What changes when you send a fax abroad
If you have already worked out how to send a fax from your phone or computer, you have done most of the work. An international fax goes through the same online fax service, the same upload step, and the same cover sheet. The one thing that changes is the number you type in, and that single field is where an otherwise correct fax goes wrong.
What stays the same
- You still use an online fax service.
- You still upload the document as a PDF or similar file.
- You still get a transmission confirmation once it has gone through, or a failure message if it has not.
None of that changes because the recipient happens to be in another country. What changes is how the number in the recipient field has to be written, and that is worth getting right before you send.
The full steps for sending from a phone or computer are covered in how to send a fax from your computer (UK), and it is worth checking there first if you have not sent one before.
Formatting an international fax number
An international fax number is built from three parts: a prefix that tells the network you're calling out of the country, a code for the country you're sending to, and the recipient's own number with its leading zero removed. Get any one of these wrong and the fax simply won't connect, no confirmation page, no error message you can act on, just silence.
The three parts, in order
- International dialling prefix — from the UK this is 00, the digits that tell the telephone network you're leaving the country
- Country code — a fixed number for the destination country, for example 1 for the United States and Canada
- Local number — the recipient's fax number as they'd give it to someone in their own country, minus the leading 0
So a UK number written domestically as 020 7946 0000 becomes 44 20 7946 0000 when someone abroad dials it, and a US number written locally as (212) 555 0100 becomes 1 212 555 0100 when you dial it from the UK.
Why the leading zero has to go
The 0 at the start of a UK number only means something inside the UK network. It tells the exchange you're making a national call. Once you add a country code, that job is already done, so the 0 is dropped and the rest of the number follows straight after the country code.
What you dial and what you type are not always written the same way
If you were dialling from a landline or mobile, you'd type 00 followed by the country code and number. Most online fax services (websites that convert your document into a fax signal and send it over the internet) ask for the number in international format using a plus sign instead, so 00 44 becomes +44. The digits after the country code are identical either way. The only thing that changes is whether the prefix is 00 or +, and the service you're using will usually show you which it expects in the field itself.
When in doubt, write the number as +[country code][number without leading zero], with no spaces or brackets, and most services will accept it without complaint.
Why an international fax can fail to arrive
An international fax usually fails for one of three reasons: the country code is wrong, there are extra digits left over from how the number was originally printed, or the online fax service charges more for an international page than the sender expected. All three are worth checking before you send anything, because a failed transmission often looks identical to a successful one until the recipient tells you nothing arrived.
The country code is missing or wrong
A fax number sent from the UK needs the destination country's code in front of it, and that code replaces the leading zero you would normally dial for a number within its own country. A number copied straight off a solicitor's letterhead or a hospital form will usually still have that leading zero attached, and leaving it in place alongside the country code is one of the most common reasons a fax simply does not connect.
Extra digits from the local format
Numbers on official documents are printed the way someone in that country would dial them locally. Once the country code is added, any local prefix or leading zero needs to come out, so the number is often shorter than it looks on the page.
Paying more without knowing it
Some online fax services charge more per page for a number outside the UK than for a domestic one, and that difference does not always show clearly until you are partway through sending. It is worth reading a service's own pricing page for its international rates before sending, especially for a document that runs to more than one or two pages. The steps for sending itself do not change once the number is right, and follow the same process as sending any other fax from a phone or computer.
Questions about faxing abroad
Does someone need to be standing by the fax machine when it arrives
No. A fax that lands on a physical machine sits in its memory or prints out and waits, much like a letter in a pigeonhole. If the recipient uses an online fax service, it arrives as a PDF in an inbox and can be read whenever they next check it.
Does the time difference matter when sending a fax to another country
It doesn't affect whether the fax gets through, only how quickly anyone sees it. Sending to a US office at 9pm UK time means it lands in the middle of their working day, but sending late at night your time might mean it sits unread until their office opens the next morning.
Is it more expensive to fax the US, Europe or Australia than a UK number
International pages are usually priced higher than domestic ones on online fax services, and the rate varies by destination and by provider. Check the service's own pricing page for the country you're sending to before you commit, since a free tier that covers UK numbers often doesn't stretch to international ones.
Do I need to know whether the recipient has a real fax machine or an online fax number
No. From your side the process is the same either way: you type the number in international format and send. What happens at the other end, whether it prints on a machine or arrives as a file, doesn't change anything you need to do.
Can I send an international fax without making a phone call
Yes. An online fax service (a website that converts your document into a fax signal and sends it over the internet) handles the dialling itself once you've entered the number correctly. You never pick up a phone or dial anything yourself.