Sunday, September 11, 2011

iOS enrollment woes


We all know how Apple is hellbent on perfection in all aspects. Recently I wanted to register for iOS developer enrollment which costs $99 a year. I followed the instructions in http://developer.apple.com and at the end of my enrollment, immediately I saw a screen which said, "Please download the purchase form, fill necessary details and fax it to Apple" WTF! I thought this was highly ridiculous..why couldnt they have any provision for online payment? Frustrated and reluctant to fax my bank account details, I  thought I would ask my friend in USA to register using his credit card. He was able to register and paid the amount using his US credit card and Apple even debited $102 with tax from his credit account.

I was relieved that it was finally done..Suddenly that night I recieved a mail from Apple saying "There is some problem with your identity, we are unable to match the credit card details with your iOS enrollment details so please FAX us identity verification form with Notary's Seal and Signature on it"
Aargh! I wanted to get the registration done at any cost, so I filled all the details in the identity verfication form, went to a notary , got it signed and sealed and even faxed it immediately.

Again that night, I received a mail from Apple saying, you will have to mail us photo identification (photocopy of your passport or Driver's license)! Without further ado, I dialed 1800-MY-APPLE from Skype. After a series of questions I was put on call to someone named Latisha from Apple Customer Support! I told her whatever had happened until then. She said it was against Apple policy to activate iOS Developer Program if the details of the credit card holder and iOS enrollment details dint match.

She also said, Please mail us your enrollment ID with Refund as subject  and our customer support will get back to you!

 A lesson learnt, I never bothered to see this before I registered for the program  -http://developer.apple.com/support/ios/purchase-and-next-steps.html .  I just googled and found that in a few forums they mentioned that it was possible using someone else's credit card and was misguided!

So finally, I created a new Apple ID, filled in details which matched my billing and credit card details. I downloaded the purchase form and faxed it to Apple.
They mailed me with iOS activation code and a link within 4 days. Finally, I have access to iOS Developer Resources!
Phew!

12 comments:

Priya said...

Hi Srikanth, Greetings. Yes, I recently (last week) tried (and am still trying!) to register in the iOS Developer Program, and as you said, it was a surprise (& a shock) to see they don't accept online payment from non-US folks!!! OMG! I tried out the same thing you did, but it turned out that the credit card needed to belong to the same 'name' that the dev account had! So funny, I thought! How has your experience in using the registration (that you did at last, by using your own card) been? Have there been any restrictions imposed b'cos you registered from India? - Thanks, Priya ( therhythmic@gmail.com ).

Lakshman Srikanth D said...

I registered for virtual credit card (provided by most of the banks in India) filled the registration form and faxed it! Within a week they enabled apple developer account access for my new id. You have to use your own credit card which is registered in your name or if you use a different credit card which isn't yours , you will have to fill the appropriate details in the registration form and fax it.

Priya said...

Thanks, Srikanth, for your response. I appreciate it. I do have a credit card. Did you try using that registered account to post your apps to the AppStore? My inhibition was (and 'is') that Apple might be having some restrictions on putting Apps in the International AppStore, when it's done through an account registered in India (for example, it may not allow one to post Apps to the US AppStore from an account registered by using an Indian Credit Card....it's just an assumption am making here...as far as I checked, I couldn't find any, in writing, though.) Hence, am hesitant about registering with an Indian Payment (credit card) mode. Your thoughts please? - Thanks, Priya

Lakshman Srikanth D said...

You can use indian credit card and post your app to appstore. Once the payment is made through your indian credit card to enroll as apple developer then everything else is smooth.

Beekeeper said...

Looks like its my turn now, thanks for the information. Iam going through the same and iam trying to fax the forum but no-one is answering from their side. Yes, i have registered in apple and took the forum from their site.

The thing which is confusing is how come they accept the credit card for itune, because i have already registered my card and i even bought games for my iphone through itune. But why not they won't do the same to this development program.?

Lakshman Srikanth D said...

Apple Developer Program entirely different from your account which is registered with AppStore. Hence the registration process is different!

Prassad said...

Hey,
I tried that virtual card to pay but the problem is it expires with 24 hours if not used.So I got a mail from them saying they are not able to secure payment.Lets see now got to refax the form with debit card information as their support told me I can use a debit card with visa logo.

Anonymous said...

Hi Srikkanth

I have a debit card. Can I use it for purchasing instead of credit cards.

Thanks
Ravi

Lakshman Srikanth D said...

When I tried my debit card with visa logo, Apple just refused it, might have changed their policy now!
its better to call Apple Customer Support.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Srikkanth. After registering for the iOS developer program, can we sell paid apps from India. Are there any restrictions in iTunes for it.

Ravi

Paul Frank said...

What's the current status? Do they accept debit cards for iOS developer account registration?

Unknown said...

hello Srikanth sir this is Sumit Kanojiya from Bhopal Madhya pradesh.Recently i started making games and apps for all platforms it is easy for me to put my game on play store but for apple it is really difficult..some of my queries are..
does apple accepts credit cards of all indian banks or just private banks like icici , hdfc or axis bank etc
my second query is how do i fax the form to apple can you elaborate that in details and explain it to me ...if you can help me with this i can post my games to ios as well ...(i am a single developer)