Foreign Exchange Players must file certain paperwork before they can legally play for your team.

 

1. If they are less than 17 on the date they sign registration paperwork they can pay a $10 fee when they file the paperwork and can begin practicing and playing immediately.

 

2. If they are 17 or older, however, they may not play until proper paperwork has been submitted to US Soccer Federation and sent to their home country's soccer federation and we get word back from their country that they are eligible to play in the US. Playing without this paperwork being processed is the same as playing with an ineligible player and thus all games would be forfeited.

 

It is up to each local association to know if these players are properly cleared before registering them for the season. A red flag on a player would be if they show a visa or some type of documentation such as this for their birth certificate. We can start the paperwork even prior to them arriving in the US if we know ahead of time that they are coming to our community.