Will changing country on my iPhone to France cause problems?

ELK-75 Said"

"Will changing country on my iPhone to France cause problems?: Hello, I'm an American living in France, and I have an iPhone 13 and MacBook Pro that were purchased in the U.S. I need an app for my drivers training class (Clic Permis) and it will not allow me to download because it is not offered in my country (USA). If I change my country on my iPhone to France will that cause problems? I will leave my MacBook country as United States."

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Have you Relocated?:

If you are now living in a different country/region, then you need to zero-out your balance. Then, all should be modifiable. If you are just visiting someone, however, then let things be. If you were to change it, then all would be lost. Purchases need to be repurchased in order to use them in a different country/region. this all has to do with licenses between Apple and the Studio or Developer.

So, if relocated...

Zero Out your Balance:

First off, you need to zero-out your Apple Account balance. So, either call Apple, requesting that the Apple Rep zeros it out, or purchase something for more than what is left in your Apple Account balance, using the primary method of payment to payment to pay the rest off.

Apple Support Contact Info:

• Contact Us - Choose Locations
• Proceed from there as necessary

The device region is not relevant for the store access.

You need to change the country or region of your Apple Account, and that will be changed across all devices that use that Apple ID.

click here ➜ Change your Apple Account country or region - Apple Support

You may have issues with updating or re-downloading any apps or other media you've purchased from Apple, in particular any subscriptions you may have. It also may cause issues with your cell plan, so you'll want to check with your carrier. For Apple's instructions and caveats, see:

Change your Apple Account country or region - Apple Support

Note that you'll need to provide a French-based payment method.

Regards.

Changing country will affect any device signed into that account. I don't know if this will cause "problems" for you. It will affect the country store you use, with limitations as outlined in the next article.

The article Change your Apple Account 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 ) and wait for any memberships, pre-orders, movie rentals, or season passes to fully expire. 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 using one of these ways:

- 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.

- Contact Apple using this link --> https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=kbase&PGF=PGF63005&category_id=SC0998&symptom_id=20198 and ask them to remove your balance (they will keep it).

● 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 Account - 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. They appear to deliberately avoid making 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. Still, often using one from your new country is the easiest way to ensure you don’t run into problems.

● 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 Account is grayed 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