403 PERMISSION_DENIED: “Your project has been denied access” / AI Studio Restricted, manual review requested

Gemini API
, ,
1

Hi,

I’m looking for help with a Gemini API project access restriction. Google Cloud Support has specifically directed me to the Gemini API / Google AI Studio support route, which leads to this forum.

My project consistently returns:

403 PERMISSION_DENIED
Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.

Google AI Studio also shows the affected project as Restricted / Unavailable.

Affected project:
gen-lang-client-0308968940

I have already completed extensive troubleshooting, including:

• Checking IAM permissions
• Checking the API key configuration
• Confirming the Generative Language API / Gemini API setup
• Testing the API directly
• Creating a fresh project to test whether the issue was project-specific
• Confirming that the same access problem persists

The project does not have a billing account attached. I was previously directed to Google Cloud Billing Support, but Billing Support confirmed that they cannot assist because there is no billing account.

I then returned to Google Cloud Account & Security Support. In Google Cloud Support case 74220020, they confirmed that the Restricted status in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API access issue are outside their team’s scope and that their team does not have access to investigate or remove Gemini project restrictions.

They specifically instructed me to contact the Gemini API / Google AI Studio support team and to provide the project IDs, screenshots, 403 error and troubleshooting already completed.

Could a Google team member please review whether an automated restriction or flag has been placed on my account/project and arrange a manual review of the Gemini API access restriction?

I can provide any additional project information required.

Thank you.

image
image709×1536 140 KB

image
image1920×1032 103 KB

2

Hello @Bee_Pet ,

Please try the below steps:

  1. Check Model Availability & Rate Limits:

    • Ensure that the model you are requesting is available on your current plan. For example, not all models are available on the free tier. You can verify model availability, quotas, and limits on the AI Studio Rate Limit dashboard.

  2. Verify your Google Account:

  3. Upgrade to a Paid Tier:

    • If verifying your account does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you can unlock access by adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console.