I have been unable to complete Individual enrollment in the Apple Developer Program for several months. Every attempt ends with "ID verification rejected" and a message telling me to contact Support. Support has reset my enrollment once; the next attempt failed in exactly the same way. A manual review by a specialist team was promised on the phone but, as far as I can tell, never happened.
I have narrowed the problem down and would like to share the findings, because I believe they point to something on Apple's side rather than a user error.
What I observe:
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During identity verification, the Apple Developer app offers me the driver's license as the only accepted document. National ID card and passport are not selectable. For Germany, those two are the standard identity documents.
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The behaviour is identical on iPhone, iPad and Mac – across two platforms and in two different display languages. So it is not device- or language-specific.
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My Apple Account is set to Germany throughout: country/region, language, shipping and billing address, and the trusted phone number. I have no phone number from another country and no second Apple Account.
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The German driver's license does not contain a residential address. Any verification step that relies on an address match cannot succeed with this document.
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Face verification never happens. The rejection occurs immediately after the document is submitted, before that step is reached.
One possibly relevant detail: my surname was originally stored in my Apple Account in its transliterated form ("Xxxuexxx") and I later changed it to the spelling that matches my passport and national ID ("Xxxxüxxx"). The enrollment problems began around that time. I have asked Support to check whether a duplicate person record exists, but have not received an answer to that question. Notably, Apple Support initially told me the cause was that my trusted device was already linked to another Apple Account enrolled in a developer program. I could not find any such account, and Support never clarified which account was meant. If a duplicate person record was created by the spelling change, that message would make sense — the "other account" would in fact be my own earlier record.
What I have already tried:
- Verified trusted devices and phone numbers – only my own, currently used devices and my own number are listed.
- Confirmed that nobody else in my household has a developer account.
- Tried enrollment from different devices.
- Removed a secondary display language, reinstalled the app – no change to the document selection.
- Phone callback and multiple email exchanges with Developer Support.
My questions:
- Which country is stored in my enrollment record? The restricted document selection suggests it differs from the country set on my Apple Account.
- Why are national ID card and passport not offered, and can the document selection for my record be corrected?
- Is there a way to get this reviewed by the enrollment or identity verification team?
- Could a duplicate person record under the transliterated spelling be causing both the "other account" message and the restricted document list?
Case number: 20000132833454 Region: Germany
I am willing to provide any identity document required – as soon as the system actually offers it. Any pointers from people who have seen the same restricted document list would be very welcome.