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iOS iPhone Developer Program Not Available in Some Countries (Greece)

Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
I think it's right to start a new thread about this one...

I went and bought an iPhone, which I believe is a very good buy, even if I didn't want it for application development.

However, something unfortunate happened. I live in Greece, and when I tried to apply for an iPhone standard Developer program, in the last stage of my application procedure it asked me what my country was. I couldn't find Greece among these countries. I sent an e-mail to Apple, asking what to do, however, when I tried redoing the procedure from the start, I was presented with this:

Thank you for submitting your enrollment.

Your enrollment ID is ...................
Please print this page for your records.

Next Steps

We will be contacting the legal representative you provided during the enrollment process for verification purposes. Please be patient as this may take several days to complete.

You will receive an email notification providing you with further instructions once we have verified your information.

While we process your information, please visit the iPhone Dev Center to download the iPhone SDK and access a wealth of technical resources.
Click to expand...

Does this mean that I won't be able to purchase this program and I won't be able to build a program and upload it to iTunes Store?
 
C

CommanderData

macrumors 6502
Dec 1, 2007
250
3
I don't think there's anyone else from Greece here. My guess is they will not accept you into the developer program right now based on your location, but you never know...
 
S

sansara

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2008
6
0
Soulstorm said:
anyone?
Click to expand...

Soulstorm, I can not help you but please report here the outcome of this story when you know, as it affects all of us Greeks.

I was about to start the application procedure the next days and this finding about exclusion of specific countries is awful.
 
Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
I have contacted apple's technical support here in Greece. They told me that they don't know what must be done but they do know of a man that had the same problem in Ukraine. His problem was solved by depositing the money via a ban account to a bank account in Apple. They advised me to wait 48 hours before taking any actio ln because usually that's the time apple needs to reply to mails.

The people I talked to via phone seemed confident that apple would find a way to remedy the situation as it is in their best interest to have new developers in as many countries as possible.

And I really can't think of any reason why apple would exclude Greece from the developer program. I bought the iPhone mainly because I wanted to develop for it and I now feel like stupid, because no one told me in advance that there isn't any developer program available in Greece. Thanks apple!
 
Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
...continuing my efforts to find a solution to my problems, I received a strange e-mail from a sender called "AppDev Info"

Hi!

I just found your post on macrumors forum regarding iDP enrollment.

As you already know, there is a problem for the developers from some countries to enroll, since Apple do not provide online forms to do that. What you may not know is that Russian and Ukrainian developers face exactly the same problems when they intend to start working on the iPhone/iPod touch applications.
I represent an American company TimeBom corp. founded by Russians in order to provide the assistance to the future Apple developers. Our company helps them to register the account and to make the payment for participation in the iPhone developer program and also to sign and finalize the contract with Apple.

I would like to offer you our services. We can help you to obtain the contract with Apple in quite a short term (1-2 weeks) so that you will able to immediately start selling your applications at App Store.

The procedure is the following:

1. We register a new AppleID using your personal data and give the address @appdev.ru as the contact e-mail.
2. After the registration of your AppleID we start the enrollment process. We fill the enrollment form with your name, address and the name of your company. Sometimes it's necessary to provide Apple with the scan of your ID with your name written in not only your native language but also in Latin alphabeth - passport or driving license).
3. When Apple approves your application we pay for you participation in the Program.
4. As your authorized designee we receive your EIN (Employer Identification Number) at IRS. This number is needed for w8 form. It's a form that states that you're not subject to US withholding taxes and why (not resident in the US).
5. After your contract is finalized we hand over to you all the related logins and passwords. You will be able to change them so that we will never be able to get the access to your account again.

If you're interested in using our services and you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We will be happy to help you.

Roman Cosa,
developer relations,

Timebom Corp. Austin TX
info@appdev.ru
+7 926 7802080
Click to expand...

I want to believe him, but giving away so much personal information somewhat scares me. Does anyone have any experience with those guys or at least has heard something?
 
C

CommanderData

macrumors 6502
Dec 1, 2007
250
3
Soulstorm said:
...continuing my efforts to find a solution to my problems, I received a strange e-mail from a sender called "AppDev Info"



I want to believe him, but giving away so much personal information somewhat scares me. Does anyone have any experience with those guys or at least has heard something?
Click to expand...


I have not heard of them, but absolutely do not ever hand out information to ANYONE on the internet. They prey upon people like yourself, with a problem that they can oh-so-conveniently solve for you. Note that they claim to be in Austin TX but have a russian e-mail address and international phone number. If the company really had any presence in the USA he should provide you with that info too.
 
S

sansara

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2008
6
0
I have also applied for the Developers Program and encountered the same problem (Greece is not in the list for the 99$ payment). I have sent a letter to Apple asking what I am supposed to do. Let's see what they will reply...

Soulstorm, please continue to inform us about any reply to you from Apple. Thanks!
 
