Do I have to pay $99 a year?
The short answer is... No!
You have been tasked with enrolling your organization in the Apple Developer program in order to get your iPhone application published in the iTunes Store. Apple normally charges $99 a year to have a developer account, but they waive the fee for qualifying government organizations. To get the fee waived, organizations simply have to submit a fee waiver form to Apple.
Note: Apple will waive the annual fee if all the apps developed under the account are free.
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to submit the fee waiver to Apple:
- Log into your Apple Developer Account and go to:
https://developer.apple.com/contact/membership-fee-waiver/ - Open the "I would like to" drop-down menu and select the option "waive the fee for a new membership".
- Enter in your contact information in all required fields.
- Open the "Organization Type" drop-down menu and select the option "Government Entity".
- Enter in your Enrollment ID and your Tax ID/National ID information in the required fields.
- Check the box and hit the "Submit" button.
Apple will review the submitted fee waiver and will send you an email shortly informing you that you have saved the city or county $99 USD annually per the fee being waived by Apple.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is the app developed by CitySourced considered a "free app" to Apple? Yes. Your CitySourced app can be downloaded in the App Store at no cost.
Do I have to submit a waiver to Apple every year for the fee to be waived? No. I would note that in the event the organization (city or county) becomes ineligible for the fee waiver for any reason or at any time at Apple’s sole discretion, the fee will no longer be waived.
Who in my organization and/or in my organization Apple Developer account can submit the fee waiver? Team Agents of eligible organizations can submit a fee waiver at any time before their membership expiration date. Once the fee waiver is approved, the organization will no longer need to pay an annual fee upon renewal.