AWS GovCloud (US) Sign Up - AWS GovCloud (US)

AWS GovCloud (US) Sign Up

In order to sign up for an AWS GovCloud (US) account, you need to be an individual or entity that meets the requirement of AWS GovCloud (US).

  • The account holder must be a U.S. entity incorporated to do business in the United States and is based on U.S. soil.

  • The account holder must be a U.S. Person defined as a U.S. Citizen or active Green Card holder.

  • The account holder must be able to handle International Traffic and Arms Regulation (ITAR) export controlled data.

  • In addition, AWS uses automated controls to prevent the creation of fraudulent accounts. This may cause new account creations to be denied. If you believe your request was denied in error, please contact AWS Customer Support for additional assistance in account creation.

There are two options for creating an AWS GovCloud (US) account as a direct consumer.

Option 1: Creating an AWS GovCloud (US) from a standalone AWS account

If you are a direct customer of AWS and do not purchase AWS through an AWS Solution Provider or an AWS Reseller, follow the steps below. If you are using AWS Organizations to manage accounts, we recommend using the AWS Organizations API.

  1. Create a new AWS standard account by signing up for a new account.

  2. Log in to the new AWS account with the root credentials. If you do not have the root credentials, create a support ticket to recover the credentials.

  3. Navigate to the Account page at the top right of the AWS Management Console.

  4. On the Account page, scroll down to the Other settings section. Choose the AWS GovCloud link. If you do not see this link, ensure you logged in with the root credentials otherwise, create a support ticket.

  5. This will navigate you to the AWS GovCloud (US) Sign Up Portal where you are asked to accept the AWS GovCloud (US) legal agreement and provide additional information, so we can verify your eligibility for an AWS GovCloud (US) account.

Option 2: Creating an AWS GovCloud (US) with AWS Organizations

AWS Organizations helps you centrally govern your environment as you grow and scale your workloads on AWS. AWS Organizations manages a set of accounts within each partition and can help create accounts across partitions. For example, you can create an AWS organization within the AWS US Standard Regions to manage accounts in those Regions. You will need to create a separate AWS organization in AWS GovCloud (US) to manage accounts in the AWS GovCloud (US) partition.

  1. Follow the steps above to create a standalone AWS GovCloud (US) account that is mapped to your AWS Organizations management account.

  2. Call the AWS Organizations CreateGovCloudAccount API from the AWS Standard account that is the management account of your Organization. This will create two accounts, one in the AWS Standard Region Organization and an associated AWS GovCloud (US) Account. This API will create roles for accessing the new AWS Standard account from the Standard Organization and will create roles in the AWS GovCloud (US) account that is mapped to your management account for accessing the new AWS GovCloud (US) account.

  3. The API call will return success but is executed asynchronously and may take a few minutes to complete. For more information, visit the AWS Organizations documentation.

    In order to get the account numbers being created, please run the describe-create-account-status command.

    Example

    describe-create-account-status --create-account-request-id [value].

    aws organizations describe-create-account-status --create-account-request-id car-examplecreateaccountrequestid111

    See here for more information.

  4. Once complete, you can log in to your AWS GovCloud (US) management account and switch role into the new AWS GovCloud (US) account.

  5. After creating the standalone account in the AWS GovCloud (US), you can invite it to an organization in the AWS GovCloud (US) only.

Creating an AWS GovCloud (US) account through a Reseller or Solution Provider

Contact your AWS Solution Provider or AWS Reseller to sign up for an AWS GovCloud (US) account.

Solution Providers or Resellers

If you are a Solution Provider and wish to resell Authorized Services in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions please contact your AWS business representative by going to the AWS GovCloud (US) Contact Us page and completing the form to start the sign-up process.

AWS Marketplace

Software vendors who want to be listed in the AWS Marketplace for AWS GovCloud (US) must have a direct agreement with AWS. Software vendors who want to be listed in the AWS GovCloud (US) Region should sign up as a Direct Customer whether they are resellers or not.

Close Account

For instructions on how to close an AWS GovCloud (US) account, see Closing an AWS GovCloud (US) account.