Prop Firm Restricted Countries: Where You Live, Not Where You're From

The question always arrives the same way: "I'm from such-and-such a country, can I open an account?". And the right answer starts with another question: by nationality, or living there? Because they aren't the same thing, and at most firms only the second one counts.

Below is the complete list: the 164 countries and territories that appear in the restriction lists of the eleven firms we track, with how many block each one and — the part that actually helps — which ones do accept you.

The 14 that nobody accepts

Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

There's no gap here: all eleven firms block them. And it isn't a commercial decision, it comes from international sanctions and the high-risk jurisdiction lists their payment processors carry.

Nearly impossible: blocked by 9 or 10 out of 11

Belarus, Burundi, Lebanon, Pakistan, Côte d'Ivoire and Congo are blocked at 10 of 11. Albania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Ukraine, at 9.

In these cases the firm that's left matters a great deal: Earn2Trade is the only open door in Belarus and in Burundi, and in Albania the only two ways in are Apex and Funded Futures Family. That's exactly the kind of thing the table below answers at a glance.

Yes, there are European Union countries on the lists

This is what surprises European readers most, and it's worth saying plainly: being in the EU guarantees you nothing.

Bulgaria is blocked by 5 firms. Croatia and Slovenia by 4. Romania and Malta by 3. Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania by 1 each. Outside the EU but in Europe: Iceland by 4, Gibraltar by 4, Monaco by 3 and Andorra by 1.

Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Poland and the Nordic countries, on the other hand, appear on no list at all.

Asia and the Americas aren't what you'd expect either

Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore and Thailand are clear at all eleven, which is unusual: in the forex prop firm world India is normally restricted. In futures it isn't.

The ones with a problem in Asia: Vietnam (8), the Philippines (5), Indonesia (4), Cambodia (4), China (3), Malaysia (3), Hong Kong (2), Taiwan (2).

In the Americas, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are clear at all eleven. The blocks concentrate on Nicaragua (9), Haiti (8), Panama (6), Ecuador (4), Bolivia (1), Peru (1) and Puerto Rico (1).

Residence or nationality: the real answer

The short version doing the rounds — "where you live is what counts" — is true in most cases, but not all.

Apex Trader Funding is the clearest example of the residence criterion. If you've moved from a restricted country to an approved one, you can trade by presenting an ID from your current country, proof of address and a bank account in the approved country. Their policy always talks about being "located in" a restricted region, not about your nationality.

But some firms require both: residence and nationality off the list. Alpha Futures, for instance, requires it explicitly. Which is why the only honest answer to "can I open an account?" is: read that specific firm's policy, not the industry's.

What is universal is the checking mechanism. Nobody asks you at signup. They check at KYC, when you go to get paid. If you live in a restricted country, verification is rejected automatically no matter how in order your paperwork is.

What happens if you travel

Here the firms separate clearly, and it's worth knowing before you get on a plane.

Apex pauses payouts temporarily while you're in a restricted country, and they resume on their own when you're back in an approved region. You don't lose the account, you lose payout access for the duration of the trip.

My Funded Futures gives a more nuanced answer: a trader who already has an account can trade from a restricted country by notifying support first, but can't buy new accounts or run resets from there.

The practical takeaway: if you'll be spending weeks in a listed country, request your payout before you leave and don't buy anything while you're away.

How many countries each firm blocks

Earn2Trade blocks 25 countries. TakeProfit, 115. If your case is borderline, start looking from the bottom of that list.

The complete list

Data from our own database, verified on 16 August 2026. The column that matters is the last one: if your country appears, look at which firms are still open to you.

If your country isn't in the table, none of the eleven blocks it. That includes Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and most of Western Europe.

Two notes on the table. Firms write country names inconsistently — "Ivory Coast" and "Côte d'Ivoire", "Burma" and "Myanmar", four different spellings for Palestine — and they're unified here; Congo appears as a single row because the lists don't reliably distinguish between the DRC and the Republic of the Congo. And five territories with no permanent population (Antarctica among them) have been left out, listed by some firms because they copy sanctions templates.

If your country is blocked by all of them

This is the hardest case and it deserves a straight answer: there is no legitimate route trading from there with these eleven firms. The real options are two, and neither is a trick:

1. Actual residence in another country. Not a mailbox: an ID or residence permit, proof of address and a bank account in that country. It's exactly what Apex asks for from anyone who has moved.
2. Firms outside our coverage. They exist, but before paying, check two things: that the restriction doesn't appear in their funded trader agreement, and that their payment provider operates in your country. Passing an evaluation is worth little if there's then no way to collect it.

What never works is a VPN with documents from the restricted country. That isn't a risk, it's a guaranteed rejection at KYC.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have dual nationality, one from a restricted country. Does that affect me?

It depends on the firm. At those applying the residence criterion, like Apex, what matters is where you live and which documents you can provide. At those requiring both residence and nationality to be clear, it does block you. Ask support in writing before you buy.

What if my country is added to the list after I open the account?

The policies are written looking forward: they stop you buying and resetting from a restricted country. What happens to an already active account isn't well documented at almost any firm, so if your country gets added, write to support and get the criterion in writing before you keep trading.

Can I use a relative's bank account in an approved country?

No. The holder of the payout method has to be the same person named on the ID and on the firm account. That's exactly what KYC checks.

Why are some EU countries restricted and others not?

Because the lists aren't built along political blocs but on three criteria: international sanctions, jurisdictions flagged as high-risk for money laundering, and countries where that particular firm's payment processor doesn't operate. That third criterion explains almost every odd case.

Puerto Rico blocked? Isn't that the United States?

Politically it is, but TradeDay lists it separately. It's a good example of these lists being drawn up by payment-processor criteria rather than geographic logic.