How to Create American Roku Account outside USA
Last Updated On: June 21, 2020 | 44 Comments
| If you wish to add American channels like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Crackle, or HBO to your Roku streaming device outside USA, you have to create an American Roku account. Keep in mind that Roku will flag your Roku account as non-American even if you select USA as your country unless you use one of two workarounds: VPN or Smart DNS proxies. The following guide will show you to create your American Roku Account outside USA.
How to Create an American Roku Account outside USA?
In order to unblock and get American channels on your Roku, you need to create an American Roku account. To do, follow these steps:
- Setup VPN or Smart DNS on your PC/Mac. Do not proceed unless you have completed either setup.
- Then, head over to https://my.roku.com/index and choose ‘Create account’.
- Next, fill in the required information and then click ‘Continue’.
- Choose a Pin and click ‘Continue’.
- On the next page, you have to payment options: Paypal or Credit Card.
- Choose Paypal if you already own a Paypal account since your Paypal country does not affect your Roku account.
- Use a valid US address to create your American Roku account. You can use California as your state and 90210 as your zip code.
- If you choose Credit card as your payment option, you have to use your own street address that is associated with your credit card.
- Then, you need to convert the postal code into a valid zip code.
- Keep note of the City associated with the new zip as it is required for the Roku account setup.
- To create a valid zip code, take the digits from your postcode. The postal code M1Z4L3 becomes 143. Add zeros to the end if you have less than 5 digits in your postal code. So the 143 becomes ZIP 14300.
- Now that you have finalized your Roku account, reset your Roku streaming device to factory settings. Then, use the newly created American Roku account on your Roku device.
How to Create a US/American Roku Account outside USA
Creating an American Roku account might seem a bit complicated, but due to the huge benefits you can reap as a result, it is definitely worth the effort. If you’re getting stuck during the Roku account creation using either Smart DNS or VPN, let me know by leaving a comment and I will do my best to help you out.
44 Comments
Its Impossible to get Amazon Prime in Australia with the Roku.
I battled for at least an hour with Roku where they finally gave up and said it was geo locked on their device which is weird as I can use my Amazon Account on my Sony TV without using a VPN service so it is a Roku problem that needs to be fixed. And why in the name of hell have they not provided the search button in Australia ? Thes guys are living in a cave and need to fix this or at least tell people before they make a purchase that they will have problems . Now before you say go use a VPN .I did Express VPN .
Roku failed to connect when I set the tunnel up on my router . I crossed checked with netflix USA and it connected fine but Roku no way
when you set up the us account, will you always need to be connected to VPN in order to access US only apps like hulu?
Hi. Yes, you do need a US VPN connection in order to access US-only apps such as Hulu. Otherwise, you will be presented with a geo-error that states that these channels are not available in your region.
I’m in Canada, I tried setting up an American account following the instructions. Even though me NordVPN gives me a US IP. When I check on ROKU me IP is one from my service provider. Don’t know if I can fix this?
Thanks
Peter
Hi! i just got my Roku stick + 3810(EU) purchased in the UK delivered to Spain. I acknowledge the VPN set up but have a further question regarding the credit card to be used. if I want to access the U.S. content(even paid content) from Spain,does my credit card need to be a U.S. card or can I use a local one?
Using this method, my new zip will be 84800 and this is does not exist
roku is looking for a phone number and will not accept mine
Another question …i have been dealing with Roku support for over 3 days now trying to reset get a link for link to my to my Roku and they cannot give me any information as to what email accounts I’ used to originllysign up with? It was back in 2014 when I signed up so I don’t remember whatsoever. they will not help me with any of this information so how do I find this out? Originally I was trying to setup a VPN to open and US Account but was unable to because of this glitch? Help please! And by the way I’ve learned more by reading your comments and help that I have in 3 days with Roku support.
Hi Lisa. Unfortunately, you can only have one account on your Roku device at any given time. That means that having both US and Canadian channels on it is a no-go. As for resetting your Roku account, why not simply sign up using a new account?
Thanks Charlie. I have tried but it keeps asking me for a link code that i see on my tv??
Can i have both a Canadian and an American account and use the same Roku box?
Hi. I live in Mexico but have a real valid US address and US credit card. If I follow your instructions and create a US account with VPN, will I be able to watch US channels, such as CnnGo in Mexico without VPN or does VPN have to be enabled all the time. (My VPN is quite slow)
Hi. I live in Dominican Republic, and decided to buy a NordVPN service a while ago. I have two Roku devices: one at the living room, the other at our bedroom. Today I unlinked one of the devices (living room) from my account, which was created as non-US account at the beginning, then I followed your instructions creating a new account through NordVPN, using my wife´s name and gmail address, but using a valid US address we have. That was it! Now we have our non-US account and channel list on one device (bedroom) and the new US account on another, enjoying a lot of new free stuff, and also with the opportunity to buy prime services not available outside US. Great..! Thanks.
Hello Santiago. That’s great to hear! Happy streaming.
As I understand it from your article, one needs to appear to be in US when creating a Roku account and also needs to appear to be in the US when streaming. Is it possible to install or sideload a VPN client such as ExpressVPN for Android on Roku Ultra?
