''Sim Not Valid'' on activation screen! *PLEASE HELP*

SIM NOT VALID

The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone s from a carrier that is not Supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

This is the message he gets, and I know about Verizon because this what apple told me when I called them and because I did check by the imei

Code:IMEI: 359231069995xxx

S/N: F78PT0LSGxxx

Model: SVC,IPHONE 6,MM,64GB,GOLD,AEX

ICCID: 8901260212768220078

Activated: Yes

iOS: 9.0.2

First Activation Date: 2015-08-22

Last Activation Date: 2015-09-29

Warranty Ends on: 2017-08-20

Purchase Date: 2014-09-15

Bluetooth Mac Address: D81D72E792F6

WiFi Mac Address: D81D72E792F5

Find my iPhone: ON

ZIP/SSN Required: N/A

Initial Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy
Applied Activation Policy Description: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy
Next Tether Policy Details: 2320 - US GSM/VZW iPhone 6/6 Plus Service Policy

Lock Status: Locked

This IMEI has replacement information

Blacklist Status: Clean

iCloud Check: Clean

NO 3rd PARTY HAS LEGITIMATE ACCESS TO THAT INFORMATION. You've already been told that. What part of it is unclear to you.

The information you posted is completely meaningless.

Contact Apple directly.

And it Is clearly wrong, because ALL VERIZON IPHONE MODELS 6 AND 6+ ARE UNLOCKED FOR USE WORLDWIDE.

What part of the sentence above don't you understand? The information you posted from whatever source you got it is totally worthless. Why don't you just call Apple and ask about the lock status of the phone, and, if what you say is correct about getting the original and replacement from a real Apple store, ask them to fix the problem?

maybe the information i got is worthless but apple told me on their system is locked on verizon when i call verizon they say is not locked with them, so i got transfer from apple advisor to verizon and from verizon to apple with no results.

So you spoke to Apple and they said the phone is locked to Verizon, which makes no sense, because NO Verizon phones are locked. As you said you got the replacement phone from Apple why didn't you ask them to fix the problem they created? Or did you not get the replacement phone from Apple, but from shop that claimed to represent Apple? And where (what country) did you get the replacement phone? Apple would only have replaced it in the US, so if it was replaced anywhere else it was not replaced by Apple.

I Called them and they asked me to reset the phone and try to activate with Romanian network and is not working, I replaced the phone here in the us thru apple support for God sake, not with third party company, I have apple care they sent a new phone and when I got it I sent my broken one back to Apple what is so hard to understand? And their senoir advisor have no clue about the problem they just ask me to reset the phone

Then make an appointment at the genius bar of a US Apple Store and take it in to have them check it. I'm sure they can straighten it out fairly quickly.

Alin,

It's a simply a matter of activation policy as of many stated here, a glitch between apple and verizon, but Mr. Tim and Mr. Finch successfully ignore (it's hard to admit you wrong sometimes.. it's in our nature to be wrong and none of us is God). Here's the proof and what you should do: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/verizon-iphone-6-6-plus-some-locked-against- international-use.1846197/page-8

gsd0, posted that you should try really hard to convince an apple representative to forward your problem to apple engineers that are in charge with activation policies, as many did the same thing and it's the only solution available.

Salutari Alin & succes! 🙂

thank you Cristian, I already solved my problems with the phone, and this is exactly what I did, I call them and ask the to send the problem to the engineering, and this is what they did , was a problem for an hour max, but it took me honestly 2 weeks to talk with the right person.

was an activation problem, it happend with 2 phones, when I had to replace my phone, after a water damage, they sent 2 times 2 difernet phones , one locked with Verizon one with att, but when you call those company they will say that IMEI was never sold or use in our carrier . So you have to call apple again.

after all this I'm happy they figured out and I can use my phones.

thanks again.

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, 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 the Apple's engineers who can fix it from their side. This is the only way to fix it by getting the "policy" corrected.

When properly identified, what Apple will tell you is 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 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 phone 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 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 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 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 following information can be viewed with the aid of a reputable IMEI GSX (Global Service Exchange) checker for $1–2:

