Unable to activate eSim -fixed

[Danny_Chesterman]

I had an issue where I was unable to activate the eSIM on my son's phone. It stated that it was locked by the previous carrier (either the phone or SIM card) This was not the case. It had a virtual IMEI added by the VPN provider.

I was able to complete the activation process myself on my son's iPhone 13 by ordering a new SIM card (free SIM card and shipping) (This may not have been necessary, it may just need to have had the VPN deactivated and reset the phone to remove the virtual IMEI added by the VPN provider)

1. I turned off the phone and installed the new SIM card, deactivated/disabled his VPN connection (which had created a virtual IMEI), backed the phone up to iCloud, Reset and Erased the iPhone, and set it up as new)
   1. For issues with activating the SIM (if not a new SIM) go to your device on your account and order a new SIM card (it's free as is the shipping). It took about 5 business days (using 2-day free shipping) to receive the SIM card but you may just be able to go into a store and pick one up.
2. To fix my son's issue I took the following steps (after shutting down (pressing volume up and the power button > swiping right on the slider to turn off), removing the old SIM and installing the new SIM):
3.  Determined that there was an active VPN connection on the device by going to Settings > VPN > (Displayed Connected) > Disconnected here.
   1. Verified that there was a virtual IMEI displaying for the device (Settings > General > About > IMEI. 2 IMEI Showing here). This caused the carrier to incorrectly label the SIM and/or phone as being locked.
4. Backed up the phone to iCloud (Settings > Name Banner at the top) iCloud > iCloud Backup > Backup Now)
5. Reset and erased the iphone (Setttings > General >  Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Conent and Settings).
6. Once the phone started the process, restarted and erased all the data, I set up as new.
7. During this process I connected to Wifi, and allowed the phone to set up the new Verizon SIM to connect to the carrier. 
   1. I skipped the proces to set up the phone from another device and chose to do this manually and restore from iCloud backup.
   2. Once the phone was restored it works great.