Carrier Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus - Some Locked against International Use

[gsd07]

what your case/ticket ?

It won't help you, matter of fact, I gave all the apple tickets which I Found in this blog and all of them were "not conclusive/resolved"

You have to be very specific about getting your case to an engineer. Some tips to get in there:

--------

-I know the SIM works because it doesn't replicate the error on another iPhone

-Verizon phones are globally unlock by FCC rules....

-I have already reached out to verizon and they told me the phone is globally unlocked, and even if they want...there's no tool for unlocking an iPhone.

-My iPhone doesn't work with international SIM cards, however it does work with all the SIM cards from U.S carriers. (T-Mobile...AT&T....)
Which means that the phone has a wrong assigned policy that make the phone unlock within the U.S but locked internationally. I know this because l've tried several active SIM from U.S. carriers and all of them goes trought the activation process, however it doesn't allow me to pass it with an international SIM.

Also lots of people have solve this exact same problem via apple engineer, NOT the carrier.

So please I just want you to forward this case to an engineers so they can fix my problem...

--------

You have to keep in mind that 99% of the time, the senior advisor will just tell you is a carrier problem... You have two options:

1. Try to convice him/her
2. Try with another one until you have it forwarded.


Best of luck! Don't give up

 

[pika2000]

Wow. I thought with the FCC regulation, we wouldn't see any of these locking crap anymore. Why would Apple have such locked policy for Verizon phones to begin with? Is it a legacy policy in their system? But why is it assignable to iPhone 5 and newer? Apple's unlock/lock system is confusing (unlike most regular phones that only use codes).

Made me wish for a simple ban on provider locking, period.

 

[Mirror Neuron]

As of today i.e. October 25th 2015, the issue still persists.

In fact, there are 100s of iPhones on eBay for sale, that says "NO INTERNATIONAL USAGE! USA USE ONLY! WILL NOT WORK WITH FOREIGN SIM!!".
For e.g. put this list ID 291599173988 in eBay search bar to see one such listing.
It is an issue, that seems more prevalent with a replacement phone than a brand new out of the box phone.

 

[Se370z]

I'm having this issue as well, they are asking me to give them the IMEI number of the old phone that is replaced to?

 

[Battel]

My iPhone was able to work great with R-SIM 10, but unfortunately I didn't know how to figure it out to make it work with the Data ..

Anyways after a 2 hours call with apple support they were able to escalate my case to the engineers and within 24 hours my iPhone was unlocked !
I just removed the R-SIM 10 and inserted only my Sim card and I was surprised worked like a charm !

Special Thanks to gsd07 and all the guys who guided me to escalate my request to an engineer !

Simply:
1- if you are willing to Factory Unlock your iPhone and you're into calling apple support over and over until you reach an understanding senior advisor who is willing to help you and send your request to an engineer, then go ahead during your free time and try to reach them .

2- if you just want an easy fast solution you can go ahead and buy a R-SIM 10, it works fine.

 

[Se370z]

My iPhone was able to work great with R-SIM 10, but unfortunately I didn't know how to figure it out to make it work with the Data ..

Anyways after a 2 hours call with apple support they were able to escalate my case to the engineers and within 24 hours my iPhone was unlocked !
I just removed the R-SIM 10 and inserted only my Sim card and I was surprised worked like a charm !

Special Thanks to gsd07 and all the guys who guided me to escalate my request to an engineer !

Simply:
1- if you are willing to Factory Unlock your iPhone and you're into calling apple support over and over until you reach an understanding senior advisor who is willing to help you and send your request to an engineer, then go ahead during your free time and try to reach them .

2- if you just want an easy fast solution you can go ahead and buy a R-SIM 10, it works fine.

By any chance do you remember the person you spoke to, I called them 10 times they just don't want to fix this issue.

I don't know what to do

 

[Battel]

By any chance do you remember the person you spoke to, I called them 10 times they just don't want to fix this issue.

I don't know what to do

Don't give up ..!

Explain your whole situation and tell them that the phone is different from the original (replaced) iPhone and it should be exactly the same specially regarding the activation policy, And mention that a lot of customers who faced this issue did fix it by a Senior Advisors escalating their cases to apple's engineers who were able to fix it from their side ..

it's all about your senior advisor if he's willing to help you and escalate it to an engineer or not !
if he's not willing to go ahead and try to call again and try to contact another senior advisor until you get this issue fixed ..

