[Phelinofist]

> As a non-US citizen

...

> My next step is exploring OpenRouter and other models

May I suggest using Cortecs.ai then? OpenRouter is US-based as well and since you have been bitten by this already perhaps it's really time to change course? :)

[data-ottawa]

Thanks for the suggestion, I am looking into it, it looks promising and I like that the pricing model is very upfront