Free Government Cell Phones

Lifeline phone service provides free cell phones to America's financially disadvantaged

Menu
  • Home
  • Do You Qualify?
  • How to get one?
  • States
  • Providers
  • Minutes
  • FAQ
  • News
  • Cheap Plans
  • Earn Money

Can I use this free phone forever?

< Back to all FAQ's

The short answer is that you can have a free government cell phone for the rest of your life as long as you meet the requirements.

Here are the details:

As soon as you enroll, your free cell phone from the government it will be sent to your home address. You’ll probably receive it within a week or so after you are approved. At the same time you will receive your first monthly allotment of minutes. You will continue receiving this monthly allotment for a full year.

As you get near the end of that one year period, most service providers like Safelink Wireless, Assurance Wireless and ReachOut Wireless will send you an email alerting you to the fact that you need to re-qualify and tell you how to do it. Don’t worry. It’s simple.

Federal and/or State regulations require that you re-certify that you are eligible for the Lifeline Assistance program within 60 days of your annual enrollment. So mark it on your calendar.

And as long as you continue to qualify, you can continue to use your free government cell phone and continue to receive your monthly allotment of minutes.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Before you post your comment...

  1. If you are going to ask "how do I get a cell phone?" go here instead.
  2. If you are going to ask "how do I get a replacement phone," go here instead
  3. We are not your cell phone company. All technical questions should be asked of your vendor.
  4. Your comments are moderated, and we will manually approve those worth publishing within 24 hours.

Comments

  1. Tiffany says

    May 27, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    What happens when I no longer qualify for this service/ program? How do I return the phone and is there a service charge?

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      May 27, 2022 at 2:13 pm

      Good news. There is no charge and you can keep the phone forever.

      Reply
  2. Emily says

    December 27, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    My brother went into a nursing home and no longer uses his phone. What do I do with the phone? I am not qualified for a free government phone.

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      December 27, 2017 at 5:37 pm

      You should contact his service provider to request that they cancel the account. You can do that by calling 6-1-1 on his free government cell phone.

      Reply
  3. Adelfa Rosell says

    December 23, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    My father recently passed away. I need to return his phone and close his “account”. My mother will be applying however. Whom do I speak to? Where do I go to get this taken care of? Nothing is on the FAQ page about this that I can find.

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      December 24, 2016 at 3:44 am

      Contact your service provider’s customer service team, Adelfa. They should be able to cancel your father’s account and open one for your mom. Sorry to hear about your loss.

      Reply
  4. Marianne Goslawski says

    November 20, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    How do I return my phone?

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      November 21, 2016 at 5:08 am

      Why do you want to return your phone? If it’s because you no longer qualify, there’s no need to return your phone. If it’s because it’s broken, here’s an article that tells you what you need to know:

      https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/i-lost-my-phone-how-do-i-get-a-replacement

      Reply
  5. Scott Lara says

    March 9, 2015 at 8:14 am

    when do my 250 minutes get reladed is it on the date that i recived it or the 1st of the month i haveno minutes as of now. i appreciate your your time to reply .

    Reply
  6. ManuelcampoamoAmor says

    June 4, 2014 at 1:28 pm

    I am 67 totally disable diabetic heart lung diease two artifical knees on oxygen need something for emergency I am on a special watch program with Tampa coal gas co as I also use a Cpap so how do I know if I quilify

    Reply
  7. peggyj.hansen says

    August 13, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    I just got this free government cell phone in 2 wks ago and now I lost 204minutes & I only used up 46minutes on it. So am I ever going to have more minutes to be put on again??????????????????????
    I need to be turn on now ASAP cause I’m looking for work,
    Thank you,
    Peggy Hansen
    P.S. let me know something?
    Does this free phone work as the same as food stamps does you get 200.00 each month???????????

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      August 13, 2013 at 3:08 pm

      No, it doesn’t work the same as Food Stamps.

