# PayPal (بايبال)

> PayPal is currently blocked in Syria, as of 2026-08-30.

- Status: blocked
- Outreach: Contacted
- Company: [PayPal](https://unblocksyria.com/en/companies/paypal.md)
- Categories: Payment Services, B2B Payment Processing, Digital Wallets, Money Transfer
- Official site: https://www.paypal.com
- Community votes: 3179
- Last updated: 2026-08-30
- Page: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/paypal

## About

Online payment platform for sending, receiving, and managing money worldwide

## Activity summary

Blocked in Syria, confirmed repeatedly with a 403 error from Syrian connections. PayPal has declined twice, in March and August 2026, saying only that its services are unavailable there and naming no regulation, and volunteers wrote again on 27 August 2026 without a reply.

## Official timeline

- 2026-03-31 — Follow-up Sent. Official follow-up email sent from corporateaffairs@unblocksyria.com to executiveoffice@paypal.com. The email addressed PayPal's 'central bank approval' deflection, distinguishing banking market entry from IP access restrictions. Cited Mastercard as fully accessible, Visa, Google Pay, and Revolut as partially restored. The original February 9 outreach received no response in seven weeks.
- 2026-02-09 — Contacted Company. Outreach email sent to PayPal at executiveoffice@paypal.com requesting review of Syria IP restrictions under the current post-sanctions legal framework.

