Having issues authorizing payment for Apple Developer Program

same issues from Chile, several months trying purchase

I'm from the US and I have had this issue for the past 2 days.

I have tried to signup with several different email addresses, different forms of payment, different IP's, different names...

Finally, I think I found out what the problem may be, at least on my end..... I don't have an iCloud account. I know their system allows you to signup without one but maybe there is some glitch now. 

I asked a friend of mine who has an iPhone to do it on her end and it went through without any issues

I am from India. I tried to renew my developer program but no luck. I have paid using VISA credit card. I got mail from apple saying We're having a problem with your payment.

Apple Support just got back to me with

Thank you for contacting us regarding your enrolment into the Apple Developer Program. For one or more reasons, your enrollment in the Apple Developer Program could not be completed. We are unable to continue with your enrolment at this time. Thank you for your understanding.

What a joke.

Well, at least they provided you with mail that something had gone wrong.

I called apple support and they said they will escalate to their engineering team. I'm really hoping they can fix this.

I've got the same issue, many try, zero results.
I found a solution, i sent a email to devprograms@apple.com to tell them my struggles.
Before that, I signed up in https://appleid.apple.com/ and I saved my credit card(the sixteen number and the CVV). I told them to purchase the Apple Developer Program membership using my credit card saved and it's work.
Wish that my reply can help you, good luck !

Hi Just got my account approved from Apple.

The Solution is to keep contacting Apple Support and any one of Apple Support person will help you get through the payment after getting some verification from you.

From Pakistan

I definitely concur with having patience. Working with the developer support we got so I could enroll using the developer app, few more tries and with support help I now have my developer account.

thoughts... use developer app, be sure to have a card on file with iTunes with same Apple ID.

I found a solution, i sent a email to devprograms@apple.com to tell them my struggles. 
Before that, I signed up in https://appleid.apple.com/ and I saved my credit card(the sixteen number and the CVV). I told them to purchase the Apple Developer Program membership using my credit card saved and it's work. 

Have tried that. As I suspected, Apple ignored my email... Frustration skyrocketed like a Space X ship...

I am from the US, and I have the same problem. Payment doesn't go through; it says "www.apple.com refused to connect." Now, I am just trying to contact apple customer service to solve this problem. If there is anything else I could do, please tell me.

I solved this problem by using another browser. I've been using Chrome to enroll, but customer service suggested me to try Safari. It might work for you too

Update here, after few weeks / months dealing with apple I finally got my account approved.
I am from Slovakia, so I will describe what I have done.

1. I tried many times to pay with my debit card, no luck, payments have been canceled after two days, no money has gone from my card. Tried different cards, debit and also credit card - all from Slovakia

2. Wrote apple support, got basic answer email template - clear cookies, use safari, etc. bla bla bla

3. Called local slovak apple number asking for help, they told me they dont support developers environment so they handed me to the developer.apple.com contact forms again

4. Wrote apple support again asking for they help and filling also my phone number because I read here they can approve it via phone

5. I got answer from them to upload my photos of ID card to prove I am a human, or something else, idk

6. No response in two days as was promised after uploading documents, I created case again putting there old case where I uploaded my photos of ID card

7. Finally after few days Senior Advisor responded that he got my issue on the table and will try to resolve it in two days

8. Voila, after two or three hours after getting email in point 7, my money went from my debit card and after that my account has been approved, I am in.

After I got apologising email from them I responded thank you but asked them what in the world is happening that so many users have problem and pointed in this forum. Hopefully they will notice this and finally start fixing this big problem.

This issue was driving me crazy. I'm in the US and I was still running into it with multiple different cards. I finally resolved it.

The solution -- use Safari.

Maybe this little tip, will help others. Cheers.

The solution -- use Safari. 

I am afraid it is not so simple. Safari has nothing to do with that. It is all to do with some multiple checks, aiming to detect a possible fraud at an early stage, well before it even gets to any payment.

What is the most frustrating is that those developers (private or companies) who have being members for several years, suddenly can't renew membership. And nothing has changed for them - same Apple ID, same address, even same credit cards! And yet they can't renew.

That makes them really angry at Apple. Especially when there is no meaningful feedback (or no feedback at all) from Apple's Developer Support why and what to do in order to fix it.