ISU changes residency requirements for skaters!

[barbk]

Reddit user Kindly-Plate-6785 posted that the ISU has changed residency requirements. New requirements are that non-citizen pair/dance partners must spend 180 days of continuous residency in that country in the prior calendar year.

If that's accurate, it will really affect many small country teams that train in another country.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/comments/1tus7vp/isu_changes_citizenshiprelated_eligibility_rules/

ETA: Based on posts later in the thread, it appears to apply to all skaters representing a country where they do not already hold citizenship who have not already received a Clearance certificate from the ISU.

 

[skateblessing]

Right away I was thinking about Sundberg/Gonzales who represents Spain. They train in Finland with Maurizio and Neil. Sundberg is born in Helsinki, Gonzales is born in Madrid. If I understand the new rules correct - Sundberg will need to spend 180 days in Spain just to be able to compete - this doesn´t sound very easy when you have the training base in Finland. Unless she already has gotten Spanish citizenship?

 

[Karen-W]

That is shocking.

 

[her grace]

This is a good way to destroy small countries’ ability to compete.

OTOH, it could weaken IAM’s stranglehold on dance.

 

[marshallpond]

https://imgur.com/a/oPVI2dw

page 18 of this document

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Isu-Regulations/Competition-and-Event-Regulations-FINAL-as-of-1-June-2026-1780065100-6285.pdf

 

[her grace]

So does Herrera have to live in a war zone for 180 continuous days to continue to represent Ukraine?

 

[manhn]

Is there a reason why these rules don't apply to singles skaters (or do they already?)? Why should a singles skater be able represent a country if they're not a citizen and not reside in that country for 180 days per year, but not pairs or dance skaters?

 

[marshallpond]

Am not too sure how to read the Basic Requirements because the next one for pairs and skaters say

8.2.2 In Pair Skating and Ice Dance one partner must be a citizen of the country of the represented ISU Member.

It could be that Basic Requirements only pertain to singles skaters

 

[Debbie S]

I suspect the goal is to support skater development in small countries by ensuring that those born/raised in the country aren't pushed out by skaters from abroad looking for an easier path to Worlds/Olys. But ultimately, it's going to result in fewer opportunities for small/developing countries....in some cases, there is no coach in the country that can develop a homegrown team...a skater there looking to pursue dance or pairs often has no choice but to look outside the country. And in some of those cases (Hurtado/Khaliavan come to mind), the 'foreign' skater comes to the country to coach and build the discipline, ultimately creating more 'homegrown' opportunities.

 

[Karen-W]

https://imgur.com/a/oPVI2dw

page 18 of this document

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Isu-Regulations/Competition-and-Event-Regulations-FINAL-as-of-1-June-2026-1780065100-6285.pdf

So, reading through the document linked - this applies to ALL skaters, not just pairs & dance teams.

Is there a reason why these rules don't apply to singles skaters (or do they already?)? Why should a singles skater be able represent a country if they're not a citizen and not reside in that country for 180 days per year, but not pairs or dance skaters?

My understanding of the full document is that it applies to singles skaters as well.

@barbk - do you want to change the thread title to make this clear?

 

[skateblessing]

Waiiiiit, is this why Gunarsdottir/Piazza split??? I can´t imagine it would be easy for Manuel to spend 180 days on Iceland when they train in Bergamo. Eventually he might have to for a short period of time if they were aiming for Olympics, but maybe not at this stage. If the skaters just got to know before the document was released, it would totally make sense because I got the feeling like they really didn´t want to split...

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

Does this apply to all existing situations or is this something that is effective now onward? Thinking of the Herrera/Khobta example @her grace brought up. If this applies to all existing situations, it seems unfair for those skaters who invested financially and with their time in partnerships or training to represent one country based on the rules at the time, to now have all that be a sunk investment thanks to new rules? It would be more fair to make this apply going forward for new skaters/partnerships/country switches etc.

 

[her grace]

The document says it’s effective June 12 2026.

There’s not 180 days left before the season starts to meet the requirement.

 

[Karen-W]

The document does state that the ISU Exec Council may issue exemptions under certain conditions - it doesn't list the conditions that they would consider for an exemption, but I'd hope that a country under attack would be a suitable cause for exemption.

Also, there are a major changes in the appointment of ISU Officials (Judges, Tech panel, Referees), gradually implemented during the next several seasons.