## Community reports

- 2026-08-27 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer emailed PayPal's enquiry address asking that the country restriction on Syria be reviewed. The email set out the regulatory position for PayPal's legal and compliance teams: Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was rescinded on 24 August 2026, the Caesar Act was repealed on 18 December 2025, the United States sanctions programme was terminated by Executive Order 14312 with the Syrian Sanctions Regulations removed from the Code of Federal Regulations, and the European Union lifted its economic sanctions on 28 May 2025. It asked which regulation the restriction rests on if it remains in place after review. PayPal has declined twice, in March and again in August 2026, saying only that its services are unavailable in Syria and naming no regulation as the basis.
- 2026-08-26 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer emailed PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com asking for the Syria country restriction to be reviewed. The email cited the 24 August 2026 rescission of Syria's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation, the December 2025 repeal of the Caesar Act, the termination of the U.S. Syria sanctions program under Executive Order 14312, OFAC's removal of the Syrian Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations, the EU sanctions lift, and License Exception SPP covering EAR99 items, and asked PayPal to name the regulation the restriction rests on if it survives review. No reply has been received.
- 2026-08-25 — Declined. PayPal replied from enquiry@paypal.com with a substantive human response signed by a named support representative. The reply stated that PayPal services are not available in Syria at this time and that the company is unable to provide information about future market availability or expansion plans, adding that any such update would be announced through PayPal's official channels, and pointed to PayPal's published worldwide country list. It said the feedback would be documented and shared with the appropriate teams for consideration. The response engaged with none of the regulatory changes the volunteer had set out, named no regulation as the basis for the restriction, and confirmed no internal review, so it stands as a restatement of the explicit decline PayPal issued in March 2026.
- 2026-08-25 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer emailed PayPal at enquiry@paypal.com asking the company to reconsider the blanket restriction on users residing in Syria. The email acknowledged PayPal's compliance, anti-money-laundering, sanctions-screening and risk-management obligations and asked not that they be set aside but that a fresh assessment be made of whether a country-wide block is still necessary under the current regulatory framework, given the 2025 sanctions relief. It proposed a phased or limited reopening for verified Syrian individuals and businesses subject to the usual controls, and put four specific questions: whether the restriction rests on U.S. sanctions or on PayPal's internal policy, whether any market review is underway, what regulatory or compliance conditions would need to be met, and whether a phased reopening could be considered. This is the first outreach recorded to that address.
- 2026-07-01 — Contacted Company. A community volunteer emailed PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com requesting that service access be enabled for users in Syria. The email cited the December 2025 US Treasury announcement lifting all Syria sanctions, the OFAC sanctions programs overview, and supporting documentation from unblocksyria.com/resources.
- 2026-04-27 — Verified. Community testing from Syria confirmed that PayPal remains fully blocked. Loading paypal.com from a Syrian mobile IP in Damascus returned an "Error 403 Forbidden" page with internal code 54113, served by PayPal's Varnish cache edge. The block persists more than seven weeks after PayPal's explicit decline of the unblocking request and more than three weeks after the most recent follow-up email. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/ma0r6py2e6e1piutel8s0r4f/uflca85gh0cvpwqwbdy36vhw-screenshot-brave.jpg)
- 2026-03-09 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a follow-up email to PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com requesting that service access be enabled for users in Syria. The email referenced the December 2025 OFAC sanctions lift and included links to official U.S. Treasury documentation and supporting materials from unblocksyria.com/resources. This is the fourth community follow-up to PayPal, which has not responded to any outreach emails to date.
- 2026-03-04 — Follow-up Sent. The community volunteer replied to PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com pushing back on the decline. The reply explained that the comprehensive U.S. sanctions on Syria were lifted months earlier and that the most significant remaining instrument, the Caesar Act of 2019, was repealed in December 2025 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2026, with a direct citation to the relevant section in the enrolled bill. The volunteer reiterated that even partial functionality such as receiving and holding funds or sending money to friends and family abroad would help thousands of Syrian freelancers and individuals participate in the global economy.
- 2026-03-04 — Declined. PayPal's Customer Solutions team responded from executiveoffice@paypal.com with an explicit decline. The reply, signed by a PayPal customer solutions representative, stated that PayPal is not currently able to provide services to persons or entities located in Syria, citing applicable international sanctions and regulatory requirements as the basis for the restriction. The response did not engage with the volunteer's argument that the comprehensive U.S. sanctions framework has been repealed and gave no indication of any internal review or timeline for reconsideration.
- 2026-03-02 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer emailed PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com requesting that PayPal review its current policy on Syria following the lifting of U.S. sanctions. The email focused on the importance of reliable financial services for Syrian freelancers and remote workers receiving payments from abroad, and noted that even partial functionality such as receiving funds, holding balances, or sending money to friends and family in other countries would already make a meaningful difference. PayPal had not previously responded to any UnblockSyria outreach when this email was sent.
- 2026-02-24 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a follow-up email to PayPal's executive office at executiveoffice@paypal.com, requesting that access be restored for users in Syria. The email referenced the December 2025 OFAC sanctions termination and EU sanctions removal, cited the BIS License Exception SPP, and included links to official U.S. Treasury documentation and supporting materials from unblocksyria.com/resources. This is the third community follow-up to PayPal, which has not responded to any outreach emails to date.
- 2026-02-15 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent a follow-up email to PayPal at executiveoffice@paypal.com requesting that service access be enabled for users in Syria. The email referenced the December 2025 OFAC sanctions lift and EU sanctions removal, included links to official U.S. Treasury documentation, and noted that several other companies have already restored access. Supporting documentation from unblocksyria.com/resources was also attached.
- 2026-02-14 — Follow-up Sent. A community volunteer sent an additional request to PayPal at executiveoffice@paypal.com, requesting access for users in Syria.
- 2026-02-10 — Evidence Added. User from Syria confirmed PayPal is completely blocked when accessed via DSL connection. Screenshot evidence provided. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/x4h7pipvs1g435jqidnumrq9/qx4sth4gg4kc9eqfc7r8hgdm-img-20260210-211150-133.jpg)
- 2026-01-30 — Company Responded. PayPal stated they deal directly with each country's central bank and need approval to make services available. Once service is available in Syria, they will inform users.

## Context

These are geo-restrictions the companies applied themselves, not filtering by Syrian ISPs and not a legal requirement. US and EU sanctions on Syria were lifted in 2025. See https://unblocksyria.com/llms.txt for the regulatory summary and https://unblocksyria.com/en/about for citations to the specific orders and regulations.

## Machine-readable

- JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/paypal?locale=en
- Timeline JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/paypal/timeline?locale=en
- HTML: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/paypal
- Other languages: https://unblocksyria.com/ar/services/paypal.md, https://unblocksyria.com/ku/services/paypal.md