1 Icloud 2 phones in different countries

Hi, I'm about to move to the US from Peru and I'm going to keep my peruvian number on my old iphone. I'm going to get a new US number when I get there, can I use the same icloud ID? I want to keep my old phone with the country being Peru and my newer phone with the country being US so I can download apps needed. I still need to keep my peruvian number, phone and apps though, so will this be an issue? Would it be better to create a new icloud ID for the US?

Posted on Feb 2, 2024 12:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 2, 2024 8:20 PM

You cannot have an account set to more than one country at a time. When set to a country you will only see that country's apps and purchases. Any old apps will remain on your device but may not necessarily update in the new country. The options you mention have good and bad points. Typically you would only create a second ID if this is a completely different part of your life, such as one for business only and the other for home only. You can also change the country setting on your one account but this can be a bit of work so you wouldn't want to be doing it all the time.


The article Change your Apple ID country or region - Apple Support describes how to change your Apple ID country or region, and the requirements and results of doing this.


You may encounter various issues and here is how to deal with them:


● Subscriptions

Make sure you have canceled all your subscriptions (see: If you want to cancel a subscription from Apple - Apple Support ). Wait for any memberships, pre-orders, movie rentals, or season passes to complete. Items will still be active until their expiration date. You need to contact Apple and request any ongoing items you have be ended immediately if you do not want to wait until they expire naturally.


● Remove all your Apple Account balance

- In the main change country article Apple only proposes a single way for you to clear your balance. That is to contact them and ask them to keep it. Apple offers this specific link for that service --> https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=kbase&PGF=PGF63005&category_id=SC0998&symptom_id=20198

- Another still viable way is to add a credit or debt card as a payment method to your Apple ID and buy items just in excess of your remaining Apple ID balance. This will use up all the balance and any excess will get charged to the card, leaving nothing in your account.


● From the first link above: "Make sure that you have a payment method for your new country or region." Refer to: Payment methods that you can use with your Apple ID - Apple Support Note that some in that list may not be acceptable to set as a payment method.; for example, account balance. The statement from Apple, and its referring to the link, to me just says that if you were using a payment method in your old country that is not listed in the new country too then you need a new payment method. I do not see anywhere where it says the payment method must be from the same country. I go by what Apple actually says in its online documentation and they do not make a simple, clear statement which suggests to me they have more complex criteria other than it must be a payment method from the same country. If it says a method is not valid then you need to try another one until you find one that is. Often using one from the same country is the easiest way to ensure that.


● Pending purchases and refunds

If you have pending purchases, or refunds in the process of being returned to you, you will have to wait until these clear.


● Leave or disband any Family Sharing groups.

Refer to Leave Family Sharing - Apple Support


● Read this support article If your Apple ID or other options are greyed out in Settings —> If your Apple ID is greyed out in Settings - Apple Support


For items where you need to contact Apple to resolve an issue:

Click here ➞ Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support

Select your country (if you do not see your country, also look for "other" regions; e.g., "Other Africa"), then "Choose a product". Click the "show" item under each category for more selections. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.


or:


See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world. Click here --> Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support




3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 2, 2024 8:20 PM in response to rossanafg

You cannot have an account set to more than one country at a time. When set to a country you will only see that country's apps and purchases. Any old apps will remain on your device but may not necessarily update in the new country. The options you mention have good and bad points. Typically you would only create a second ID if this is a completely different part of your life, such as one for business only and the other for home only. You can also change the country setting on your one account but this can be a bit of work so you wouldn't want to be doing it all the time.


The article Change your Apple ID country or region - Apple Support describes how to change your Apple ID country or region, and the requirements and results of doing this.


You may encounter various issues and here is how to deal with them:


● Subscriptions

Make sure you have canceled all your subscriptions (see: If you want to cancel a subscription from Apple - Apple Support ). Wait for any memberships, pre-orders, movie rentals, or season passes to complete. Items will still be active until their expiration date. You need to contact Apple and request any ongoing items you have be ended immediately if you do not want to wait until they expire naturally.