Hi there. Installing a VPN directly on Roku isn’t feasible. However, you can still enable a VPN connection on Roku devices via other workarounds.
Hi, I tried all your steps and added the channels however for some of the channels it is saying not available in my location. eg. sling tv and showtime. Any idea how to get around this?
Hello Kam. It seems that your Roku account was flagged as non-US. That’s why you aren’t able to add American channels to your Roku device. Were you using VPN or Smart DNS while you were creating your US Roku account?
Thanks for your posting.
I created an Amercian Roku account and I can add American Channels like HBO now and others. But I can’t subscribe to HBO now. I use my Canadian credit card and covert the zip code to a valid US zip code. It showed me “credit card address is not Valid”. How to solve this? Thanks.
Go to my Us.com and and join.
This gives you not only USA address and postal zip code, but also a phone number etc. worked for me
I love all the American content in Canada but there’s a Canadian channel it won’t let me add now. Is there any way to add a Canadian channel to my American account roku?
Unfortunately, you can only add channels from one region to your Roku device at a time. So it’s either American or Canadian channels.
Hi im from the phillipines, i have a roku connecting through wifi how can i iconnect thru vpn or change ip address if my internet service is bundled to cable . Im afraid if i change or edit the ip address on my router will cause a problem
Hello Mariane. You could connect a secondary router to your current router and setup VPN or Smart DNS on that secondary router instead.
I already set up an account from overseas so if I create a new one appearing from the US will I be able to access channels that I’ve already paid for?
Hi Dave. Yes, you need to create a new American Roku account in order to be able to add US channels to your Roku device.
I have the same problem. I created a new American Roku account but am stuck on how to register a device that has already been registered overseas.
You need to reset your Roku device and then sign in using an American Roku account.
I did everything you said but on the TV my IP address is different? Does this matter as I tried to add a channel as I am still not allowed to add channels.
I see free ones online and still can’t add
I must admit, all the American show streamings are a welcome addition to the CDN ones
The effort is worth it. I’ve added a FlashRouters to my existing modem/router and it works great. Every now and then I need to disconnect (unplug) the modem and the FlashRouters. Then replug them in to ensure my connection is activated via my VPN
When I bought my Roku streaming stick in the USA, the guy assured me I could access all its channels at my home in Jerusalem. I set up my stick and my account once home, and only THEN realized the sales guy was incorrect, and the stations available to me here in Israel are worthless and obscure. Can I delete this acct and set up a new one as per your instructions? Won’t it recognize my internet connection from my initial set up and block me again? Thanks.
Hi, my query is on the first time setup of a Roku device. I have a Roku stick (3500R) bought in the US (which has not been setup) and an US based account created while I was in the US. My current location is India, do I need to connect to a VPN for first time setup of this Roku stick? I am interested in legally sourced non-US channels.
Hi Shantanu. If you use your American Roku account to sign into the Roku the first time you set it up, you will be able to add American channels to it. However, to watch content via these channels while in India, you either have to use VPN or Smart DNS proxies.
However, if you want to watch Indian channels on your Roku, you have to create a new Indian Roku account. In this case, there’s no need for VPN.
Live in Canada. Would like to watch US Netflix etc. My Rolku is wirelessly connected to the elsewhere-in-the-house Rogers modem/router box. It works well now, connected to my TV,
but how can I set up VPN, since the Rogers box can, as far as I know, not be programmed? Or HDMI cable from my nearby laptop to Roku perhaps? Fully wirelessly, other than Roku wired Roku to TV, arrangement preferred.
Thank you,
Paul
Hi Paul. I think the only workaround would be connecting a secondary router that supports VPN to your Rogers Box using an Ethernet cable and then connecting the Roku to that router wirelessly.
Hi, I did everything as you suggested; however, I did not pay attention to the Express VPN Smart Location, which was set on Montreal2 while I opened my US account in Ottawa. Can I close out this account, and open another US account in my name again using the same address, my address in Florida, and the same e-mail address I used to open the first US account?
Thanks.
I am not sure if you can use the same email address, teh rest of the info should be fine though. Worst case you have to create a new email account for this. Let me know how it goes please.
How can I get the American channels if I already registered my Roku Ultra? I reside in Ontario and already have the system running. I also use (WIFI) and it uses my (D-Link) router with a code number. Can you please advise. I had to pay $100.00 US as well to activate it.
Bob
Hi Bob. In order to get American channels on your Roku Ultra, you need to follow the guide above to create an US Roku account. Once done, you need to reset your Roku device and set it up again while signed in using your newly created account.
I have followed all the steps-have US VPN, created new account with us address but it keeps finding and connecting me to the old cdn account?
Hi Bob. Once you connect to the American VPN server, head over to whatismyip.network and make sure you are appearing online using a US IP address.
I cannot get passed the payment process, its recognizing me as a Canadian. How do get around this?
Very informative article – thank you for posting.
One question – does it matter whether I purchase a Roku device in Canada or the U.S.? Any advantage or difference?
Thanks!
Hi. That should not make a difference as long as you have a US Roku account.