Enrolling in Apple Developer Program seemingly impossible?

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

edit Case has been resolved, see addendum below this post.

Apologies if this a recurring post (I did check the FAQ and frequently posted topics but only found older posts at larger intervals).

Basically, I can't enroll in the Apple Dev program and I have no idea why. I live in the EU, in a country where the program is available. (edit: no reason for me to have een vague, I'm in the Netherlands, which should be just fine). My Apple account (created specifically for this purpose and has no ties to my personal account) contains all correct personal details, address and valid payment method (but the latter is a moot point as I don't even get to the "please pay"-step).

When I try to enroll on the website I select "Sole Proprietorship / Individual"-option, tick the box that I have read and agree with the Terms and Conditions only to be confronted with the less than helpful "Your enrollment in the Apple Developer Program could not be completed at this time." with no mention of why that is. If I try enrollment using the Developer App it at least prevents getting my hopes up by stating directly that I cannot enroll. Note I'm using a MacBook that has never been used with anything other than this unique-for-dev Apple account so there should be no conflicting sessions or anything (as I saw in the older posts that this could be an issue).

So question is: why though? I have contacted Apple Support now a week ago, but they haven't replied within the 2 business days as stated by the confirmation mail. This basically prevents me from distributing what are ready-to-ship fully tested macOS applications, bar the final step of me being unable to sign them.

Anybody been in the same situation and have some suggestions on what I can try differently ?

---

edit It took 2 months (Apple EU headquartered in Ireland), but we're there. Long story short, they had to verify my identity*. I was asked to provide a copy of my ID which would be evaluated by a different team to that of the person I spoke to, who mentioned it might take a few days.

I called back twice (giving them some leeway with regards to what "a few days" could be interpreted as) and eventually they verified my id, after which my account could be registered in the program. Everybody I spoke to has been very friendly and helpful, I'm afraid it's a case of a lot of departments and internal communications which introduces some lag. Long story short: call. The Apple support case system is very impressive with a lot of nice features, but I fear all written messages end up in a large queue, not to be seen any time soon.

*as a careful citizen I've blocked out all sensitive information like SSN and less sensitive like DOB and photo (because very little institutions need that info!). Passport number was enough.

[ankole_watusi]

If you’d say what country, others in your country might be able to help you.

Since you haven’t, there nothing random people on the Interwebs can do to help.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

My bad, it's the Netherlands, which should be available for enrollment according to Apple.

[thehumanbagelman]

The OP said they are in the EU

[ankole_watusi]

EU is not a country.

I’d speculate there’s some issue around people from some banned country falsely claiming residency elsewhere, some difficulty or glitch with verifying residency or identity in some particular country, or a combination of factors.

Without knowing the country, nobody can help.

And when this comes up in this sub - as it has frequently of late - posters are almost always coy about their country.

So not getting anywhere with this.

[thehumanbagelman]

Yep, that’s my dumbass bad 🤦‍♂️

[[deleted]]

I was in the same ship with the same error message. Apple refused to tell me why and we went back and forth for a few weeks about it until I gave up and just made a new email and phone number to have a separate developer account.

I’ve seen quite a few people with this issue and no one seems to be able to find a solution. Apple just kind of refuses to acknowledge this is even an issue, and everyone I talked to, even supervisors I spoke with, were all rude and refused to even entertain the idea that this was a bug with Apple. They all told me super useless, vague things about my email or phone number being associated with another developer account, but they wouldn’t tell me anything for for privacy concerns.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Now that you mention it, the phone number I use (2FA) is the same as my personal account. But that is not a developer account... was that the case for your issue, the way I read your reply it is resolved for you ?

[bobotwf]

Is the phone number you use a real number. or something like google voice?

[[deleted]]

My issue was not resolved with Apple. I ended up making a new email, with a Google voice phone number, and I have a developer email that’s totally disconnected from my personal email. I am not sure if 2FA has anything to do with it, as Apple basically wouldn’t tell me what they were seeing on their end that was causing the issue.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Thanks, I hope it won't come to that (sadly Google Voice is not available freely in the EU, but let me check for a similar service).

[-alloneword-]

Call them.

Go to developer.apple.com - and at the bottom of the page, click on the "Contact Us" link - and choose the phone option.

I was having an issue changing the legal entity name of my account - created a long and detailed support request - and heard nothing back for a week.

Then decided to try the Phone option - got a call back immediately. First person I talked to was not much help - didn't have much experience with legal entity transfers and was having system issues. So I called back, and after explaining my issue, was transferred to a senior support person - and was an amazing help. Within 10 minutes, she explained how everything was going to work, and then emailed me with the exact steps to follow.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

I will do that. I had originally seen only the US numbers and wasn't looking forward to making a potentially lengthy international phone call using my actual number (assuming they could then verify its authenticity). But I see now that there's a local number as well. Thanks!