 

[Se370z]

Don't give up ..!

Explain your whole situation and tell them that the phone is different from the original (replaced) iPhone and it should be exactly the same specially regarding the activation policy, And mention that a lot of customers who faced this issue did fix it by a Senior Advisors escalating their cases to apple's engineers who were able to fix it from their side ..

it's all about your senior advisor if he's willing to help you and escalate it to an engineer or not !
if he's not willing to go ahead and try to call again and try to contact another senior advisor until you get this issue fixed ..

Yea thats what I do, I call them everyday. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Battel]

Yea thats what I do, I call them everyday. Thanks for your advice.

By the way, I've reached the engineers TWICE !
The first time the Engineers refused to change my activation policy and they said it's all up to your carrier (AT&T) !
which we all know that the phone is not locked to them (it's US unlocked !)

but the last time the Engineers did figure it out and fix it

Don't Give up !
I spent almost 10 days contacting them over and over ..

Just be confident and be polite with the senior advisor, hopefully he will be polite enough to help you with your case.

I know exactly how you feel ..
Just don't give up !

if you're not up to all this you can simply buy a R-SIM 10.

at least you can use your phone to call and send sms messages with no problems !
and if you research a little bit maybe you can figure it out how to activate the cellular data on it and I assure you it does work !

 

[Se370z]

By the way, I've reached the engineers TWICE !
The first time the Engineers refused to change my activation policy and they said it's all up to your carrier (AT&T) !
which we all know that the phone is not locked to them (it's US unlocked !)

but the last time the Engineers did figure it out and fix it

Don't Give up !
I spent almost 10 days contacting them over and over ..

Just be confident and be polite with the senior advisor, hopefully he will be polite enough to help you with your case.

I know exactly how you feel ..
Just don't give up !

if you're not up to all this you can simply buy a R-SIM 10.

at least you can use your phone to call and send sms messages with no problems !
and if you research a little bit maybe you can figure it out how to activate the cellular data on it and I assure you it does work !

THANKS, I'm going to order r-sim today until i get this phone fixed. I'm not going to give up I will be calling them everyday until I get it fixed. I restored the phone recently you think r-sim will work on the latest iOS?

 

[Battel]

THANKS, I'm going to order r-sim today until i get this phone fixed. I'm not going to give up I will be calling them everyday until I get it fixed. I restored the phone recently you think r-sim will work on the latest iOS?

The R-SIM will defiantly work with iOS 9.0.2
The R-SIM works by letting your iPhone believe it is connected to the network that it is Locked to (you choose it).
And since your iPhone is "US unlocked", you can choose any US GSM Network you want.
The R-SIM will pretend it's connected to it !
I've chosen Sprint and it worked fine with my Current Carrier.

Be careful dealing with the R-SIM it's very thin and it can get damaged easily.
Check youtube for full explanation on how to use it and start with them step by step.
it's not easy to use at the beginning .

 

[mexquite]

Probably a temporary glitch, otherwise they are violating their agreement with the FCC and will get in trouble.

The times it will show invalid SIM is when Verizon has a partnership with an international carrier and as such they share their BLACKLIST with them.

 

[Quackolyn]

What a hassle. Sure enough, 4 times calling different senior advisers that tell me I have to call the international carrier and there is NO WAY they can forward this to an apple engineer, I begged, I pleaded, I'm so mad about this. Even though it's in black and white and everything adds up. I'm so frustrated.

 

[Rum Ham]

I had the same thing happen last week. Sold my 6 Plus that was brand new from AppleCare+. Never even activated it. Buyer was in the Ukraine attempting to use the phone on the Ukranian carrier called "life" Same issue: Could use AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon SIM's but no international.

Apple engineer said the same to me as to all of you (i.e. "It's all Verizon's fault!") Sent him Verizon's locking policy (http://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/commitment/safety-security/device-unlocking-policy.html) and even had him add Verizon to our call. He still wouldn't accept that there is no lock on Verizon's phones in place by Verizon. He kept thinking that Verizon's policy was th same as AT&T's where it's locked until you're off contract (not true and confirmed by Verizon)

So how did I get it resolved? I got my original iPhone 6 Plus in Sept 2014, replaced it once in May 2015, and once more in Oct 2015. Somehow, the phone was never associated with my Verizon account ... likely because I never activated it. He was ready to hang up on me but I was able to produce the work order from AppleCare+ and give him the order number and once I did that he made this phone have the same policy as all my previous phones and then International SIM's worked. Moreover once I gave him the work order, the engineer seemed to know immediately the problem was resolvable. How he could go from "Not my problem!" to "I wish I had known this in the beginning!" made no sense to me but establishing my total ownership of the device gave him what he needed to escalate the issue.

