Receive SMS texts internationally

You need a postpaid plan and international roaming enabled on your line. Received texts are free, so you won’t get any roaming charges unless you send a text, make any calls or use data, so make sure you turn data roaming off to prevent accidental usage of data. Presuming you don’t have postpaid service yet meaning you would be a new customer, international roaming won’t be allowed for at least 60 days.

Prepaid won’t work in Asia. 

Oh, OK. If prepaid doesn't work, then does postpaid work? What is needed to be able to receive SMS in Asia?

I see, thanks much. I've been a prepaid customer for several months. If I switch over to postpaid from prepaid, the 60-day rule still applies? 

Yes it does still apply

OK, thanks. For adding international roaming, does AT&T have a good add-on option if I'm staying abroad for several months (rather than, say, a few days or weeks)? 

I went into an AT&T store to ask about switching to a postpaid plan and being able to receive texts in Asia. The guy there was very nice and professional and he said that the international plan I was looking for was a simple $15 add-on to my prepaid plan and that I would just need to call 611 to set it up. This didn't sound right, so I asked him several times, "Are you 100% sure about this?" and he said yes each time. I called 611 and was told the $15 add-on is only an international calling plan from the US, not a roaming plan. Then the customer care rep said that to go to Asia and roam, it would be $10 a day. That's $300 a month! 

Regardless of what they are telling you prepaid does not work in Asia no matter what you add to it 

Don’t spend any money on adding as it won’t work and prepaid doesn’t refund you will just be wasting your money. 

The guy in the store was wrong. The $15 add on he was talking about is for international calls from the US. Once again, prepaid does not roam internationally anywhere in Asia. As for an international plan should you switch to postpaid, ATT has the international day pass which is $10 per day if used and you won’t be billed more than 10 days in a bill cycle, so at the most you would only be billed $100 per bill cycle. You are only charged the $10 if you have chargeable usage meaning you make a call, send a text or use data. You do not get charged the daily charge for receiving a text.