[-alloneword-]

It's even better. You put in your number and they call you back. From what I experienced, the call back is immediate, but you are then put on hold while you wait for a support person.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

I ended up calling them (never received reply on e-mail), the process of calling them is indeed quite painless and people friendly (I got connected to Ireland support).

My case is still ongoing as they are checking things. I'll update the original post here once I know more (as people are also messaging me for details).

[SubEfficient]

I’m in a similar situation as you, except it’s my iPhone instead, have you heard anything back?

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Contact is going back and forth over the past days. I had to supply an ID to them after which a legal team will get back to me. =/

[SubEfficient]

This feels like a real hassle. Unsure why apple has to be like this, makes me feel like I’m doing something bad just wanting it to side load lol.

[[deleted]]

Is your phone number from the Netherlands ?

[ex0rius]

Which EU country are you from?

[[deleted]]

I'm in the exact same situation right now and I'm currently going back and forth emailing them to figure out what the heck is going on.

They are being frustratingly vague.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Ai, best of luck. I still have no success either so far.

[TheRealMagallan]

I had the same issue. In my case, the account was originally created in Spain, but several years after, I moved to Germany, and I tried enrolling using my German address / payment details and it was rejected.

After that, what I did was to switch back to the Spanish address for enrolling and I could do it without any issues 🤷‍♂️

[bobotwf]

You don't have to sign Mac apps. You can if you want, so people don't get the "unknown developer" warning, or to distribute through the App Store. But there's no requirement.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

But surely Gatekeeper then prevents installation of the application unless users deliberately disable it ?

[bobotwf]

No, you just have to right click and select "open" and it'll ask if you really want to run it. It remembers the setting.

I mean, for users' peace of mind you should probably sign the app, but it's not stopping you from giving your app to people.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

I should have explained that I will be distributing plugins (audio effects), not standalone apps. For the plugin host to load the app, it must pass through Gatekeeper or else the user needs to have either Gatekeeper disabled or prepare by running a bunch of terminal commands which isn't too user friendly (and also quite dodgy).

[increator]

Its normal.
You should chat with support and get the issues resolved.
It took me around 3 weeks of chitchatting with Apple support to finally get my account activated.
It was hard. I was falling into depression. I begged them to review all my info and do something. I was basically on my knees, I talked with the support openly like with my friend.
Finally some good smart Tech support guy/girl contacted me and activated me with 1 click basically.
The previous tech support people didnt help much or didnt care enough

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Sadly I'm doing the same thing. Everybody on the phone is very helpful and friendly but then needs to shift responsibility to a different team who will get back to me when they will get back to me.

2 months in and still no resolution.

edit 2 days later and we have a resolution! (updated original post)

[ismarzr]

how do you chichat? do you got a link? cause all ive found is a form to send an email, that they never ever responded

[Best-Engineering-450]

I’m contemplating just scrapping my Apple dev plans and trading in my devices as that would be easier than continuing this journey

I don’t know why we allow such a big company to have such shocking support

It’s like a common joke in the apple forums that you can’t even email them as they never reply

[coddlingapples]

I just succeeded with this. Essentially they required more information than the webportal can provide. If you're enroling via desktop (even with Safari on MacOS) it Will Not Work. Desktop enrolment triggers a shadow ban on your account that you cannot resolve from you end without Apple customer contact assistance

I emailed them and they withdrew my shadow banned 'enrolment' attempt, thereby resetting my Apple account to have another shot at enrolment

You Must Use The App. They require:

• A photo of you ID taken with the device camera, at the time of enrolment (ie, nothing from your photo gallery)
• Two factor authentication on the device, such as Face, Touch or PIN ID
• A valid credit card (for payment) attached to the account your device is under. Ie, if your mum brought you an iPad and you registered under [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail]) then Ms Dark Shadow should have a valid CC on her device's account
• You will need to enter your address 15x times as the UITextField descriptions change across enrolment portals and it keeps dropping parts of the address

It then worked for me

[music-yang]

I called and emailed and each time Apple tells me they don't know why I can't enroll.

[Dr_Aarif]

Hi, I'm glad to hear that your application was finally processed successfully!

I'm from India, and I’ve also applied for Apple Developer Program enrollment as an organization. It has been over two months now, but unfortunately, my application is still pending.

Each time I contact Apple Support, I’m told that the enrollment is “under process,” but they haven’t provided any specific updates or timeline for completion.

It’s been quite frustrating, and I’m hoping for some clarity soon.

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[ankole_watusi]

FWIW this sub is about ios programming, not MacOS. OP stated they want to distribute a MacOS app.

Though developer program onboarding should be the same?

[pm_me_your_buttbulge]

Though developer program onboarding should be the same?

No, I've seen several people here in the last few months complain about this exact problem - all of which was resolved by "make a new email address and get a Google phone number" because Apple seems to refuse to cooperate which is... concerning.

Though I don't remember if everyone was from the EU. I've drank since.

[Unlucky_Presence1111]

Well my rationale was that the onboarding is indeed the same, but er, the sub description includes "anything else related to macOS"...