Azerbaijan SIM Card for Tourists: Nar TouristSIM, Phone Registration and eSIM

Last updated on 3 November 2026

Nar’s TouristSIM in Azerbaijan costs 34 manat (about €17.99) a month for 20 GB of data, another 20 GB for social media and 100 minutes, and under Azerbaijan’s registration rules a phone you bring must be registered within 30 days if it runs on a local SIM. The POVNOMAD Azerbaijan eSIM starts at €3.90 for 1 GB over 7 days, 3 days of Unlimited Smart cost €9.90, and in roaming the registration rules do not apply. As of 30 October 2026.

For a city break in Baku of up to a week the travel eSIM costs less. Above 5 GB, or for a week and longer with unlimited use, Nar’s TouristSIM is the better deal, as long as you visit a Nar store with your passport.

Local SIM, travel eSIM or roaming: what is the difference in Azerbaijan?

As of 30 October 2026. Nar prices from nar.az, registration rules from Cabinet of Ministers decision No. 212, POVNOMAD prices from the Azerbaijan product page. Converted at €1 = 1.8896 manat (National Bank of Kazakhstan rates of 30 October 2026 for the euro and the manat, crossed over the tenge).

How much does a tourist SIM cost in Azerbaijan?

Azerbaijan has three mobile operators: Azercell, Bakcell and Nar. Nar lists its TouristSIM with a price on its website. Azercell rejected our requests on 30 October 2026. Bakcell launched a TravelSIM for visitors in August 2025, sold at a stand at the airport and in its shops, with packages of 30, 60 and 120 GB; its announcement names no prices. So we quote Nar.

Source: nar.az, TouristSIM, retrieved 30 October 2026. Nar activates the tariff in its stores for foreigners who show their registration documents; you renew it by dialling *777#870#. An undated Nar news item also names larger packages of 70 and 130 GB; the tariff page listed only the 34-manat plan on 30 October 2026. Euro amounts at €1 = 1.8896 manat.

Compare that with travel eSIMs bought before departure, as of 30 October 2026:

Read on 30 October 2026 on povnomad.com and airalo.com/de/azerbaijan-esim (EUR view). POVNOMAD Unlimited Smart gives 1 GB at full speed per 24 hours, then unlimited at up to 1 Mbit/s; Airalo slows to 1 Mbit/s after 3 GB a day. How the unlimited plans compare in detail is in our Azerbaijan eSIM provider comparison.

Do you have to register your phone in Azerbaijan?

With a local SIM, yes. Azerbaijan’s Rules on the Registration of Mobile Devices, adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in decision No. 212 of 28 December 2011, require that every phone brought into the country for personal use be registered “within 30 days at the latest” (point 6.1). Since an amendment of 12 June 2023 the operators may not serve phones whose IMEI sits on the blacklist of the national register.

Point 1.4 of the same rules excludes subscribers who use international roaming, which the rules define as receiving service from Azerbaijani networks with the SIM of a foreign operator. A travel eSIM like ours connects in exactly that way, so your phone stays outside the registration.

What the registration costs for a visitor, we leave open: the sources we found on 30 October 2026 contradict each other, and the official registration service has moved to the portal my.gov.az. Ask at the Nar store when you buy the SIM.

Sources: Rules on the Registration of Mobile Devices, decision No. 212 (points 1.4 and 6.1) and the amending decision of 12 June 2023, read on 30 October 2026.

How do you buy the local SIM the right way?

• Go to a Nar store with your passport. Nar asks foreigners for their registration documents.
• Ask for TouristSIM. To check your remaining bonuses later, dial *777#20#YES; Nar charges 0.05 manat for the query.
• Staying several weeks? Plan the phone registration early, the rules allow 30 days at the latest.
• Check that your phone has no network lock.
• Keep your German SIM as a second line if your phone supports dual SIM, for bank codes by text.

When is the eSIM the better choice, and when is it not?

For three days in Baku, Unlimited Smart costs €9.90, and 1 GB for 7 days costs €3.90. You land online, skip the store visit and keep your phone out of the registration. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi (instructions for iPhone and Android); validity starts on first contact with an Azerbaijani network.

Combining Azerbaijan with Georgia and Armenia? Our Caucasus eSIM guide compares one eSIM for the region with three country eSIMs. What local SIMs cost in the neighbouring countries is in our guides for Georgia and Armenia.

Nar’s TouristSIM is the better deal in these cases:

• You need more than 5 GB. Nar gives you 20 GB plus 20 GB for social media for €17.99, our 10 GB plan costs €23.90.
• You stay a week or longer and want unlimited data at full speed. Seven days of Unlimited Smart cost €21.90 and slow down after 1 GB a day.
• You want an Azerbaijani number for calls, with 100 minutes included.

This guide is also available in German.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated on 30 October 2026. Prices read on that day on nar.az, povnomad.com and airalo.com; exchange rates of the National Bank of Kazakhstan of 30 October 2026. Prices and rules may change at any time.