New ISU rule on citizenship and residency requirements

[BlissfulSynergy]

Apparently, rule 109 is not meant to impact teams who already have ISU credentials. Thus, either the language as currently written is unclear or the intent is for teams already credentialed to be grandfathered in, and/ or as presently written, there is some confusion surrounding whether pairs and ice dance teams are meant to be adversely impacted. I read elsewhere that an official responding to a query about the rule, said that it should mainly impact singles skaters. With pairs and ice dance, at least one partner must be a citizen of the country they rep.

It would make no sense for rule 109 to be in effect July 1 and impact a ton of teams with the current year half over. Also, for a team like Herrera/Khobta, there's no way Hannah can be expected to reside in Ukraine for 180 days every year.

 

[NanaPat]

Apparently, rule 109 is not meant to impact teams who already have ISU credentials. Thus, either the language as currently written is unclear or the intent is for teams already credentialed to be grandfathered in, and/ or as presently written, there is some confusion surrounding whether pairs and ice dance teams are meant to be adversely impacted. I read elsewhere that an official responding to a query about the rule, said that it should mainly impact singles skaters. With pairs and ice dance, at least one partner must be a citizen of the country they rep.

It would make no sense for rule 109 to be in effect July 1 and impact a ton of teams with the current year half over. Also, for a team like Herrera/Khobta, there's no way Hannah can be expected to reside in Ukraine for 180 days every year.

I'm confused. I don't see any reference to 180 days in the document that was linked. I even searched for 180, hundred, etc and couldn't find it. Is the 180 day reference in the document, or is it somewhere else (like the actual text of rule 109). Help!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I don't know. I didn't actually read the document. I saw the rule being discussed on another site and on other social media sites, where the 180 days was mentioned.

 

[NanaPat]

I found the actual rule 109 in this document. This may be the latest version: it is dated June 2024, and there seems to be one every two years. So there may be a new one coming soon.

Rule 109 is on page 113. I've copied the parts dealing with Citizenship and residence.

2. Citizenship/Residence/Transfer Permit
a) A Skater may compete only as a member of the ISU Member of a country of which he is a citizen or in which he has resided for at least one year.
b) In Pair Skating and Ice Dance only one partner needs to fulfil the requirements stated in paragraph 2.a). The other partner, however, must be a citizen or resident of the country of an ISU Member.

 

[cocteautwin]

It would make no sense for rule 109 to be in effect July 1 and impact a ton of teams with the current year half over. Also, for a team like Herrera/Khobta, there's no way Hannah can be expected to reside in Ukraine for 180 days every year.

I think they have a good reason to be granted an exception (paragraph 5)

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I found the actual rule 109 in this document. This may be the latest version: it is dated June 2024, and there seems to be one every two years. So there may be a new one coming soon.

Rule 109 is on page 113. I've copied the parts dealing with Citizenship and residence.

Also, I doublechecked the first page of the document linked in my initial post. The language is a bit convoluted, but it references a 'Clearance Certificate', which most teams already formed and singles skaters that are impacted, probably already have. And yes, for pairs and ice dance teams, at least one team member must be a citizen of the country they rep.

On social media there's discussion of an updated rule 109, in which a 360 day residency requirement for a non-citizen skater was reduced to 180 days for the prior year. It could be a misreading. I was confused about all of this, which is why I asked for help understanding. Not everything in the document is applicable to pairs and ice dance teams. Oh well, the ISU constantly puts out difficult to decipher, often complicated rules.

 

[NanaPat]

And yes, for pairs and ice dance teams, at least one team member must be a citizen of the country they rep.

One team member must be a citizen or resident.

Oh well, the ISU constantly puts out difficult to decipher, often complicated rules.

You can say that again. And add "hard to find"!
--------------------------------------------------------------
The interpretation document seems to be defining what a citizen or resident means and what documentation is required to prove it.

For a resident, there are two different meanings. One is the legal status of the person in the country (type of visa or status). They don't accept any kind of special or temporary status, such as visitor, student, limited-time work permit. They want the equivalent of a US green card or Canadian permanent residence status.

The other meaning is what the US refers to as "physical presence"; were you actually in the country?