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

Good luck,

Spire

Long time Apple user. I was traveling to Germany last year February for business and got exactly same problem. I had iPhone 5. I couldn't even get in my any of my email or camera. nothing. It was keep telling me SIM not valid. I went through almost same process just like you. Apple through the ball to Verizon, Verizon through eh ball to Apple. During business trip, phone didn't work at all. As soon as I land to US soil, it stared working. It didn't even ask SIM or Activation, I just simply worked. Since I travel so much I didn't want to have same problem so I replaced my phone with another iPhone 5. Since then it was ok. but now I have iPhone 6. I was in Peru for a vacation last week. Exactly same problem started. I was shocked because all the information of the trip was in my email. Activation Required.... I knew that I am going to have exactly same problem. BUT, Activation went trough, it was updating "iCloud setting" which I didn't see last time. and phone was working. Big relive. Wait, it gets more interesting. At Lima Peru, it was working just fine. When I was on the train to the Machu Picchu, I was trying to use my phone and "SIM not valid" came out again and activation did NOT work, Under the activation policy crap and unlock your phone whatever... "Try Again" even though I was using Wi-fi from the hotel, it didn't work. After the trip, I came back to Lima, on the way back phone carrier has changed to something else, then It started doing activation "iCloud setting update" thing. So it started working. All my photos and emails and everything is there. It happened again on the way to Ecuador, I was on the airplain and forgot to turn on the airplane mode. During flight, I wanted to check the time and I noticed, "Activation Required" there was no Wi-Fi or cell network so I was stuck again. I landed to Ecuador and it went through activation process and it said "updating iCloud setting" and went trough. MY CONCLUSION - It has something to do with Apple's iCloud setting. Reason why I am thinking that way is because I traveled with my wife and 2 sons, they all have iPhone and not a single problem.

SUGGESTION

1. Some carriers are working just fine and some carriers are not working. If you travel far enough to change carrier and test it. it might work again.

2. IF phone started working or when you come back to US, change your phone to new one with "NEW" Apple ID. Do NOT use old same ID. I am using my old Apple ID since when me.com was popular. I will try to reset to factory setting and re-register with new ID. I am not sure it can be done or not because it is already registered with one ID and it might not allow me to register with new ID. It that's the case, I will change phone to maybe 6S. and my ID to new one. I will use old ID when I retrieve old purchases.

3. Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge looked so cool and maybe a good time to change

*** above me a gentleman talking about the "Model name started 'N'" I do have iPhone 6 and model name started with N. NG4W2LL/A model.

Okay. Read everything on this post and the dedicated macrumours post regarding the same issue. I had a replaced iphone 6s which was fully paid but somehow the replaced iPhone 6s was locked to Verizon internationally. In the US, it was working pretty well with all the carriers. I first travelled to France and recognised this problem when the phone dint work with Lyca. Then tried Orange and the message was the same. Then tried in Spain and it was just the same frustrating message. When I arrived in India, all the local carriers I tried displayed the same message.

Tried the chat support with Apple after reading some posts when I arrived in India. The first respondent quickly transfered me to the Senior Advisor and the Senior Advisor transferred the case to an Apple Engineer (all within an hour). You simply have to reinforce the point that the phone is not locked according to FCC guidelines and there is no pending contract with any US carrier. (Apple also have an internal way to check the same).

In my particular case I was not aware of the IMEI number of the previous phone as some users have pointed and was neither asked by any apple advisor.

Received the reply from the Senior Advisor within an hour that the engineers have corrected the activation policy on my iPhone and after erasing everything and restoring it back from iTunes it should work. Did the same and it is working like aboslutely fine now. Tried 3 different local carriers in India and there seems no problem at all now. I think this post will help some of my friends here facing the same issue.

agargpec wrote:

Okay. Read everything on this post and the dedicated macrumours post regarding the same issue. I had a replaced iphone 6s which was fully paid but somehow the replaced iPhone 6s was locked to Verizon internationally. In the US, it was working pretty well with all the carriers. I first travelled to France and recognised this problem when the phone dint work with Lyca. Then tried Orange and the message was the same. Then tried in Spain and it was just the same frustrating message. When I arrived in India, all the local carriers I tried displayed the same message.

Tried the chat support with Apple after reading some posts when I arrived in India. The first respondent quickly transfered me to the Senior Advisor and the Senior Advisor transferred the case to an Apple Engineer (all within an hour). You simply have to reinforce the point that the phone is not locked according to FCC guidelines and there is no pending contract with any US carrier. (Apple also have an internal way to check the same).

In my particular case I was not aware of the IMEI number of the previous phone as some users have pointed and was neither asked by any apple advisor.

Received the reply from the Senior Advisor within an hour that the engineers have corrected the activation policy on my iPhone and after erasing everything and restoring it back from iTunes it should work. Did the same and it is working like aboslutely fine now. Tried 3 different local carriers in India and there seems no problem at all now. I think this post will help some of my friends here facing the same issue.

Thanks for posting this. It should be very helpful to users in a similar situation.

HI Lawrence,

I have read your responses to the above questions. I am having the exact same problem. I am in Bulgaria and purchased two different sim cards from two of the three telecom companies here. Neither works. I get the same message as stated above. When I asked about GSM network rather than CDMA they people don't know anything about that. Is there a setting on the phone that governs GSM vs CDMA or is the carrier itself? If all of the carriers here are CDMA - do I have any options? Thanks in advance for all of your help.

Carol

I don't believe there are any CDMA carriers in your country at all. If there are they should have no trouble at all activating the CDMA side of the phone if they accept carry in phones.

You are most likely getting that message on the GSM side of the phone. What model iPhone is this and is it a Verizon or Sprint iPhone?