ILSI Member App: iPhone setup guide

This guide takes about ten minutes. You need your iPhone, the number registered to your ILSI membership, and a connection for the first sign-in only.

Before you start

• Your iPhone needs iOS 15 or newer. To check: open Settings → General → About and look at Software Version. iPhone 6s and later can all run it.
• You need about 80 MB of free storage.
• You need to be signed in to an Apple Account (previously called an Apple ID) to install anything from the App Store. Creating one is free and does not require a card.
• You must be able to receive SMS on the registered number for the first sign-in.

Step 1 — Install the app

1. Open the App Store (the blue "A" icon).
2. Tap Search at the bottom right and type ILSI Member.
3. Check the developer shows as International Legal Support & Investment. If it does not, it is not our app — do not install it, and please tell us.
4. Tap Get, confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your Apple Account password, then tap Open.

If your Apple Account is registered to a different country from the one you are in, the app may not appear in search. Signing in to the App Store with an account for your home country will show it.

Step 2 — Choose your language

The app asks for your language on first opening, and offers the same languages as this website. You can change it later under Settings → Language, independently of your iPhone's own language setting.

Step 3 — Sign in

1. Enter the phone number registered to your membership, including the country code — for example +977 for Nepal, +971 for the UAE.
2. Tap Send code. A six-digit code arrives by SMS, usually within a minute. iPhone will offer to fill it in for you from the notification.
3. The app signs you in and downloads your card and documents.

If nothing arrives within two minutes, tap Resend once. Repeated requests are rate-limited.

Step 4 — Set a PIN and turn on Face ID

Set a four to six digit PIN when offered. It lets you sign in without waiting for an SMS — important if you change SIM or travel somewhere with poor coverage. If your iPhone has Face ID or Touch ID, allow it and you will rarely need to type the PIN at all.

Step 5 — Allow the permissions SOS needs

iOS asks for each permission separately, the first time it is needed.

• Location — choose Allow While Using App. Choosing Allow Once means the app must ask again every time, which costs seconds during an emergency.
• Notifications — tap Allow so you see adviser replies and check-in reminders.

To change these later: Settings → ILSI Member (scroll down the main Settings list to find it).

If you use Focus or Do Not Disturb, add ILSI Member to the allowed apps, or you may not see an urgent reply.

Step 6 — Check your card works offline

1. Open the Card tab and confirm your details and QR code appear.
2. Swipe down from the top right to open Control Centre and turn on Aeroplane Mode.
3. Open the Card tab again — it should still display. Turn Aeroplane Mode off.

You can also add the card to your iPhone's Lock Screen widgets, so it is one swipe away without unlocking: press and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customise, and add the ILSI widget.

Step 7 — Learn the SOS button before you need it

The red SOS button sits on the home screen. Pressing it asks what is happening — injured, detained, confined, unpaid wages, or something else — then alerts ILSI with your location.

• A three-second countdown lets you cancel an accidental press.
• Silent mode sends the alert with no sound and nothing visible on screen.
• On a poor connection a short alert goes first and the location follows.

Practise once now and cancel during the countdown.

Note that this is separate from Apple's own Emergency SOS (holding the side and volume buttons), which calls local emergency services. Use Apple's for immediate physical danger; use ILSI's when you need legal and welfare help. In a serious emergency, use both.

Step 8 — Add your documents

Open Documents and photograph your passport, contract and visa. Files are encrypted on the phone before upload, so nobody — including ILSI staff without your authorisation — can read them.

Employers sometimes retain workers' passports. Your own photograph is not a legal substitute, but it is usually enough to begin a replacement at your embassy and it evidences what your contract originally said.

Step 9 — Add a family contact

Under Safety → Family, add someone at home you trust and choose what they may see: membership status, whether a case is open, and whether they receive SOS alerts.

They receive a private link to the ILSI Family Portal, from which they can raise the alarm if they cannot reach you — no app or account needed on their side.

Step 10 — Turn on check-ins if you are somewhere risky

Under Safety → Check-ins, choose daily or weekly. Miss one and ILSI contacts you; miss the follow-up and your consented family contacts are alerted.

If something does not work

The app does not appear in the App Store

Your Apple Account is probably registered to a different country. Either switch to an account for your home country, or open this page on the phone and use the App Store link, which opens the listing directly.

The SMS code never arrives

Confirm the number includes the country code and matches your membership. Roaming networks sometimes block automated messages: sign in on this website instead, set a PIN under Settings, and use that PIN in the app.

Notifications are not appearing

Open Settings → Notifications → ILSI Member and confirm Allow Notifications is on, with Lock Screen, Notification Centre and Banners all ticked. Then check whether a Focus mode is filtering them.

Location is not attached to my SOS

Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services, confirm it is switched on overall, then find ILSI Member in the list and set it to While Using the App. Also turn on Precise Location — without it, iOS sends only an approximate area.

You changed phone

Install the app on the new iPhone and sign in as before; everything downloads again. Then open Settings → Devices and remove the old handset.

Keeping your account safe

• ILSI will never ask for your PIN or a sign-in code. Anyone who does is attempting fraud.
• If your iPhone is lost or stolen, sign in on this website and remove the device under Settings, then tell ILSI.
• If you are being forced to open the app, use the silent SOS — it shows nothing on screen.