Whats App transfer

Here is my situation:

I am wanting to transfer my Whats App chats, contacts, etc from my (old phone) Samsung Note 3 to (new phone) Note 5.

Whats App was created on the Note 3 with a number I had in the US. I moved overseas and was still able to use Whats App with a new overseas sim card although my old number shows up when I send messages via Whats App.

I saved the backup chat file from the database folder (from the Note 3) to my laptop and transferred the file to the new phone (Note 5) but setting up Whats App on the new phone requires a phone number (to receive the verification code)...which is my overseas number....so I actually set up a new Whats App account instead of "restoring" my old account.

Any suggestions?

I don't have access to the old number. I also tried doing the transfer via Smart Switch but it only transfer the app with any of my chats/contacts/etc.

I have backed up the data and via my google account and have transferred the file from the WhatsApp Database to my laptop.

I've seen some suggestions to change my phone number (Settings, Account, Change Number) on my old phone's What App but hesitant because I don't know if I will lose all contacts and chats.

Question...if I change my number on the old phone to my current number, then install WhatsApp on the new phone (which requires a phone number to get the verification code), will that then allow me to restore the save file on my laptop?

Thanks for the input/instructions.

Ok, I changed the number on the old phone, then copied the latest file from the database folder and saved it to my laptop.

I registered Whatsapp on my new phone, transferred the saved file to the Database folder (copy/paste from laptop to phone via USB). I verified the file is in the Database folder on the new phone but no chat history is displayed.

One thing....I thought I would get a "restore" button when setting up whatsapp on the new phone but I never got that indication.

Any suggestions? THanks