14.2.1 Figure Skating Branch
ISU Officials are classified in the two following categories:

14.2.1.1 ISU Judge, ISU Referee, ISU Technical Controller (TC), ISU Technical Specialist (TS), ISU Data & Replay Operator (DRO);

14.2.1.2 International Judge, International Referee, International Technical Controller (TC), International Technical Specialist (TS), International Data & Replay Operator (DRO).

Depending on the qualification “ISU” or “International” the ISU Officials are qualified to officiate in the respective function in the competitions according to the chart below:

	Judge	Referee	TC, TS, DRO
OWG	ISU	ISU	ISU
Qualifying Comp for OWG	ISU	ISU	ISU
YOWG	ISU	ISU	ISU
ISU Championships	ISU	ISU	ISU
GPF & JGPF	ISU	ISU	ISU
Grand Prix events	International*	ISU	ISU
Challenger Series	International	International	ISU
Jr Grand Prix events	International	International	International
International Comps	International	International	International

* for Season 2026/27, this shall read ‘Intern’ and from Season 2027/28, the text shall read ‘ISU’ as displayed in the table.

And further down...

14.5 APPOINTMENT OF OFFICIALS – FIGURE SKATING BRANCH
Season 2026/27:
14.5.1 For ISU Championships, ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix (Junior and Senior) and the World Team Trophy, the ISU shall appoint:
14.5.1.1 Referees;
14.5.1.2 Technical Specialists;
14.5.1.3 Technical Controllers;
14.5.1.4 Data and Replay Operators; and
14.5.1.5 Judges for the ISU Figure Skating World Championships (Senior).
14.5.2 The Members shall appoint the Judges for all ISU Events other than the ISU Figure Skating World Championships (Senior) and all ISU Officials for all International Competitions.

Season 2027/28:
14.5.3 For the ISU Championships, the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix (Junior and Senior) and the World Team Trophy, the ISU shall appoint:
14.5.3.1 Referees;
14.5.3.2 Technical Specialists;
14.5.3.3 Technical Controllers;
14.5.3.4 Data and Replay Operators; and
14.5.3.5 Judges for the ISU Figure Skating World Championships (Junior and Senior) and the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Semi Final and Final (Junior and Senior).
14.5.4 The Members shall appoint the Judges for all ISU Events other than those listed under 14.5.3.5, and all ISU Officials for International Competitions.

As of Season 2028/29:
14.5.5 The ISU shall appoint all ISU Officials for all ISU Events.
14.5.6 The Members shall appoint all ISU Officials for all International Competitions.

Of course, they aren't applying a RESIDENCY requirement to the ISU Officials the way they are to the Skaters. What a joke.

 

[her grace]

Am not too sure how to read the Basic Requirements because the next one for pairs and skaters say

8.2.2 In Pair Skating and Ice Dance one partner must be a citizen of the country of the represented ISU Member.

It could be that Basic Requirements only pertain to singles skaters

This is an interesting point. It reads to me like the citizenship/residency requirements apply to all skaters, including the coupled disciplines. BUT the ISU could also handwave that away and say no, it was only for singles and continue with business as usual—as they often do when something is unclear or clear but not what the ISU meant.

Does anyone have the previous version of the rules to compare?

 

[Alilou]

I'm curious as to what the Georgian team will do. Don't most (all?) of them live and train in Russia?

 

[Karen-W]

I'm curious as to what the Georgian team will do. Don't most (all?) of them live and train in Russia?

MetBeru, Egadze & Gubanova do & DavSmo are in Canada. However, they all have citizenship, so the residency clause doesn't apply to them.

 

[Wyliefan]

Sou/Fir retired just in time to avoid it. They would have been out. (I think they had planned to retire anyway, so it probably wasn't related to this.)

 

[Alilou]

MetBeru, Egadze & Gubanova do & DavSmo are in Canada. However, they all have citizenship, so the residency clause doesn't apply to them.

Ah, thank you. Didn't catch that little detail.

 

[kwanfan1818]

One more example of preferential treatment of skaters competing for countries that give out passports like candy to athletes.

 

[Belsornia]

The intention to encourage development of home grown talent in smaller fed and countries with less of a skating tradition (if that's what it is) is worthwhile, but I fear this will have the opposite effect. Countries without a pairs/dance tradition often don't have the coaching and resources to bring teams up to international level, and especially with pairs there's a safety issue in learning some of the elements. Meanwhile big feds with major training centres will continue to be able to bring in international partners and meet the residency requirements.