My advice is if you have this issue, before you even call 1800MYIPHONE, get all your order #'s and AppleCare+ work order #'s handy and ready to give the guy. Make sure he has a record of ownership of your phones. Incidentally I have four iPhones on my account and I had him check the IMEI's and only the one I had never activated had the issue.

The distressing thing about all this is that no one at Apple seems to acknowledge / understand that Verizon does not lock devices. Because it was never registered with Verizon, they had no record of that phone's IMEI. I believe the activation is on Apple's side because ultimately Apple fixed it without Verizon's intervention and Verizon knew nothing about the phone. I believe if I had activated it once before sending it overseas this would not have happened but I have no way of confirming that.

 

[marythomas]

Has anyone who thinks their phone is locked actually tried an international sim? Who knows if these "reports" are actually even right?

It's true, my iphone 6 plus thats works with any carriers in U.S, then took it to Jamaica and it doesn't work

 

[navigates]

It's true, my iphone 6 plus thats works with any carriers in U.S, then took it to Jamaica and it doesn't work

I have the same issue. My phone was a replacement for my unlocked AT&T Phone and I see this in the check.

Part Description: IPHONE 6 MM 64GB GOLD Product
Version: 9.2
Initial Activation Policy ID: 2320
Initial Activation Policy Description: US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy Applied Activation Policy ID: 2320
Applied Activation Policy Description: US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy Next Tether Policy ID: 2320
Next Tether Activation Policy Description: US GSM/VZW N61/N56

This is what I've gone through so far.

1. Apple didn't attest its their problem. They have since escalated to the engineers.
2. Today I heard back that My phone has not hit the activation servers since the beginning of the month and hence the activation policy has been left unchanged.
3. I have tried activating with itunes and the wifi and at all times, the activation goes fine with the At&t sim but the international sim gives an error.
4. Apple has said that my policy is multimode unlock and I shouldn't rely on swiftunlocks premium checker.

I also paid my usual person on ebay 30 bucks to get my phone unlocked and he said that it has been unlocked but it still has the next policy of US GSM/VZW N61/N56.

Any advise as to what to do? I'm not in the US.

 

[dtcdtcdtc]

I ran into the same problem - I had an unlocked iPhone 6 that was replaced via AppleCare and the replacement was not internationally unlocked.

I spoke with a variety of Apple Support people who gave me bogus information (Apple doesn't support the international sim card I was using [Makes no sense since that carrier sold iPhones], I needed to restore my iPhone [total waste of time]). In the end I found a senior advisor who figured out what to do - but only after I had wasted 2 hours restoring/backing up/restoring my iPhone for no reason at all.

What a terrible experience.

 

[drollin]

I had the same thing happen last week. Sold my 6 Plus that was brand new from AppleCare+. Never even activated it. Buyer was in the Ukraine attempting to use the phone on the Ukranian carrier called "life" Same issue: Could use AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon SIM's but no international.

Apple engineer said the same to me as to all of you (i.e. "It's all Verizon's fault!") Sent him Verizon's locking policy (http://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/commitment/safety-security/device-unlocking-policy.html) and even had him add Verizon to our call. He still wouldn't accept that there is no lock on Verizon's phones in place by Verizon. He kept thinking that Verizon's policy was th same as AT&T's where it's locked until you're off contract (not true and confirmed by Verizon)

So how did I get it resolved? I got my original iPhone 6 Plus in Sept 2014, replaced it once in May 2015, and once more in Oct 2015. Somehow, the phone was never associated with my Verizon account ... likely because I never activated it. He was ready to hang up on me but I was able to produce the work order from AppleCare+ and give him the order number and once I did that he made this phone have the same policy as all my previous phones and then International SIM's worked. Moreover once I gave him the work order, the engineer seemed to know immediately the problem was resolvable. How he could go from "Not my problem!" to "I wish I had known this in the beginning!" made no sense to me but establishing my total ownership of the device gave him what he needed to escalate the issue.

