The enrollment process I went through was too slow and unnecessarily complex, so I wanted to spare you by sharing my tips for a smoother, frustration-free enrollment. You can check out this thread to read some of the issues people experience. None of the magic recipes from 39 pages of that thread worked for me.
I run a Croatia-based company (d.o.o., similar to an LLC). I made a react native recipes app that I aimed to launch on both the app store and play store. Getting into the play store was easy and fast. Getting into the app store…another story.
What you’ll need
- Apple Id : It’s the primary identification across Apple’s ecosystem. It is your email address. Use your company email when signing up. Apple will use your apple id when verifying your identity. You will need it to do create and manage certificates, identifiers, and profiles, which are essential for app development and distribution.
- D-U-N-S : Data Universal Numbering System, is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses. It is assigned and managed by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), a company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. The D-U-N-S Number is used worldwide to identify and access information on businesses and has become a standard for tracking businesses and their credit profiles. Both Play and Apple request it, obtaining the identifier is free, just click on I’m an Apple developer at https://www.dnb.com/duns/get-a-duns.html. Same goes if you need D-U-N-S and you need it for Play store. After approx a week you’ll get an email from D&B with your D-U-N-S.
- You’re the owner of your company : You need to be legally binding authority of the company, one who signs things.
- $99 : Membership fee, paid once per year.
- Apple device : iPhone/iPad/Mac. I opted for the most affordable option, an iPhone SE 2022. Essential for the enrollment process, keep reading on why it’s essential.
Signing up
I recommend using the Apple Developer App for enrollment, based on my experiences.
Via web (not recommended)
My first mistake when enrolling was doing it via web https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/.
It doesn’t work. I was near 99% completing the process, only to have the payment step fail.
If you decide to go through with this method, I’ll describe the steps in short.
Fill all the details in the web application form, you’ll get an email from the Apple support that they need to talk to you to complete your verification. You can reach them by clicking the “contact us” – program enrollment, then selecting the phone or email option, depending which you have available. If only email is available, explain you need the verification call, type your phone and preferred call time.
Call will take a few minutes and then you’ll get another email confirming your verification is completed and you can then pay for the membership and then you’re ready to go….in the ideal world right?!
In reality
It’s harder to reach apple support via email. You report an issue, wait 2 days. Patience is key here; resending emails within a two-day waiting period can reset the clock on your wait time. I feel like they’ll discard other emails if you already reported an issue and not waited.
When trying to pay, you might end up getting an order acknowledgment and never the confirmation:
Dear John Doe,
Thank you for your order. Here’s a summary of your order request, which will be processed within 2 business days. We’ll notify you when your items are ready.
Guess what, 2 days will pass and money will likely not be taken from the account.
In my case, I reported this issue to the support and my big mistake was I was impatient and would repeatedly report same issue after 24 hours.
That’s where I end up with enrolling with the apple developer app and needing an apple device. That was the recommendation from apple support after failing with web.
So, save some nerves and try the apple developer app right away.
Via Apple Developer app, a better route
As support suggested, I had to resubmit my application via the app. That meant starting everything from scratch.
Difference in the app vs the web application is that app has an additional step – person verification.
Apple will request to submit a photo of your ID or driver’s license.
We are unable to verify your identity.
That’s what I got as a response after submitting my ID photos. It doesn’t matter if the photo is in perfect lighting and perfectly readable. If it doesn’t go through from 2-3 retries, contact the support.
You should get a response from apple support containing instructions with a link to securely upload your photos.
Business Verification call
I already went through this process when I tried to enroll via web application. But as I’ve mentioned, the new enrollment request means starting from scratch. After successfully completing personal validation, for organizational enrollments you’ll go through business veritification. That means you’ll have to speak with apple support so they can verify your enrollment request. You don’t call apple, they call you .
To request a phone call, go to contact us -> membership -> enrollment -> phone.
If you don’t see a phone option, choose an email form. Explain you need a verification call, write your number prefixed with a country, type best time to call you expressed with a timezone (e.g. 11-18 CET).
Pay for the membership
That’s the most troublesome step, both in web and in the app. I could not pay for the membership from the app. Whenever I tried, I got the:
Purchase failed, an unknown error occured.
After trying most solutions from the thread https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/126314 and removing Apple Pay as my payment method, I called Apple support at 0800 222 427. Persistence paid off, and they connected me to the person in charge of Apple Developer support. She did not know what was the issue, but she passed this info to the dev team, advised me to wait for 24 hours before retrying with the same method previously used. Of course, within that 24 hours they did their magic to enable me to pay. That was it. Success. I was in.
Final thoughts
Entire process of enrollment took a month in my case. Hopefully I’m saving you a couple of weeks of frustration. Remember, use the Apple Developer app for enrollment, call support if you’re stuck with payment, and be patient and persistent. Good luck!
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