Phone number verification on new account

[George P]

Good Afternoon, 

I am a new user on Upwork that is planning to work as a freelancer while I am traveling abroad. I am trying to set up the new account so it goes to Upwork for approval but I am stuck on the phone verification page.

Since I am currently abroad and do not use my US phone number anymore; is there any  other way to do a verification? I can provide the local phone number I am using but it is not a US number.

Thank you in advance for your time and effort.

[Bojan S · Accepted solution]

Hi George,

One of our team members will reach out to you directly to assist you with your concern. 

If you are travelling and are away from your country of residence temporarily, you don’t need to update your location. If it does raise any flags on our end, the team will reach out to you directly.  If however, you are going to be away for an extended period, such as moving some place, then you should make updates to your account location. Please make sure you have an appropriate visa type or permit to work in a country you are situated in and pay taxes accordingly. You may need to consult with a legal advisor about it.

Thank you.

[George P]

Hi Bojan,

Perfect. Thank you for the quick response. I look forward to speaking to one of your coworkers.

[Amanda Regina A]

Hello! I am having the same issue. I am currently abroad but want to start an Upwork account, but I can't get passed phone verification because I don't have a US phone number anymore. Can someone help me with this?

[Avery O]

Hi Amanda, 

We usually recommend to freelancers that if you are travelling and are away from your country of residence temporarily, you don’t need to update your location. If it does raise any flags on our end, the team will reach out to you directly.  If however, you are going to be away for an extended period, such as moving some place, then you should make updates to your account location. Also, it's recommended that you check with a legal adviser if you need a certain type of visa or a work permit to be able to work on Upwork while travelling.

In this case, could you please confirm if you will be away for an extended period? If so, I would recommend that we update your country to where you are currently residing so that you can also update the information on your account. Once done, we'll assist you with your phone verification.

[Amanda Regina A]

Hi Avery, so I don't have an address right now, I am moving around a lot. But I will be out of the US for an extended period of time. Is there a way we can fix this issue? Thanks!

[Goran V]

Hi Amanda,

Please confirm the country you`re currently located in and our team will update it. You can also add the rest of your address from the place you`re staying. If you have any additional questions let me know, thank you.

[Amanda Regina A]

Hi Goran,

I am in China right now. So the address is in Chinese. I can try to get an English translation of it, would this be good enough? 

[Avery O]

Hi Amanda, 

If you have the address, please send it to me through a private message so that I can look into this further. 

[Shyanne H]

I am not abroad... I am in Oregon. ha. but i think at one point it tried to verify an old phone number, and for some reason any new one i put in dont seem to work... i have even tried my dads number, and a text app number. currently, my phone is off, but im still stuck here....