My advice is if you have this issue, before you even call 1800MYIPHONE, get all your order #'s and AppleCare+ work order #'s handy and ready to give the guy. Make sure he has a record of ownership of your phones. Incidentally I have four iPhones on my account and I had him check the IMEI's and only the one I had never activated had the issue.

The distressing thing about all this is that no one at Apple seems to acknowledge / understand that Verizon does not lock devices. Because it was never registered with Verizon, they had no record of that phone's IMEI. I believe the activation is on Apple's side because ultimately Apple fixed it without Verizon's intervention and Verizon knew nothing about the phone. I believe if I had activated it once before sending it overseas this would not have happened but I have no way of confirming that.

[doublepost=1453398768][/doublepost]Trust me it is not a Verizon issue. Don't listen to Apple when they say that. Convince them to give you a new phone.

That solved the whole issue.

 

[S@n]

Hi,
I am from canada and bought an iphone from verizon usa on ebay! The phone had an issue, so I took it to the apple store, and they gived me a new one. Since then, i am unable to activate it with any canadian sim, only us sim... If I bring it back to apple, will a swap fix the issue or the issue will fallow to the new phone?
Thanks

 

[Rum Ham]

[doublepost=1453398768][/doublepost]Trust me it is not a Verizon issue. Don't listen to Apple when they say that. Convince them to give you a new phone.

That solved the whole issue.

No new phone was necessary. Establishing my ownership to the level they wanted was key. Once I did that Apple's narrative changed from "We can't help you" to "We'll fix it right away"

 

[pnsathyan]

No new phone was necessary. Establishing my ownership to the level they wanted was key. Once I did that Apple's narrative changed from "We can't help you" to "We'll fix it right away"

I have the same issue and the apple engineering department is telling me the same thing that carrier ahs to unlock. Its really ridiculous and at my wits end to fix this. Multiple calls with no resolution.

 

[JustDash]

BEFORE YOU START TELLING ME THEY ARE ALL UNLOCKED YES I AM VERY WELL AWARE THAT THEY ALL ARE ACCORDING TO THE VERIZON AGREEMENT WITH FCC OVER LTE BAND 13 = 700MHz. But there is a issue where the DOMESTIC ONLY POLICY gets assigned to certain models, WHY -- I DONT KNOW

BUT THESE UNITS DO NOT WORK ON INTERNATIONAL SIM's / WORK FINE WITH US SIM CARD's.

Incorrect Policy: Next Tether Policy Details: US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy = Domestic Unlock / International Lock

Correct Policy: Next Tether Policy Details: US Verizon LTE MM N61/N56/N51/N48/N42 = Fully Factory Unlocked for US + Worldwide usage. As you know the N51/N48/N42 = 5S / 5C / 5 respectively.

Apparently its an issue with Verizon / Apple server's Syncing but I think its more than that and so far the issue is only starting to gain momentum

Yes we already know LEGALLY Verizon cannot lock any phone / tablet that has access to BAND 13 LTE.


Proof the issue exists:

1)

2) Here is a thread on Apple forums but not very helpful: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6763925?start=15&tstart=0



TWO WAYS TO TEST TO SEE IF YOUR AFFECTED:

1) Buy a GSX IMEI Report (eBay or another website - about $1) = If you see the Correct Policy as mentioned above = Your device is fully factory unlocked

OR

2) Insert ANY international SIM into your Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus and see if you get INVALID SIM error. (SIM DOESNT HAVE TO ACTIVE, IF YOUR AFFECTED THE DEVICE WILL DISPLAY THE INVALID SIM ERROR EVEN WITH A INACTIVE SIM) = If no issue = Correct Policy, IF Issue = Incorrect Policy

So before you travel or resell your Verizon iPhone be sure to test it so you or 2nd hand owner does not end up with a "defective" device.

I have called Apple personally to question after I found someone selling a iPhone 6 on craigslist with this issue -- but they did not provide any acceptable answer other than offer to trouble shoot it over the phone -- I did not buy the device from the craigslist seller because I know this issue exists and because that device had the INVALID SIM error upon inserting a international SIM, It wasn't worth my money.

Apple support will just tell you its Locked to Verizon and only top tier senior advisors will tell you that Verizon iPhones are factory unlocked for all GSM networks (this would apply to the correct policy assigned devices only)


Please do not waste this thread telling us things we already know, lets keep it technical and determine how many users are affected instead.