      Reply
  8. ken katayama says

    January 11, 2012 at 12:22 am

    I’m in los angeles ca. Is there a provider in ca. I’m on food stamps

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      January 11, 2012 at 8:02 pm

      https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/states/california-government-cell-phone-providers

      Reply
  9. Theresa Greene says

    September 30, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    I either lost my charger or it doesn’t light up when I remove the battery. I’ve not
    made a call on my verizon free phone for seven months. The reason why I
    haven’t cleared this up earlier is was hospitalized for 2 months and taking care
    of my other business.
    I talked to Penny at Tech-support. She left me hanging.

    Thank you for any help you can give.

    Theresa Greene

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      September 30, 2011 at 2:07 pm

      Verizon does not participate in the free cell phone program.

      Reply
      • devin says

        August 9, 2014 at 7:16 pm

        Yes they do. I have a Verizon Obama phone.

        Reply
        • Lulu says

          August 17, 2014 at 12:41 pm

          Theresa Greene’s post was from 2011.

          Reply
  10. Lisa S Rasco says

    June 20, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    My parents received a phone call alerting them that they needed to requalify for the continued use of the free phone. How would we go about reapplying?

    Reply
    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      June 20, 2011 at 9:32 pm

      Lisa,

      Each company’s website has a link for “Verification” or “Annual Certification.” Look for that and follow the directions. You should only have to indicate by checking a box that you sill qualify under the requirements of the program.

      Reply

Just tell me how to get a Phone!

Confused? Getting a phone is actually very simple. Click here to begin, read every word, and then simply follow the instructions.

Sign up for our Free Newsletter

Click to learn more...

Search this site

More Information

  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Readers' Questions
  • Help
  • Contact
  • About Us

Recent Articles

11 things you need to know about the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

Q Link Wireless raided by FBI, IRS, US Post Office, Sheriffs

Limited time only: Free unlimited talk, unlimited text AND unlimited data

Q Link F ups continue: Company makes it easy to access private customer info

Were our readers right? Are free government cell phones hacked before they’re activated?

Crisis in free government cell phone program: Will new demands kill off service providers?

WTF? Assist Wireless screws up, exposes tens of thousands of customer IDs

Number of free government cell phone customers drops by two million in last three years

Leading industry analyst calls for universal broadband and free government cell phones for everyone who needs them

Sprint busted for Lifeline fraud, forced to pay $200 million penalty

Latest Reader Comments

  • Terri H on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “To file a FCC complaint, you have to choose “Billing” as the problem, to eventually get to the provider names…” May 27, 21:50
  • Stuck at Home on enTouch Wireless Free Cell Phones: “I’m on my SIXTH day out, heading into a 3-day weekend, so it will be at least TEN DAYS with…” May 27, 21:42
  • Free Government Cell Phones on More cash-strapped students now eligible for free government cell phones and cheap internet: “Assuming that your qualify, you need to enroll with one of the companies offering phones in your state, Joseph. Here’s…” May 27, 21:29
  • Free Government Cell Phones on Can I use my Safelink Wireless SIM card in another phone?: “What works for one does not necessarily work for all, Cim.” May 27, 21:27
  • Free Government Cell Phones on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “Aha! You bought a phone. That answers the question we asked on one of your other comments.” May 27, 21:26
  • Free Government Cell Phones on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “It appears that you went right past filing a complaint with the FCC or the BBB and went straight to…” May 27, 21:25
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “They insist on keeping my refund the US government should I fire them from the lifeline program they have no…” May 27, 20:50
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “They don’t have any respect for us senior citizens they taking the government money and not doing their job their…” May 27, 20:45
  • Tyrone Kelly on How to file a Lifeline Service Complaint: “Assurance Wireless said they were going to sell me a Samsung 10 Galaxy they charged me $27 they sent me…” May 27, 20:43
  • Cim on Can I use my Safelink Wireless SIM card in another phone?: “This is not good advice. I put a old Safelink SIM in an unlocked phone (2022) and there were no…” May 27, 19:13
Copyright 2019 FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net. | Privacy Policy | Contact