This international clearance is for any player who at the time of registration is between the ages of 10 and 17 and meets the following criteria:

• Never registered outside of the United States
• Does not have U.S. citizenship
• Lived continuously in the United States for the last FIVE (5) years

 

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

• 5 Year Exception Form
• ONE (1) of EACH of the THREE listed supporting documents is required.
• Must be in English, Spanish, German, or French.
• Acceptable documents limited to:

1.     Player’s Original Birth Certificate

-  If document is not in one of the four above listed languages – FIFA requires a certified translation of the birth certificate AND the original.

-  Must contain parentage information.

2.     Player’s Passport, Permanent Resident Card, or Visa

3.     ONE (1) Proof of Residence document:

-  School Records indicating ongoing registration for last 5 years.

-  Active Permanent Resident Card with “Residence Since” date over 5 years ago.

-  Ongoing Doctor/Immunization Records with clearly established care over 5 years ago.

-  Utility Receipts for last 5 years at current address.

 

 

PROCESS

A complete application includes the following as described below:

• All fields completed
• Current and accurate information
• Individual documents/attachments in PDF format no larger than 5MB.

 

Applications with missing, incomplete, inaccurate/wrong information, improper formatting will not be considered for review and applicant will be required to resubmit for processing.

 

For this type of international clearance:

1.     Player Status uploads required materials to FIFA TMS for review and approval by FIFA.

2.     FIFA determines if the requirements of the submitted application are met and reviews the supporting documents.

3.     FIFA advises U.S. Soccer of their decision. FIFA does not have a timeline in which they will render a decision.

4.     FIFA decision received:

a.     Approval

                          i.     First Registration –  Player Status reaches out to the foreign Member Association (MA) in the country of birth of the player to verify there has not been any previous registrations for the player. 

b.     Rejects or requests additional information

                          i.     Rejected application – FIFA does not provide  grounds for rejection. 

                         ii.     Additional document request – FIFA outlines what additional documents are required and indicates a specific period of time in which Player Status must send the documents. If the documents are not submitted within specified time the application will be rejected and will need to be resubmitted.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT

Once eligibility is determined, Player Status will notify the applicant and those copied on the original submission.

Per FIFA regulations, the MA has seven (7) days to respond to U.S. Soccer on the requested First Registration.   

• Player is eligible to register with the requesting club/team/league if:

o   No response is received after seven (7) days from the MA

                 
                 OR

 

o   The MA confirms there is no record of previous registration for the player

• Player is NOT eligible to register with the requesting club/team/league if:

o   The MA confirms there is record of previous registrations for the player

 

Previously registered players with foreign MAs will have to resubmit an application indicating the correct club/team/league with which they were registered last abroad.  Player Status must submit the new application to FIFA for review and approval prior to being permitted to request an ITC for the player.

 

 

Please note, Player Status is unable to provide/respond to status updates requests. Once an application has an update, all relevant parties will be notified accordingly.