[doublepost=1456693299][/doublepost]Hello,

I have an iPhone 6, that was purchased along with a two year Verizon contract last June, 2015. I recently switched to TMobile and early terminated my contract, but the SIM card does not work in my iPhone, it keeps showing "No Service." The SIM card works fine in my ****** LG flip phone so that's not the issue. I went to three different TMobile stores and they are baffled by this. They told me that Verizon has a lock on the phone. I've called Verizon 6 times and I get different responses, "it's an Apple issue," or "iPhone 6s are all unlocked," or "your contract needs to be terminated in order for the phone to work." I've talked to Apple managers and they say it's a "Verizon lock," or "you need to reset your phone."

Btw, this issue is for US service plans.

Please help! I've Tried everything!

 

[Chomp]

[doublepost=1456693299][/doublepost]Hello,

I have an iPhone 6, that was purchased along with a two year Verizon contract last June, 2015. I recently switched to TMobile and early terminated my contract, but the SIM card does not work in my iPhone, it keeps showing "No Service." The SIM card works fine in my ****** LG flip phone so that's not the issue. I went to three different TMobile stores and they are baffled by this. They told me that Verizon has a lock on the phone. I've called Verizon 6 times and I get different responses, "it's an Apple issue," or "iPhone 6s are all unlocked," or "your contract needs to be terminated in order for the phone to work." I've talked to Apple managers and they say it's a "Verizon lock," or "you need to reset your phone."

Btw, this issue is for US service plans.

Please help! I've Tried everything!

I joined this forum specifically because I had this problem. This is only on Apple's side, this isn't a Verizon problem or anything like that, you should call Apple Support and tell them to change your activation policy or something like that, if they tell you anything else, try talking with a supervisor or tell them to check with the engineering department. Worked for me, I had this problem with an iPhone 6 Plus that Apple gave me through Apple Care and my chilean SIM card didn't work.

 

[sspire]

"Sim Not Valid'' International Solution

This problem is still going on and relatively unknown until people experience it. It appears to be an issue with iPhone 6/6s models that were offered as "Service Replacement" phones by Apple and assigned an "incorrect policy" from Apple's servers. (See below.) The error occurs when the Apple Server tries to validate the iPhone's IMEI number, there is a lack of synchronization between the databases of Verizon Wireless and Apple servers.

The phones will work with U.S. domestic carriers but not with international SIMs when the user receives a "SIM Not Valid" alert.

If the Apple Customer Support person you talk to is uninformed of this issue, tell them the phone is not locked according to FCC guidelines and there is no pending contract with any US carrier. What needs to be done is to escalate the case to a Level 2 Support Technician or a Senior Level Advisor who will agree to forward a request to Apple's engineers who can fix it from their side. This is the only way to fix it by getting the "activation policy" corrected by Apple engineers. Email your Apple Customer Care Representative a direct link to this post and it will help you as it has helped others to solve this issue for you. (I believe many posts in this thread incorrectly refer to an Apple Customer Support Representative as an Apple Engineer. You will not get to talk to an Apple Engineer, you must go through Apple Customer Support.)

When properly identified, Apple will tell you that you have "a replacement device with an incorrect activation policy" (which takes 30 minutes to 24 hours for engineers to correct). Sometimes the iPhone needs to be restored after Apple makes the change to the activation policy for the phone, before it will work with an international sim.

Most people who have run into this issue get stuck in a loop where Apple tells them their iPhone is locked to AT&T or Verizon. (Yes, we all know Verizon can not legally lock phones.) AT&T or Verizon will accurately say the phone is not locked to their servers. The result is a frustrated phone owner. Unfortunately many find out only when they get overseas.

The SIM Free iPhone "appears" to be locked "internationally" when in reality it is an Apple server setting that essentially acts like an international lock. It can require quite a bit of patience to be nice and persistent with Apple Customer Care Service, and repeated calls/visits to find someone who is open to the idea, since it is an obscure problem relative to the number of total Apple customers, but a large problem for those in need of international phone use. "Service Replacement" iPhone 6/6s iPhones appear to be identified by model numbers starting with an "N".