If there's no grandfathering clause, senior teams who competed internationally this season who might be affected:
Izzo/Maierhofer (AUT) - She's American, primary training location is Boston but spend some time in Austria.
Voulliamoz/Bouvart (CHE) - He's French, they train in France.
Valesi/Bidar (CZE) - She's Italian, they train in Italy; but Czech citizenship hasn't been too challenging for skaters before.
Davison/Borisov (GBR) - He's American, they train in the US.
Mauder/Wilkinson (ZAF) - She's German, they train in Italy.

Shilling/Baeten (BEL) - She's American, they train in Canada.
Pallu-Neves/Panesar (BRA) - He's British, they train between the UK and US. Could sit out a year and switch back to GBR.
Hairsine/Surenkov-Gultchev (BUL) - She's British, they train in Italy. Could also sit out a year and switch back to GBR.
Sassi/Morini (CHE) - He's Italian, they train in Italy.
Ivanitskiy/Sperry (FIN) - He's American, they train in the US.
Bushell/Peña (GBR) - He's Spanish, they train in Spain.
Kazakova/Kasinskij (GEO) - He's Russian, they train in Italy; but Georgian citizenship for skaters hasn't been a challenge (and not clear that they're still together).
Ignateva/Szemko (HUN) - Unclear citizenship situation, train in Italy.
Luft/Fourati (HUN) - She's German, they train in the US.
Stanley/Urano (MEX) - He's American, they train in the US. Could sit out a year and switch to the US (with practically zero change of international assignments).
Borisova/Freeman (POL) - He's British, they train in Italy.
Larson/Kapran (UKR) - She's American, they train in the US.
Flores/Jepsen (USA) - He's Danish, they train in Canada.

 

[Wyliefan]

How about Bashynska/Perron? They're skating for Canada and training in France, IIRC.

 

[Karen-W]

One more example of preferential treatment of skaters competing for countries that give out passports like candy to athletes.

Not really. Sure, Spain gives passports out like candy to athletes but even then you still have to prove yourself somewhat. Tim Dieck didn't get his Spanish passport until last September. Had this rule been in place 4 years ago, there's not much chance that the Smart/Dieck partnership would have ever formed unless they found a way to live in Spain for half the year.

And someone like Allison Reed wouldn't have been able to represent Lithuania since they also don't live & train there. Same for Lim/Quan. As someone else mentioned upthread... The Icelandic pairs team would have been impacted as they trained in Italy.

Who knows what this does for Vouillamoz/Bouvart - they train in Paris not Switzerland. It could also impact Tali/Lafornara if he hasn't obtained his Italian citizenship yet and they are spending more time in Connecticut than in Italy.

Those are just the teams I can think of off the top of my head who would have been or could be impacted.

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh dear, I hadn't even thought of Tali/Lafornara. They do at least have a part-time coaching team in Italy, though, so maybe they could make it work?

 

[Belsornia]

How about Bashynska/Perron? They're skating for Canada and training in France, IIRC.

Them too. I just did a quick scan of the CTES lists, but there are quite a few junior teams who would also be affected.

It seems skaters can't have had much advance warning of this change, because Bashynska/Perron were initally splitting their training base between Canada and France but more recently seem to have been in Lyon full time.

 

[Karen-W]

The intention to encourage development of home grown talent in smaller fed and countries with less of a skating tradition (if that's what it is) is worthwhile, but I fear this will have the opposite effect. Countries without a pairs/dance tradition often don't have the coaching and resources to bring teams up to international level, and especially with pairs there's a safety issue in learning some of the elements. Meanwhile big feds with major training centres will continue to be able to bring in international partners and meet the residency requirements.

If there's no grandfathering clause, senior teams who competed internationally this season who might be affected:
Izzo/Maierhofer (AUT) - She's American, primary training location is Boston but spend some time in Austria.
Voulliamoz/Bouvart (CHE) - He's French, they train in France.
Valesi/Bidar (CZE) - She's Italian, they train in Italy; but Czech citizenship hasn't been too challenging for skaters before.
Davison/Borisov (GBR) - He's American, they train in the US.
Mauder/Wilkinson (ZAF) - She's German, they train in Italy.

I'm pretty sure Izzo/Maierhofer spend more time in Salzburg than Boston. She's enrolled in grad school in Austria, not Harvard, per her IG.

More junior teams impacted -

Mapelli/Quesada Grau(ESP) - train in Bergamo, she's Italian.
Liget-Latus/Fisher (FRA) - I believe they may train in the US & he's American.

