Redeeming region locked gifts from your country store from outside the country

[cwj]

I'm waiting on Steam Support to authorize my country's store on my account (passport and visa etc attached as proof) and I'm wondering if I have to physically be in Indonesia to redeem a gift from my country's store? I've searched around the internet but found nothing on this specifically.

To be clear, I will have (and did have, before moving abroad), the option to buy the games in my country store.

I have friends in the country. If I tell them to log in to my account and redeem that gift, is that bannable or 'interpreted' as using a VPN to activate the game? And does Valve even have ways to detect if a game was activated through VPN in the first place?

Thanks

[Creep]

you do not need to do anything were ever you are in the world.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6627-QSNM-5276

it is against the SSA to hide your true location.

[ReBoot]

To redeem region -locked gifts from a country, your Steam account location has to be properly set to this country. You can be anywhere in the world.

[cwj]

Thanks, I suppose I'll wait for the day Steam Support looks at my passport then. It's been a week!

Regardless, if I can't redeem it at all, I'll redeem it on my brother's account and play through family sharing, but it would be nice to actually own it though.

A friend of mine (living abroad) who says he can't redeem his region's gifts (same nationality as me) tells his family to unlock it for him all the time, so that's why I'm confused how he wasn't banned since to me that would look like he is using a VPN to spoof his IP.

[Creep]

you do not get suspended for it but you can get suspended for it.
you also create confusion if you ever need stolen items recoverd.

you can change region yourself in 1 minutes just read that FAQ I posted.

[cwj]

@Creep, no you can't. I live in 2 countries and recently just realized I could apply to get the 2 country stores. You need to provide proof you live in both countries (passport or visa, etc).

I don't remember if you also have to provide a payment method within said country, but if you were to purchase anything in the region-locked regions you 100% have to use credit cards or payment methods from the country itself.

It takes between a week and two weeks for Support to actually respond to my ticket and it's quite annoying.

I'm being vague of my country on purpose but it's an SEA country. After I left my country, I suddenly lost the SEA country store now that I checked, so that's how I know this isn't just a '1-minute' process.

edit: While back at home, I applied for the foreign region store as well (some games, such as MGSV and GZ, actually cost less internationally than in SEA FFS) and went through the same process as now. I never applied for my SEA country store until today.

[Creep]

it is a 1 minute proces if you have a local payment method.

I never hear about this 2 store policy.
do you have a link?

[cwj]

This is what Steam Support autoreplied to me with when I had a request about adding the foreign store.

http://puu.sh/kR6mH/69b81dafec.png

"A member of our team will get to your ticket as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you need assistance with changing the currency on your account, please be sure to scan a copy of your driver's license, ID card, passport or an official document that proves residency and attach it to this ticket."

edit: I have always used the foreign store until last summer I moved back for a while and suddenly lost my foreign store. I applied for the foreign region store then.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by ilu:

I don't remember if you also have to provide a payment method within said country, but if you were to purchase anything in the region-locked regions you 100% have to use credit cards or payment methods from the country itself.

This is the case, yes. You have to have a payment method from the country your Steam account is set to.

[Creep]

I asked for official information about this two steam store policy?
were did you get that information from?

I am not asking about your support tickets
and that reply is not saying anything about a two store policy.

it is about a currency conversion you can do in 1 minute yourself.

[cwj]

Which I couldn't do because I didn't have the store region to change to. As in the dropdown menu from the "store region" in your link only gave one entry, and the other entry told me to contact support. Which is why I contacted Steam Support and their autoreply asked for identification.

I've always thought this was widely-accepted knowledge about transferring or acquiring region stores.

Maybe you could try creating an account in your country right now and try moving out and see what happens. This is my own experience with Steam and what they told me to do.

When I was in SEA, I couldn't use my foreign CC to buy games because I was in the SEA store. That summer was the first time I logged in to Steam from my country and found I wasn't in the international store, which is how I discovered I had to request Steam to get the store region.

[Creep]

than you just have to wait for steam support in your situation.

but your ticket is about a currency conversion not a 2 region steam store.
you will always have to switch stores/countries and make a puchase it will never be automatic.

[cwj]

No it isn't, that's what the autoreplied assumed. I was asking for a new store region.

Here's what I get when I click "Other..." on the dropdown menu

http://puu.sh/kR86K/cbad933503.png

"Contact Steam Support
Verify your country of resience..."

edit: censored country name

[Пахом]

fddgfd

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by ilu:

No it isn't, that's what the autoreplied assumed. I was asking for a new store region.

Here's what I get when I click "Other..." on the dropdown menu

http://puu.sh/kR7W1/e3422a9d6b.png

"Contact Steam Support
Verify your country of resience..."

And you've contacted Steam support and are waiting for your request to be processed, right?

[Creep]

yes but it will not switch automaticly after it is enabled.
you always have to set the country and make a purchase to change it.