Sorry, was a typo. Should have read "a developer account". But what I meant was that actually you do not need a US person but just a US payments profile?
AMA: I've made a mobile app (App Store & Google Play) with in-app purchases and it's anonymous
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Yes, I think the evidence is clear. But what I am wondering is what it needs. Of course not a US passport. It would be interesting if a US payment profile is enough.
How can the US payment profile on Google be enough, when it's basically the one thing you are trying to validate???
What I did was a change in the operating agreement of my company and a scan of a Mercury bank card in the name of the company and with the name of the person in the payments profile.
What I did was a change in the operating agreement of my company and a scan of a Mercury bank card in the name of the company and with the name of the person in the payments profile.
Do you realise I wrote "What I did was A and B" and you replied "So they want A?"
I don't know what they want.
Nobody knows what they want.
All I can say is that the two things I have provided (including ID of the person on the payments account) worked.
There are no specific "to do lists" from Google, and whoever you get in touch with from support, either via phone or in writing, will be quite clueless and will have no playbook from which to direct you. There's no dialogue. You submit stuff. If they like it, you pass verification. If︀ they don't, they fail you and you have to submit something else. But at no︁ point is anybody able to tell you what's wrong and what's right.
I don't know what they want.
Nobody knows what they want.
All I can say is that the two things I have provided (including ID of the person on the payments account) worked.
There are no specific "to do lists" from Google, and whoever you get in touch with from support, either via phone or in writing, will be quite clueless and will have no playbook from which to direct you. There's no dialogue. You submit stuff. If they like it, you pass verification. If︀ they don't, they fail you and you have to submit something else. But at no︁ point is anybody able to tell you what's wrong and what's right.
My advice then for the next guy to read this would be to try as foreigner with a US payments profile and report back.
I think we all understood your advice and it is appreciated. But not everybody can afford a US nominee, while opening a US payment profile literally costs nothing but 5 minutes of work. That's why it would be interesting to find out what is actually needed for it to work. In any case, I am not going to open this, I am just trying to help those that come here later and don't want to spend money on nominees.
Hey, calm down. I am just trying to help those that come here. If it was free, I woud of course already have done this and reported myself.
Ok, I've dug up the documents I had sent.
As of last summer (2024), the options for the payment account owner to identify themselves as being based in (or being sufficiently related to) the geography of the business (the US in this case) and as the person that is, ultimately, authorised to submit a W8BEN (through the same screens for this whole verification) on behalf of the UBO of the business are (exactly as listed by Google):
Driver's licence
Passport
Taxpayer Certificate
Other Government ID
plus a "Reasonable Written Explanation" (with the previously mentioned evidence) as to how this person is involved in the business.︀
In other words, unless you want to have fun with forgery, I'd wager you need︁ a US national (based anywhere?) or a non-US national based in the US.
As of last summer (2024), the options for the payment account owner to identify themselves as being based in (or being sufficiently related to) the geography of the business (the US in this case) and as the person that is, ultimately, authorised to submit a W8BEN (through the same screens for this whole verification) on behalf of the UBO of the business are (exactly as listed by Google):
Driver's licence
Passport
Taxpayer Certificate
Other Government ID
plus a "Reasonable Written Explanation" (with the previously mentioned evidence) as to how this person is involved in the business.︀
In other words, unless you want to have fun with forgery, I'd wager you need︁ a US national (based anywhere?) or a non-US national based in the US.
Thanks. Your help is appreciated. In this case, you could taxe the︃ driving exam in New York and then use that licence. Would require you to be︄ able to travel to the US as tourist though.
Sounds like a possibility, but remember guess we are ultimately at the mercy of, most likely, some bot/AI deciding on this.
Plus I wonder if documentation of that kind in your name might be a challenge further down if you are trying to show no substance in the US. Google itself might challenge your W8BEN (as opposed to a W9) if you are also the person of the payments account?
Plus I wonder if documentation of that kind in your name might be a challenge further down if you are trying to show no substance in the US. Google itself might challenge your W8BEN (as opposed to a W9) if you are also the person of the payments account?
In theory, you can even send a W-9 as the IRS ultimately charges taxes. And there, the IRS states, that you should send W-8BEN forms. Note that this does︀ not necessarily apply for U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern︁ Mariuana Islands).
Thanks so much for your detailed explanation on how to go about it. I was already aware that I’d need to find someone in the U.S. to act as a frontman or middleman. I’ve︀ actually started looking for someone to take on the task, but it’s been a bit︁ tricky so far.
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