Shilling/Baeten (BEL) - She's American, they train in Canada.
Pallu-Neves/Panesar (BRA) - He's British, they train between the UK and US. Could sit out a year and switch back to GBR.
Hairsine/Surenkov-Gultchev (BUL) - She's British, they train in Italy. Could also sit out a year and switch back to GBR.
Sassi/Morini (CHE) - He's Italian, they train in Italy.
Ivanitskiy/Sperry (FIN) - He's American, they train in the US.
Bushell/Peña (GBR) - He's Spanish, they train in Spain.
Kazakova/Kasinskij (GEO) - He's Russian, they train in Italy; but Georgian citizenship for skaters hasn't been a challenge (and not clear that they're still together).
Ignateva/Szemko (HUN) - Unclear citizenship situation, train in Italy.
Luft/Fourati (HUN) - She's German, they train in the US.
Stanley/Urano (MEX) - He's American, they train in the US. Could sit out a year and switch to the US (with practically zero change of international assignments).
Borisova/Freeman (POL) - He's British, they train in Italy.
Larson/Kapran (UKR) - She's American, they train in the US.
Flores/Jepsen (USA) - He's Danish, they train in Canada.

Someone on X mentioned the new Spanish junior team of Sundberg/Gonzalez Elvira. They train in Helsinki and she's Finnish.

Chung/McKenzie (SWE) train in Canada & she's Canadian, not Swedish.
O'Brien/Tong (AZE) - both are American and train in New Jersey.

This is definitely going to hurt more than it will help the development of skating in these countries.

 

[marshallpond]

Does this rule apply only to those receiving an ISU Clearance Certificate? So if the skater (s) already have the ISU Clearance, this rule does not apply to them?

From the current process,

1 - Skater writes to the new Fed expressing interest in competing for the new Fed
2 - New Fed submits letter to old Fed with the skater's letter + passport scan that the skater wants to compete for the New Fed
3 - If the Old Fed has no objections or all outstanding fees to the Old Fed have been settled by the skater, the Old Fed sends a letter of approval to the new Fed
4 - Skater then fills out the ISU form + ISU questionnaire
5 - New Fed submits letter of request for ISU Clearance, together with the skater's filled-up ISU form + ISU Questionnaire

So maybe part of the ISU Clearance application packet must be a certification from New Fed that the skater has fulfilled the residency requirement.

If so, then it effectively grandfathers existing teams who have already gotten their ISU Clearance Certificate

 

[Belsornia]

O'Brien/Tong (AZE) - both are American and train in New Jersey.

Both of the senior Azerbaijani teams too, if they're continuing, plus Beznosikova/Leleu who announced they're switching to Azerbaijan. But no skater ever had trouble getting an Azerbaijani passport.

 

[skateblessing]

I'm pretty sure Izzo/Maierhofer spend more time in Salzburg than Boston. She's enrolled in grad school in Austria, not Harvard, per her IG.

More junior teams impacted -

Mapelli/Quesada Grau(ESP) - train in Bergamo, she's Italian.
Liget-Latus/Fisher (FRA) - I believe they may train in the US & he's American.


Someone on X mentioned the new Spanish junior team of Sundberg/Gonzalez Elvira. They train in Helsinki and she's Finnish.

Chung/McKenzie (SWE) train in Canada & she's Canadian, not Swedish.
O'Brien/Tong (AZE) - both are American and train in New Jersey.

This is definitely going to hurt more than it will help the development of skating in these countries.

Not to mention forming of new teams. How about Greta Crafoord who is looking for a new partner after her brother retired - this would make it so much harder to find a partner. Unless she can convince someone of the Swedish male skaters to change discipline. There is also a Norwegian senior skater (Kaia Kleven) who is planning to slowly transition into pairs in the upcoming season. This is going to make it so much harder for her to find a partner. If the former Norwegian Ice Dance team hadn´t retired, they would have trouble as well. They trained in the US and James was American - would be very hard for them to spend half the year in Norway. Again - small feds will be affected. It´s particular sad when there is a desire now to get skaters in more discipline. I would have loved Sweden to be a underdog to make the TE in 2030.

 

[marshallpond]

I texted an ISU Technical Specialist for ice dance and was told that those who have already obtained their ISU Clearance or submitted a request for ISU Clearance will not be affected by this new rule.

Also, if one of the skaters in pairs/dance has citizenship then it is fine as per

8.2.2 In Pair Skating and Ice Dance one partner must be a citizen of the country of the represented ISU Member

He said that it affects singles skaters switching countries more