Most countries require some kind of physical presence to become a citizen after achieving permanent residence status. I believe that affected the Australian pair's travels and competition entries this last season.

It's also possible, in some countries, to lose your permanent resident status if you haven't been physically present in the country "enough". I know of someone who was a citizen of the US and a permanent resident of Canada who lost PR status when the border was "closed" during COVID. In fact they could and did cross the "closed" border (the US was accepting its own citizens and Canada was accepting its citizens and PRs) but not very frequently due to quarantine requirements.
_____________________________

Maybe someone can find a newer (2026) version of Rule 109, so we can compare and see what changes have been made. At least I found the "base" version.

 

[yyzskater]

It can be found in the 2026 Compeititon and Events Regulations document released June 1, 2026. Section 8.2.1 and 8.2.2

Inside ISU

Corporate Home - International Skating Union

www.isu.org

 

[NanaPat]

So I think I've found the change.

old:
a) A Skater may compete only as a member of the ISU Member of a country of which he is a citizen or in which he has resided for at least one year.

new:
A Skater may compete only as a member of the ISU Member of acountry of which they are a citizen or in which they have resided for at least one year. Citizenship shall be evidenced by an official certificate of citizenship issued by the competent national authority. Residence for one year means and shall be evidenced by documentation demonstrating to the ISU’s satisfaction (acting reasonably) that the individual has maintained continuous stay in the country of residence for a minimum of 180 days within the past calendar year. Proof of residence shall be reconfirmed annually through the submission of appropriate documentation by the ISU Member.

So they are imposing a physical presence test in addition to the "resident status" test. This is indeed a big change. It will make it harder for "emerging" countries with minimal training facilities to import skaters, unless they are willing to hand out citizenship with no "stay in the country" requirement.

 

[NanaPat]

Wait, there is another big change

old:
b) In Pair Skating and Ice Dance only one partner needs to fulfil the requirements stated in paragraph 2.a). The other partner, however, must be a citizen or resident of the country of an ISU Member.
(Note: 2a says citizen or resident.)
new:
In Pair Skating and Ice Dance one partner must be a citizen of the country of the represented ISU Member.
(note: resident is no longer enough!)

 

[Tulips]

I can’t think of an example of a team where neither party was a citizen of the country they were representing.

 

[Diana Delafield]

So I think I've found the change.

old:
a) A Skater may compete only as a member of the ISU Member of a country of which he is a citizen or in which he has resided for at least one year.

new:
A Skater may compete only as a member of the ISU Member of acountry of which they are a citizen or in which they have resided for at least one year. Citizenship shall be evidenced by an official certificate of citizenship issued by the competent national authority. Residence for one year means and shall be evidenced by documentation demonstrating to the ISU’s satisfaction (acting reasonably) that the individual has maintained continuous stay in the country of residence for a minimum of 180 days within the past calendar year. Proof of residence shall be reconfirmed annually through the submission of appropriate documentation by the ISU Member.

So they are imposing a physical presence test in addition to the "resident status" test. This is indeed a big change. It will make it harder for "emerging" countries with minimal training facilities to import skaters, unless they are willing to hand out citizenship with no "stay in the country" requirement.

What does that do to skaters who move from the distant countries that they represent to train in, say, Canada or the US, and for whom it would be a hardship to travel back and forth or take a break in training that long to make that continuous stay of six months or so? And to afford a home in each country, unless they spend those months living with their parents in their home country?

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

What does that do to skaters who move from the distant countries that they represent to train in, say, Canada or the US, and for whom it would be a hardship to travel back and forth or take a break in training that long to make that continuous stay of six months or so? And to afford a home in each country, unless they spend those months living with their parents in their home country?

My goodness! This is going to affect all of my skaters that represent Cyprus. Because there are no full sized rinks on the island, they have all had to base themselves in other countries to train properly. I don't know about all of their family situations, but I can only think of three for whom I definitely know that their families live on the island.

This is going to leave all of them up a creek without a paddle.

I think this is turning into yet another example of the ISU trying to sort out a perceived problem, and ending up making a bigger mess of it than they had at the start.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[NanaPat]

What does that do to skaters who move from the distant countries that they represent to train in, say, Canada or the US, and for whom it would be a hardship to travel back and forth or take a break in training that long to make that continuous stay of six months or so? And to afford a home in each country, unless they spend those months living with their parents in their home country?

