Hi everyone,
I’m seeking advice regarding a frustrating issue we’ve encountered with our app on the App Store. Recently, we published an update that included a Farsi description, and our app was subsequently rejected. Below is the message we received from Apple:
Guideline 5.0 - Legal
Apple must comply with U.S. laws. Under U.S. sanctions regulations, Apple cannot do business with certain apps or developers connected to U.S. embargoed countries or regions. We have recently identified that the app is subject to U.S. sanctions regulations. Therefore, we are unable to approve the app at this time. Please make appropriate arrangements to remove the app within 14 days of this notice. Failure to do so will result in Apple delisting the app. This area of law is complex and constantly changing, and should changes be made to U.S. law in the future you can resubmit the app. You can contact the U.S. Department of the Treasury or refer to the Iran sanctions or Syrian sanctions should you have questions on regulatory restrictions on U.S. companies.
Our app is entirely based in Canada, with all registrations and our Canadian bank account connected to in-app purchases. We raised an appeal seeking clarification and were ready to provide any documentation the review team might need. However, after 10 days, our appeal was also rejected without any explanation:
"The App Review Board determined that the original rejection feedback was valid."
We were not given any specific reasons or a chance to correct anything that might be wrong in the reviewer's eyes.
After spending a year building our app, it’s extremely frustrating to have it removed without any clear explanation or opportunity to rectify the situation. Has anyone else experienced this, and do you have any advice on what steps we can take next?
For whatever reason the review team thinks our app does not comply with Guideline 5.0, we are 100% ready to make any necessary changes, but we are not given any chance to do so.
Thank you for any help or insight.
