How to Change Your Apple, Xbox or PlayStation Account Region to the US

If you bought an Apple, Xbox or PlayStation gift card in US dollars and your account is registered in another country, the code may not redeem. Here is how to check your current region and the simplest way to fix it — before you buy.

Why your account region matters

Apple, Microsoft and Sony sell content and balance by region. A gift card bought for the US can only be redeemed on an account whose region is also the United States.

Apple ID (App Store / iTunes)

• Check your region: Settings → your name → Media & Purchases → View Account → your country/region is shown there.
• Can you change it? Yes, but you must spend any remaining balance and have no active subscriptions before changing the country on that same screen.
• Recommended: create a NEW Apple ID choosing United States from the start, dedicated to redeeming your USD gift cards.

Microsoft / Xbox account

• Check your region: On your console: Profile → Settings → System → Language & location. On PC: account.microsoft.com → your info.
• Can you change it? Yes, but first spend the balance in your current region (Microsoft blocks changing region with balance left).
• Recommended: create a NEW Microsoft account selecting United States at sign-up, for your Xbox gift cards in USD.

PlayStation Network (PSN)

• Check your region: On your console: Settings → Users and Accounts → Account → Info, or by signing in at account.sony.com.
• Can you change it? No. Sony does NOT allow changing the region of an existing PSN account.
• Solution: create a NEW PSN account choosing United States during sign-up, just for redeeming your PSN gift cards in USD.

Which gift card do I need?

Krosty Shop sells Apple, Xbox and PlayStation gift cards. If your account is already in the United States, buy and redeem directly. If not, create the new US-region account first as shown above, then redeem the code there.

Before you change anything: cards that do not need a US account

Most of the US gift cards we sell work normally from Venezuela: you redeem the code in your own account and the balance stays in US dollars. The exception is the group of platforms that tie the balance to the account region: Apple, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo. On those, the account must be set to the United States. Amazon.com, Steam (USD wallet), Netflix, Riot, Razer and Blizzard need no such step. Roblox and Twitch cards are meant for accounts registered in the United States.

In other words, this guide is only for Apple, Xbox and PlayStation (and Google Play, covered below). If you are buying Amazon, Steam, Netflix, Roblox or Riot, skip the region change and redeem.

Apple: the full 2026 checklist

1. Spend the remaining balance; if it is too small to spend, Apple asks you to contact its support.
2. Cancel any subscription that blocks the change and wait for the paid period to end.
3. Wait for pending pre-orders, rentals and refunds to complete.
4. Have a payment method from the new country ready. Apple only lets you postpone this if you are physically there, and in that case suggests creating a new account instead.
5. Re-download anything you want to keep: Apple warns that some apps and content may become unavailable in the new region.

Microsoft: the three-month rule and subscriptions

Microsoft refuses the change if you already changed region in the last three months, if the account is suspended (expired card, unpaid balance), or if your legal minor status differs between regions. The balance does not move, so spend it first. The typical 2026 case in Microsoft's forums is an account "stuck" in a region because Microsoft 365 or Game Pass from another region is still active: cancel the renewal, let it expire, then change.

PlayStation: setting up the new US account properly

• Use a new email (Sony does not allow the same one on two accounts) and choose the United States and a US address at sign-up.
• Set the PS4/PS5 as the primary console for the new account: games bought there become playable by your usual profile on that console.
• PlayStation Plus is tied to the account that pays for it; on the primary console its online benefits are shared.
• The address you register sets the sales tax added to each purchase; it comes out of the wallet balance.
• PlayStation codes have 12 characters (letters and numbers) and redeem only on an account of the same region.

Google Play too: 90 days, not 12 months

Google's help page now states you must wait at least 90 days after the initial setup and between each country change, that the update can take up to 48 hours, and that you need a payment method from the new country. The old balance stays locked to the previous region rather than being deleted. As with the others, creating a separate US account is usually simpler than moving your main one.

Common mistakes

• Redeeming the code before changing the region: the balance stays in the old region.
• Trying to change with balance or active subscriptions: the system refuses, sometimes without saying why.
• Entering an incomplete or made-up address that fails ZIP validation; a real address of a relative or your US forwarding locker avoids the rejection.
• Using a VPN to "convince" the store: Apple and Microsoft look at the account, not the connection, and on Steam it is grounds for suspension.