How to get a D-U-N-S number: applying from Türkiye, and the timings

What is a D-U-N-S number and what is it for?

A unique nine-digit identifier Dun & Bradstreet assigns to businesses. Unlike a tax number it is not issued by a government; it is the address of your record in a global business register kept by a private data company. Apple and Google use it in organisation enrolments to confirm the company genuinely exists and is the legal entity it claims to be.

The critical detail: the number belongs to a location rather than to a company. Entities of the same group at different addresses carry different numbers, and even one company's headquarters and branch can be registered separately. The number to use in a store enrolment belongs to the headquarters address of the legal entity opening the account — picking the wrong record gets verification rejected, and the difference usually surfaces weeks later.

Is a D-U-N-S number free or paid?

Because D&B issues the number free but sells services around it: expedited processing, credit reports, business profile management. None of those are required for a store enrolment. The intermediary sites that surface in search results fill in the same free form and add a commission on top.

The most expensive misconception here is the expediting service. Apple states plainly on its own help page that expediting the D-U-N-S creation process will not shorten the waiting period. So even if the fee speeds up a step on D&B's side, Apple's verification timetable does not move.

How long does a D-U-N-S application take?

The real message in that chart is not the length of the wait but the cost of getting the order wrong. For a team that starts the account after development finishes, this timetable means a release-ready app sitting idle for two weeks.

Why was my D-U-N-S application rejected?

• The name not matching the trade register exactly — a difference in punctuation is enough.
• Giving a branch address, or the accountant's address, instead of the headquarters.
• Applying from a personal email address rather than the corporate domain.
• Leaving more than one open request for the same company; the records conflict and both wait.
• A newly incorporated company not yet appearing in the trade register — the registration notice has to publish first.

I have the D-U-N-S number — what now?

Both stores ask for the same number, so once you have it you use it in both. The remaining steps on Apple's side are in our App Store developer account guide, and Google's in our Google Play developer account guide.

How long is a D-U-N-S number valid?

The number does not expire; it stays valid as long as the company exists. But the details on the record have to stay current: after an address change, a name change or a merger, an un-updated record stalls store verification. If something changed in the trade register, update the D-U-N-S record too, otherwise the two records contradict each other.

I cannot find my company in the list — what now?

Change how you search first: use the distinctive word rather than the full name, drop the legal suffix, and enter only the city as the address. Records are often entered with a different spelling. If it genuinely is not there you open a free request; but make sure you searched two or three spellings first, because opening a new request while a record exists collides the two and lengthens the process.

Can a sole trader get a D-U-N-S?

If there is a registered business, yes. But having the number does not mean you can open an organisation account at a store: the stores separately require a legal entity able to enter contracts. Sole traders are routed into the individual flow in most cases. Make the decision by which name you want shown as the seller, not by the number.

Where else is a D-U-N-S number used?

Beyond store enrolments it is asked for in corporate procurement processes, international supplier registrations and some public tender platforms. So the number you obtain for a store later opens other doors. That is the second reason to keep the record accurate and current: a wrong address delays not only your app but a future supplier registration.