Gemini API suddenly returns "User location is not supported" — worked fine for a week, broke suddenly, persists even with a brand new API key

Gemini API
1

Hello,

I’m having the same “User location is not supported for the API use” (400, FAILED_PRECONDITION) issue that several others have reported here recently.

Timeline:

  • I set up billing (prepay) on this project about a week ago.
  • Everything worked correctly for about a week, including gemini-3.5-flash, gemini-3.6-flash, and explicit context caching (cachedContents).
  • The API suddenly started returning “User location is not supported for the API use” with no configuration changes on my end.

What I’ve already tried:

  • Created a brand NEW API key in the same project — same error persists. This suggests the issue is at the project/billing-account level, not the API key itself.
  • Redeployed my backend server (hosted on Render, Frankfurt region) to potentially get a new outbound IP — same error persists.
  • Confirmed the server’s public IP resolves to Frankfurt, Germany (not a VPN or restricted region).

Environment:

  • Project ID: ders-ai-c49..
  • Project number: 8869564871..
  • Billing: prepay, active, no payment issues
  • Affected models: gemini-3.5-flash, gemini-3.6-flash
  • Affected endpoints: /v1beta/models/{model}:streamGenerateContent and /v1beta/cachedContents

Exact error:
[GoogleGenerativeAI Error]: Error fetching from https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-3.6-flash:streamGenerateContent?alt=sse: [400 Bad Request] User location is not supported for the API use.

Could someone from the team take a look at this project? This is affecting a production app currently used by real testers. Thank you.

2

Hello @Baklava ,

This could be specific to your IP address. Please report it on our Report IP problems page. Suggested workarounds which may help for now:

  • Try temporarily switching to a different network (e.g. try with the hotspot from your phone if available).

  • Try asking your host for a new IP.

  • Trying switching between IPv6 / IPv4.