If they are citizens of those distant countries that they represent, it has no effect. However, if they are citizens of say, Russia (completely random example) and are skating for say, Georgia (another completely random example), but are still living and training in Russia, it could have an effect.

As I read it, the 180 days of physical presence only applies to one member of a pair or dance team. I believe single skaters would still be able to claim residency based on their legal status. Looking back, I think that was a hallucination. Sometimes I am no better than AI.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

My goodness! This is going to affect all of my skaters that represent Cyprus. Because there are no full sized rinks on the island, they have all had to base themselves in other countries to train properly. I don't know about all of their family situations, but I can only think of three for whom I definitely know that their families live on the island.

This is going to leave all of them up a creek without a paddle.

If they are citizens of those distant countries that they represent, it has no effect. However, if they are citizens of say, Russia (completely random example) and are skating for say, Georgia (another completely random example), but are still living and training in Russia, it could have an effect.

As I read it, the 180 days of physical presence only applies to one member of a pair or dance team. I believe single skaters would still be able to claim residency based on their legal status.

Well, that is a relief. Angelina and Ilia will be alright, because Angelina is one of those skaters I was talking about whose family I know does definitely live in Cyprus. So she can meet this requirement by spending some more time at home.

And as for the Singles skaters, there is only one for whom I am not sure about whether they have citizenship or not. The others definitely do.

EDIT: @NanaPat has now realised that the way she read the rules was wrong. So all the skaters representing Cyprus on the international stage are still up the creek without a paddle.​

CaroLiza_fan

 

[NanaPat]

I can’t think of an example of a team where neither party was a citizen of the country they were representing.

That's because it's an Olympic year, and most of the teams that were in that position have since obtained citizenship so they could go to the Olympics!

Certainly in the past "mixed nationality" teams have usually occurred when a skaters can't find partners of their own nationalities. The partnership then decides which of their countries they will skate for.

Even when a team switches their skating nationality, one of the partners has citizenship in the new country. I'm going to use Canadian examples, because that's what I know off my head.

Lauriault/LeGac were a "mixed nationality teams". They originally skated for France (his country of birth) then switched to skating for Canada (her country of birth). He later obtained Canadian citizenship.

Lim/Quan I believe are both Canadian citizens but they skate for Korea; she was also a Korean citizen because of her ancestry (and was when they switched?); he later became a naturalized Korean citizen.

Soucisse/Firus were both Canadian and represented Canada for a very long time. Like Lim, he had Irish citizenship through ancestry and they switched to representing Ireland.

Recently we have seen quite a few teams switching from representing Russia to representing other nearby countries while continuing to live and train in Russia. The Russian ban is an obvious reason for this. Does one member of these teams already have the new citizenship as of the time these teams switched? I have no idea.

 

[NanaPat]

As I read it, the 180 days of physical presence only applies to one member of a pair or dance team. I believe single skaters would still be able to claim residency based on their legal status.

I believe that's wrong! I think the 180 days (or citizenship) applies to ALL skaters. That includes singles skaters and both members of a pair/dance duo.

In addition, one member of a pair/dance duo must be a citizen.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I believe that's wrong! I think the 180 days (or citizenship) applies to ALL skaters. That includes singles skaters and both members of a pair/dance duo.

In addition, one member of a pair/dance duo must be a citizen.

And even if only one had to satisfy their home-country residence requirements, in cases where one is a native of the training country and one moved there to form a pair or dance couple, what does the Canadian/American/whatever partner do while their foreign partner is back home satisfying the requirements?

 

[ramurphy2005]

I can’t think of an example of a team where neither party was a citizen of the country they were representing.

Jakubs/Galli when they were representing Netherlands.

I would not be surprised if that lawsuit with the Dutch fed played a part in these changes.

 

[NanaPat]

EDIT: @NanaPat has now realised that the way she read the rules was wrong. So all the skaters representing Cyprus on the international stage are still up the creek without a paddle.

As long as they are citizens of Cyprus, residence isn't required.

Also, it appears that skaters who already have clearance certificates don't need to satisfy the new rule.