Should someone plan to use the phone internationally, or want to get more value upon resale, it would be wise for anyone who has received a replacement SIM Free iPhone 6/6s to check their phone. This information is also good for future buyers of iPhone 6/6s who wish to use the phone internationally. There have already been cases where honest owners have sold their phone, not knowing it would not work overseas when the buyer has expectations of it working globally. Neither party is typically at fault, since the SIM Free 6/6s iPhones are promoted as/and are unlocked to begin with.

When contacting Apple Support, it is strongly recommended to provide the AppleCare+ work order created during the "replacement" and the "order number". This will ensure that the "replacement phone" has the same "policy" as the original phone to ensure that all International SIM's will work. Receipts from your original phone prior to the replacement might help also.

The policy for the phone to work domestically and internationally should read:
US Verizon LTE MM N61/N56/N51/N48/N42 = Fully Factory Unlocked for U.S. + Worldwide Use

As opposed to something like:
US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy = Unlocked Domestically / Locked Internationally

 

[Leitaum]

"Sim Not Valid'' International Solution

This problem is still going on and relatively unknown until people experience it. It appears to be an issue with iPhone 6/6s models that were offered as "Service Replacement" phones by Apple and assigned an "incorrect policy" from Apple's servers. (See below.) The error occurs when the Apple Server tries to validate the iPhone's IMEI number, there is a lack of synchronization between the databases of Verizon Wireless and Apple servers.

The phones will work with U.S. domestic carriers but not with international SIMs when the user receives a "SIM Not Valid" alert.

If the Apple Customer Support person you talk to is uninformed of this issue, tell them the phone is not locked according to FCC guidelines and there is no pending contract with any US carrier. What needs to be done is to escalate the case to a Level 2 Support Technician or a Senior Level Advisor who will agree to forward a request to Apple's engineers who can fix it from their side. This is the only way to fix it by getting the "activation policy" corrected by Apple engineers. Email your Apple Customer Care Representative a direct link to this post and it will help you as it has helped others to solve this issue for you. (I believe many posts in this thread incorrectly refer to an Apple Customer Support Representative as an Apple Engineer. You will not get to talk to an Apple Engineer, you must go through Apple Customer Support.)

When properly identified, Apple will tell you that you have "a replacement device with an incorrect activation policy" (which takes 30 minutes to 24 hours for engineers to correct). Sometimes the iPhone needs to be restored after Apple makes the change to the activation policy for the phone, before it will work with an international sim.

Most people who have run into this issue get stuck in a loop where Apple tells them their iPhone is locked to AT&T or Verizon. (Yes, we all know Verizon can not legally lock phones.) AT&T or Verizon will accurately say the phone is not locked to their servers. The result is a frustrated phone owner. Unfortunately many find out only when they get overseas.

The SIM Free iPhone "appears" to be locked "internationally" when in reality it is an Apple server setting that essentially acts like an international lock. It can require quite a bit of patience to be nice and persistent with Apple Customer Care Service, and repeated calls/visits to find someone who is open to the idea, since it is an obscure problem relative to the number of total Apple customers, but a large problem for those in need of international phone use. "Service Replacement" iPhone 6/6s iPhones appear to be identified by model numbers starting with an "N".

Should someone plan to use the phone internationally, or want to get more value upon resale, it would be wise for anyone who has received a replacement SIM Free iPhone 6/6s to check their phone. This information is also good for future buyers of iPhone 6/6s who wish to use the phone internationally. There have already been cases where honest owners have sold their phone, not knowing it would not work overseas when the buyer has expectations of it working globally. Neither party is typically at fault, since the SIM Free 6/6s iPhones are promoted as/and are unlocked to begin with.

When contacting Apple Support, it is strongly recommended to provide the AppleCare+ work order created during the "replacement" and the "order number". This will ensure that the "replacement phone" has the same "policy" as the original phone to ensure that all International SIM's will work. Receipts from your original phone prior to the replacement might help also.

The policy for the phone to work domestically and internationally should read:
US Verizon LTE MM N61/N56/N51/N48/N42 = Fully Factory Unlocked for U.S. + Worldwide Use

As opposed to something like:
US GSM/VZW N61/N56 Service Policy = Unlocked Domestically / Locked Internationally

I'm experience this horrible problem and I don't know how its gonna end.

The guys from Apple are asking me for the serial number from the old phone but since I bought the phone used and it's was already the replacement unit, I don't have the old SN.

If Verizon don't lock any of their 4G phones, why would make a difference to get the old serial number?