufladen and enter the CallYa number and amount.

The top-up page sometimes blocks overseas access. Try another network.

9. Keep the number on official rules

Help text says CallYa has no fixed expiry date. Unused service over 90 days can be cancelled. They SMS first. You have 4 weeks to object. After that the line can stop. Balance can still be claimed back.

What counts as use is not a checklist. Common practice is one official top-up inside 90 days, or a charged SMS while you have balance. Out-of-bundle SMS prices follow that day’s sheet. The travel eSIM page has shown about €0.09 each.

There is a cheaper official path. The top-up page says you can bank-transfer credit to CallYa. Click top-ups start at €5. The transfer line lets you type the amount. Forum users have seen a few cents post.

Payee is Vodafone GmbH. Bank is Deutsche Bank Düsseldorf. IBAN is DE68 3007 0010 0250 8000 00. BIC is DEUTDEDDXXX. Memo is only the CallYa mobile or the customer number. Write the mobile with a leading 0, for example 0172 then the rest, not +49. Copy the customer number from the MeinVodafone contract page. Do not add extra words.

From outside Germany a euro account such as Wise can send it. Fund euros first. Pick a European transfer to a business. Copy the payee and IBAN above. Amount €0.01. Same-currency transfers often have no fee. Wise’s quote that day wins. Memo must be the customer number or the 0-prefix mobile. Check once, then send.

Credit often takes one or two business days. Balance should rise by €0.01. One transfer a month is about €0.12 a year. You can also set a repeating payment. Policy moves. The account page and the credit record beat any guide.

Copy the payee again from the live CallYa top-up page every few months.

If a cancel SMS arrives, follow that SMS inside 4 weeks.

CallYa eSIM Prepaid no-contract CallYa validity help Web top-up CallYa top-up notes eSIM transfer notes

Carddoger take

CallYa eSIM fits people outside Germany who still want a German number. The order can start with no charge. Later stalls are usually passport check, the customer password, or top-up.

Keep-alive is the official 90-day unused cancel rule, plus SMS and a 4-week object window. Click top-ups start at €5. You can also send €0.01 to the published IBAN. Memo is the customer number or the 0-prefix mobile. Credit on the account wins.

Back up the PDF code and ePIN before a new phone. Most moves delete the old line, then scan the same code. More regions sit in eSIM transfer notes.

vodafone.de, the email PDF, PostIdent, and MeinVodafone win. This is a public-page note, not a promise the line will stay open.