How To: Create a US iTunes Store / iPhone AppStore account without a credit card (from outside the US)

February 22, 2009 by Cyprian

So, you reside in Canada, Europe, Latin America, or anywhere else in the world. By now you might have noticed that not all iPhone apps are available in your local iTunes AppStore, so you cannot download some of them although American iPhone owners can. Annoying, isn’t it?

But did you know that there is a very easy fix for that? It’s a little known fact, but there is a loophole that allows you to create an American iTunes / AppStore account regardless of where you live. This will allow you to download apps that are only available in American AppStore — and there’s quite a few of those.

Below is a short and sweet step-by-step guide that will tell you how to create an American iTunes / AppStore account without giving out any personal information. This method was tested and found to be working with the latest iTunes version, although it should probably work with older versions as well.

iphone appstore usa

This process is pretty easy with one little trick you need to do.

1- Open iTunes

2- Click on ‘iTunes Store’ on the left hand menu.

3- Scroll to the bottom where it says ‘My Store’ and select ‘United States’

4- Find a free application (ie. Remote) and click ‘Get App’

5-iTunes will prompt you for your user id and password, but instead click ‘Create New Account’

6- You’ll get a welcome message. Click ‘Continue’

7-Check off that you’ve read Terms and Conditions and click ‘Continue’

8- On the next page enter your email information and click ‘Continue’

9-The next page is a payment/information page.

Here is the little trick:

10- First of all you need to choose ‘None’ as your payment method if you’re not planning on paying for anything. Otherwise enter your regular information

11- Next you need to fill in your address. For this you can choose a random US city (ie. Chicago) and search for a business in Chicago such as McDonalds on Google Maps on your iPhone or touch. This will give you a valid street name, city, state, and phone number. For the zip code, all you need to do is a Google search for zip codes from the city you chose and pick one.

A confirmation email will be sent out and you just need to activate your account. Once activated, you’re done!! You now have access to the US iTunes Store from outside the US.

Source: Apple

Tags: app, Apple, application, apps, appstore, Canada, Europe, Google, iPhone, OS, USA

Article by Cyprian

Cyprian Peters is a reviews writer for iPhone World. He's from Manitoba, Canada and currently he attends university while working three jobs.

http://www.iphoneworld.ca/ james

Hopefully this will be useful for some folks. I mean, there’s so many more apps in USA AppStore than there are in the Canadian one that it’s not even funny.
Scott McKinley

Yes this works just fine for ‘free apps’ but if there’s an app you want to buy, then we’re right back where we started! If there’s a way to also purchase from the app store with a non US credit card, please let us know!! – thanks Scott – Lugano, Switzerland
http://www.iphoneworld.ca/ james

I suppose you could look into some Virtual Credit Card I am guessing.
danola

i have been trying to download stuffs from your web but i t has not been easy
http://www.iphoneworld.ca/ james

huh?
http://www.ticketpoint.de/fluege-thailand.html Flug Thailand

Wow; thanks a lot for these tips. I am searching for a possibility like this one for month now and the ITunes Store really drives me crazy…Thanks thanks thanks. This was so helpful for me!!!
HBKitty

If you’re in Canada I recommend getting the Vanilla Mastercard Gift Card you can buy everywhere like Shoppers Drug Mart, 7-11, Money Mart and many other places. The $50 and $100 are your best value for money as there is an initial activation fee from $4 to $6 but after that there is no transaction fees for US dollar transactions like many others. Costs me just $1.29 for a song in the US iTunes store. Not bad eh. : )
someone

If you want to buy stuff, find a seller with a good reputation on eBay selling iTunes US gift cards, and buy one of those. They generally send the card code via email in a day or so. There is a surcharge – usually $5 – but if you buy a $50 card for $55 it’s not so bad as a $10 card for $15. I’ve done this a couple of times.
http://kazo90 ali

account
http://baba robert james marsland

i just got and iphone andn i love it
Mahmood

I cant find were it says none in the payment!!!!!! which iTunes verision r u tlkin about
Dean

