What are good ways to sign up Apple Developer Program without using the legal name

app-store-connect

Let's say a man named San Zhang (张三), a citizen of China. He may be living in China or The US. He has a English name "John Smith", which he wants to use as the "seller name" of his apps on App Store.

However, when he tried signing up Apple Developer Program, he was told that the "seller name" will be same to the name on credit card, which will be used to pay for the program fee and receive payment for apps he sold.

Now, the problem is:

  1. China government doesn't let him use John Smith as legal name.
  2. China government doesn't allow him to use a name different from 张三 when opening a bank account.
  3. The US government doesn't allow him to use a name different from San Zhang when opening a bank account. (Not sure this one)
  4. He cannot migrate to the US before the planned release date of his first Mac/iOS app. Or he doesn't want to become a citizen of a country where he is allowed to use John Smith as legal name.

In such a case, could he use John Smith as "seller name" of his apps on App Store? Or he has to open a company to sell apps? (In other words, could he achieve this goal, which seems not being allowed/expected/supposed by Apple?)

Another case is, could a US citizen use another name than his legal name as "seller name" on App Store?

Thank you very much.

Best Answer

Simply use your Chinese name. Why would you like to use your English name?