I

iphone.bank

macrumors newbie
Jan 19, 2009
2
0
Also not availabel for India

Hi, I am also trying to enroll but not available in India. I have invested huge efforts in learning iphone programming ( not to say that I spent money in buying macs and iphone ) but only to find that I am unable to enroll in iphone developer program.
Do anyone ( from greece / ukraine ) managed to enroll.. please reply. Thank you.
 
Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
I posted this question in another forum, and I believe you may want to read the thread...

The thread is here.
 
T

tadelv

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2008
12
0
Hi!

I am having the same problem. I am from Slovenia and there is no Apple Online Store here either.
I sent a few emails to ADC support using words like 'critical', 'imperative', 'urgent' and so on, and in approx. two weeks i got an email with a form which i had to fill-out and fax to apple billing team in USA. I also had to reply to that e-mail, to confirm i have faxed the form, but have got no reply yet (the fax was sent on friday, 5. of January 2009). There is another developer here in Slovenia, who already has an account, and he told me that i would have to wait for about 3 weeks after faxing the form, to get the activation e-mail.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards!
 
M

macfanboy

macrumors 6502a
Jun 5, 2007
915
162
Thank you for submitting your enrollment.

Your enrollment ID is ...................
Please print this page for your records.

Next Steps

We will be contacting the legal representative you provided during the enrollment process for verification purposes. Please be patient as this may take several days to complete.

You will receive an email notification providing you with further instructions once we have verified your information.

While we process your information, please visit the iPhone Dev Center to download the iPhone SDK and access a wealth of technical resources.
Click to expand...

I got this same message when applying from the US. At first i thought i accidentally clicked enterprise instead of standard, but maybe this is a standard message for ALL applications to iDP
 
Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
That's a standard automated reply for all applications. That doesn't mean that your application will proceed...
 
T

tadelv

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2008
12
0
Hello all!

i got my activation email yesterday! that means approx. 1 month from application to activation.

best regards!
 
Soulstorm

Soulstorm

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 1, 2005
1,887
1
It's been one and a half month approx since I sent my registration application. In the mean time, I faxed my photo ID and my billing information, as I was asked by Apple. No word from them.

I received that e-mail from Apple 2 days ago:

Dear Christos Sotiriou,
Thank you for your interest in the iPhone Developer Program and your patience during the enrollment process.
In reviewing your enrollment status, we noticed your iPhone Developer Program purchase is still pending. You can complete your purchase now through the Apple Store online. Within 24 hours of your purchase, you will receive an activation email. Please follow the instructions in the email to complete the activation of your iPhone Developer Program enrollment.
If you have already completed your purchase but have not received your activation email, please contact us.
Best regards,

iPhone Developer Program
Click to expand...

Inside that e-mail, there is a link. I press it, and it redirect me to the online store, where my country must be chosen from the list in order to complete my purchase. Guess what...! NO Greece!

I thought that this had been clarified to Apple, that I am not from Greece!. So I called them and I asked them what happened. After some calls, it seems that this was an automatic message. The last lady I spoke to on the phone said that she would tell the billing department to give priority on the matter, and since I have faxed to Apple all the necessary information, Apple would make the transaction based on my billing information and my registration e-mail would be sent to me in 2 days tops.

2 days have passed, and no e-mail from Apple.

They really need to change the way things are being done...
 
I

iphonerain

macrumors member
Apr 7, 2009
53
0
Oh man this is awful - sorry to hear man. I'm sure everyone appreciates you posting your dilemma and the steps you are taking to resolve this. I think it's really silly to exclude some countries from getting into this program when the product is sold there. :mad:
 
J

johntra

macrumors newbie
Apr 30, 2009
1
0
I was excited too!

I have seen the podcasts of Steve Jobs presenting the IPhone, I seen their ads about the Macs and I bought a Mac and an Iphone to start developing apps.
And now what? I read you guys and I get crazy. I was about to buy the Iphone SDK just next week. Should I have the same trouble; Possibly yes.
Is Apple deaf; Don't they have a team to read and take care about such problems? Once they reached to the edge of the cliff to get bankrupted by practices like this. Did n't they got their lesson;
Never mind pals! If Apple does not want us to build apps for their phone we will build for good old Windows. Anyway, most mobile phones run Windows.
Possibly, with leave of Jobs due to his health issues Apple will eventually became a company for a niche market as it was before. Pity!
 
I

idelovski

macrumors regular
Sep 11, 2008
235
0
Just be patient.

I've sent them a mail. Then they sent me a form which I faxed back and then they charged me $99 and then I was in.

It sounds so simple when I tell it like this, but in my case it took 5 weeks for all of this to play out.
 
U

usergr

macrumors newbie
Jan 15, 2011
4
0
2 xronia meta...oi tupades tis apple den alla3an tpt...stin idia 8esi eimai kai egw...:p:p

So, 2 years later, did you manage to enroll on the iOS program? I am kind in the same situation as you...
 
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