● Remove all your Apple Account balance

- In the main change country article Apple only proposes a single way for you to clear your balance. That is to contact them and ask them to keep it. Apple offers this specific link for that service --> https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=kbase&PGF=PGF63005&category_id=SC0998&symptom_id=20198

- Another still viable way is to add a credit or debt card as a payment method to your Apple ID and buy items just in excess of your remaining Apple ID balance. This will use up all the balance and any excess will get charged to the card, leaving nothing in your account.


● From the first link above: "Make sure that you have a payment method for your new country or region." Refer to: Payment methods that you can use with your Apple ID - Apple Support Note that some in that list may not be acceptable to set as a payment method.; for example, account balance. The statement from Apple, and its referring to the link, to me just says that if you were using a payment method in your old country that is not listed in the new country too then you need a new payment method. I do not see anywhere where it says the payment method must be from the same country. I go by what Apple actually says in its online documentation and they do not make a simple, clear statement which suggests to me they have more complex criteria other than it must be a payment method from the same country. If it says a method is not valid then you need to try another one until you find one that is. Often using one from the same country is the easiest way to ensure that.


● Pending purchases and refunds

If you have pending purchases, or refunds in the process of being returned to you, you will have to wait until these clear.


● Leave or disband any Family Sharing groups.

Refer to Leave Family Sharing - Apple Support


● Read this support article If your Apple ID or other options are greyed out in Settings —> If your Apple ID is greyed out in Settings - Apple Support


For items where you need to contact Apple to resolve an issue:

Click here ➞ Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support

Select your country (if you do not see your country, also look for "other" regions; e.g., "Other Africa"), then "Choose a product". Click the "show" item under each category for more selections. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.


or:


See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world. Click here --> Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support




Mar 1, 2024 1:03 AM in response to Limnos

This is a big problem for me too. My current solution is a pain and I find myself wishing Apple would play through the scenario of introducing their current model for States in the US - if a US citizen moved from one state to another they had to deal with the same mess as we do when we have homes in more than one country. Essentially, I have kept my original Apple ID in my country of origin. I still have a home there and a working bank account and bank card. I then created a new account in my second country. I sign into devices and use iCloud services under the original account, but for purchases in the second country I created a second Apple ID with a local address and bank account. When in the second country, I remain signed into the first country for iCloud, but switch the Apple ID for media and purchases to the second country ID so I can use the App Store for local apps. It's a pain switching back and forth and the Apple Store app doesn't use the setting in Media and Purchases so I have to use the Apple Web Store in the second country. I've tried signing out of my devices and signing back in with the second ID but it's too painful (all items disappear from Wallet, I have to disable Find My, etc.). I don't like it because if I move again, I will need to find a way to keep a bank account in my second country to retain updates to apps purchased in that country. Ideally (for my situation) Apple would indicate which Apps are available in my first country so I could purchase with that (long term) ID - or introduce a Europe Store where it doesn't matter which country your ID is in, just like it doesn't matter which state your ID is in in the US. I think this is a major usability fail on Apple's part. People move! People live in more than one location!

Mar 1, 2024 5:44 AM in response to jrn30

Apple Support Communities is set up as an end-user to end-user technical issue support service (i.e., users like you helping other users). Feedback for Apple will likely get more attention if you send it using: Product Feedback - Apple


Also remember that it is unlikely Apple is the only party involved in this policy. Apple just acts as an intermediary for app developers and media distributors. For the latter in particular, they are the ones who have always controlled regional distribution (if you remember regional settings on DVDs). Also even though you may live in multiple countries, you clearly know that you cannot buy everything in each country, nor can you necessarily order everything from another country and have it delivered to you. Each country has its own regulations.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

1 Icloud 2 phones in different countries

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