As of July 2021, U.S. Soccer in accordance with FIFA is requiring all players not born in the United States (regardless of club status or competition level) to request an International Clearance. This clearance will be an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) Clearance or First Registration.
Per FIFA’s Regulations, the player clearance process is required when any foreign-born player is attempting to register with an affiliated club/team/league in the United States, regardless of that player’s soccer ability or citizenship.
It is the responsibility of the registering club to verify a player’s registration history in order to ascertain whether a clearance may be required. If a player is applying for a Direct Player Pass to play with a club as a guest, the host club is responsible for completing the clearance process. If a foreign-born player is requesting an Export Player Pass and has not already obtained International Clearance, that pass will not be issued to the receiving club/state until the clearance process is completed by the receiving club. A determination is made by the registering club personnel on which type of clearance the player requires based on the below listed criteria:
- INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER CERTIFICATE (ITC) CLEARANCE – Player (adult or minor) of any nationality who has previously been registered with a club affiliated to one federation and now wishes to be registered with a club affiliated to the United States. Should that player leave the U.S., a new clearance must be requested and granted to allow the player to register/play for a U.S. Soccer affiliated club/league. The clearance follows the player, not the club.
- FIRST REGISTRATION – Player (adult or minor) who has never previously been registered with a club and is not a national of the country in which they wish to be registered for the first time. Once a player received clearance by the USSF PSD, the player is eligible to register/play for any U.S. Soccer affiliated club/league. This clearance occurs one time. The clearance follows the player, not the club.
The link below outlines the criteria and definitions for each form. The registering club can submit the request directly to U.S. Soccer following the directions outlined. Please be sure to follow all instructions exactly as outlined to expedite processing of your request. Once U.S. Soccer has approved a player; it is the responsibility of the club to update the clearance status in the player’s account in GotSport and upload the U.S. Soccer approval notice.
International Clearance Overview
Questions can be directed to Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Member Services mpetroski@epysa.org