What if you have already chosen your store in italy, how can u change it to U.S? please help i can’t change it.
annoy

did all that but didn't get the verification email until now, tried with couple of different email accounts but itunes never sent the verification emails :S
Henk

Hey annoy,
I have the exact same problem..
I didn't get a verivication email either..
Did you solve the problem? It's really annoying me cuz now I cant download any apps at all!
iphonew

Check your spam folder?
vansky

not working
iphonew

Which part?
http://www.itunesaccess.com/ Jon F

The problem with this is it only get's you a Free Download Only account – you can't actually buy anything. If you want to be able to buy, go to iTunes Access – http://www.itunesaccess.com. They can setup a valid US based iTunes account for you and sell prepaid credit so you can buy stuff from the US store even if you are outside the US.
jacksonestera

Type your comment here.
Jason

You can always buy a U.S. iTunes gift card from http://www.braziliapilot.com. I've been buying from them for 2 years. They email the code fast, always within a few hours.
http://www.apple.com/ ImSoHappyThanks

MASSIVE THANKS!!

It worked great, i love apple, my ipod, and the app store.

But i can't find any good apps (paid or free) in my country, and that's just lame
http://www.anyonecanworkathome.com/ Martin

This actually does not work!! If you set up an account with a free app, then you can open a US account, but the first time you then go to make a purchase, it will ask you to verify your payment method, even PayPal will check you have a US Paypal account.

So this work around is flawed I am afraid
gibbbo

I have had very good experience using http://iTunes-GiftCards.com they are fast and very nice to deal with. They even provide a FAQ if you have problems getting it up and running.
angel1701

it has everything about iphones and itunes but it has notin about how to make an account for your ipod on app store
laceysummers

is this even legal?
pointless restriction

worked for me. thanks
bishan

I dont even know why do they have to make it this complicate!!–?? They wanna sell stuff & we wanna buy it. Why country orient It and not let paypal be a normal method of payment..
bishan

I dont even know why do they have to make it this complicate!!–?? They wanna sell stuff & we wanna buy it. Why country orient It and not let paypal be a normal method of payment..
Jerry

Really its making me happy
I bought my itunes gift card from http://itunesgiftscards.com and got my gift card after 2 hours,this store deliver fast and they are legit
tuxing

thanks a ton
Daniel

Me and my friends are buying many gift cards, we found a store that sell iTunes USA Store gift cards, they send the gift card by email, very fast, sometimes almost instant, and they are reliable, and Legit, the store is http://www.USAiTunesGiftCards.com
Ghandi

So now we all know that your gift card shop is a spamming SOB and should be avoided at all times.
Anonymous

It doesn’t work if you plan on using a credit card for anything. The moment it detects an address other than the one linked to the credit card, you are rejected. Nothing in life is this easy.
ballyhot

hi
jack

can i sell app without credit card(outside us) with free acount?
Ppr_2010

Install VPN in your computer and you can buy anything In US wahatever country you are in.
Tom

Thanks!!
Pamolade

For the fake details about name and adress, you can use http://da.fakenamegenerator.com/
seller

SELL ACCOUNT ITUNES

with balance 50$ 100$ 200$

contact: sellacc.itunes@yahoo.com.vn

Please contact me soon !
I hope we will do well !
Thanks You !
Hoanmilkyway

SELL ACCOUNT ITUNES

with balance 50$ 100$ 200$

contact ID yahoo : sell.acc_itunes
Please contact me soon !
I hope we will do well !
Thanks You !
Hoanmilkyway

SELL ACCOUNT ITUNES

with balance 50$ 100$ 200$

contact ID yahoo : sell.acc_itunes
Please contact me soon !
I hope we will do well !
Thanks You !
http://www.giftbasketstore.com/ Gift baskets

So now we all know that your gift card shop is a spamming SOB and should be avoided at all times.
http://www.giftbasketstore.com/ Gift baskets

For the zip code, all you need to do is a Google search for zip codes from the city you chose and pick one.