Regulatory Blocker: Requesting UK South access for Azure OpenAI models (Data Residency)

Hello Andy Bell,

Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Azure OpenAI does support UK South, but access to that region depends on your subscription being allow listed. If UK South doesn’t appear and you only see Global it means your subscription has not been enabled for that region yet. There is no self-service toggle to turn it on.

To get UK South enabled, you must submit the Azure OpenAI access/update request form and also open an Azure support ticket asking Microsoft to allow list your subscription for Azure OpenAI in UK South due to your UK only data residency and public sector requirements.

Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful

Hi Andy Bell

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A and Thank you for reaching out.

you're facing a crucial issue concerning regulatory requirements for data residency with Azure OpenAI. Here's what you can try:

1. Access Request for UK South: Since you need access specifically in the UK South region, you'll need to follow the application process for Azure OpenAI Service. Here’s what you can do:
   • Ensure your request is submitted from a professional email address (e.g., not a personal one like @gmail.com or @hotmail.com) to avoid any denial risks.
   • Contact [email protected] for inquiries related to your application, including any specific forms or support request paths you may need.
2. Safe Senders List: Add [email protected] and [email protected] to your safe senders list to ensure you receive all communications regarding your request.
3. Understanding Timelines: Be aware that the typical response time for applications is about 10 business days, so check back after this period regarding the status of your request.
4. Follow-Up Actions: If your request continues to have issues, consider clearing your browser cache and checking role assignments to ensure your account has the right permissions (like Contributor or Owner roles) for Azure OpenAI Studio.

Reference Documentation

• Request access to Azure OpenAI Service
• Open AI Gating
• Check Role Assignments 

I Hope this helps. Do let me know if you have any further queries.

If this answers your query, please do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful.

Thank you!

Thanks for answers. Apologies for the delay replying. To be a bit more specific, here are the details of the problem:

1. We are using ChatGPT 3.5 Azure OpenAI API for specific tasks (because it is really cheap). It's recently gone from being available in UK South to being only available on Global (which we can't use due to our data protection agreements with our clients). We've heard that it is possible to request Microsoft to provision a model in a specific location. Is that something you could help us with?
2. We are worried that other Azure OpenAI API models might switch from UK South to Global, which would cause a significant problem for us: is it possible to get any visibility as to which models will be available in UK South long term? 

Hi Andy Bell

1)It is not possible to request Microsoft to provision GPT‑3.5 (or any Azure OpenAI model) in a specific region on demand. Microsoft does not support custom regional deployments for individual customers.

Why your model moved from UK South → Global:

Microsoft has been retiring older GPT‑3.5 model versions and consolidating capacity into Global deployments as part of the Azure OpenAI modernization roadmap. When a specific model/version is deprecated or not supported regionally anymore, Azure automatically exposes the closest supported deployment type in this case Global.

This is consistent with Microsoft documentation:

• Model availability is determined centrally, model‑by‑model and region‑by‑region. Customers cannot request region enablement. [Access Azu...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com]
• Roadmap decisions may leave some regions temporarily without newer replacements, and Microsoft recommends opening a support case only for clarification, not for custom provisioning. [learn.microsoft.com] You can request:
• Additional quota in a region where a model already exists. You cannot request: [azure.github.io]
• A model to be added to a region where it is not offered.

Special regional deployments for compliance‑only reasons.

you must avoid Global due to data residency:

You have only two supported options:

Option 1 — Use EU DataZone deployments

• EU DataZone keeps all processing inside the EU, satisfying many compliance requirements even if your subscription is not tied to a specific region.
• This is Microsoft’s recommended replacement when Regional is unavailable. [Data, priv...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com]

Option 2 — Switch to a model that is available in UK South

You can check the current model availability list and pick an alternative model still supported in UK South (e.g., GPT‑4o mini, GPT‑4.1 in some cases). [github.com]

2)Model availability is not guaranteed long‑term in any specific region

Microsoft does not publish future commitments, and regional availability is determined dynamically based on:

• regional capacity
• global demand
• model retirements and replacements
• service consolidation

2. UK South is a constrained region

UK South frequently operates under limited capacity, meaning:

• some models only appear for strategically prioritized customers
• some models (such as GPT‑4 family in earlier phases) were withheld until capacity normalized

This has been explicitly stated by Microsoft:

UK South has limited capacity and some models are restricted until supply/demand normalizes. [learn.microsoft.com]

Because of this, model shifts (UK South → Global) are not unusual.

I Hope this helps. Do let me know if you have any further queries.

Could you please take a moment to retake the survey on the above response? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you