The information below comes from individual state athletic association handbooks. Athletic handbooks are updated annually (or as needed) by state associations.
Alabama
-Additional Information can be found in the AHSAA 2016-17 Handbook-
(SECTION 4. ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS) Submitting eligibility information online and principal certification at least 48 hours before participation is mandatory for all students. The first time a school submits one of its students online, a copy of the student’s certified birth certificate shall be filed in the principal’s office and attached to the copy of the online Eligibility List on which that student’s name was submitted. Also, a STAR Sportsmanship certificate, a concussion form, and consent form must be kept on file.
Note: A certified birth certificate is one issued by the State Bureau of Vital Statistics in the state where the student was born. In Alabama, these may be obtained at each county health department.
Note: The passport of a foreign exchange student may be used in lieu of a certified birth certificate.
Change In Residence: In order for a student to establish residence with a new family, that student must reside in the home for one year. A foreign exchange student attending a member school located in the school zone where the host family resides is eligible to receive a waiver of the Transfer Rule for a period of one year provided this is the student’s first year as a foreign exchange student. The student must be assigned by a program on the current Advisory List of International Educational Travel and Exchange Programs published by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET).
This waiver is granted under the stipulation that the foreign exchange student meets all other eligibility requirements of the AHSAA and has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent.
Note: A Foreign Exchange Student Registration Form (No. 4) must be completed and filed with the State Office before eligibility can be determined on any foreign exchange student. After approval, the student must be submitted to the State Office via online reporting. When a student is forced into a new home due to an emergency caused by a disaster, the District Board or the Executive Director may reduce the required time for establishing the residence with the new family.
Alaska
14. Foreign Student Transfer Rule:
-Additional Information can be found in the 2016-17 Handbook-
a. Foreign Exchange Student
1. A foreign exchange student is an international student who attends high school in Alaska. To be eligible for interscholastic competition, such a student must be under the auspices of, and be placed with a host family by an international student exchange program that has been accepted for listing by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET), or other programs approved by the Association; and be recognized by the U.S. State Department. The foreign exchange program must assign students to host families by a method that ensures that no student, or his/her parents, school or other interested party may influence the assignment for athletic or other purposes. The foreign exchange student may not be selected or placed on any basis related to his/her athletic interests or abilities.
2. A foreign student who has been granted an F-1 visa and who is “directly placed” into a high school in Alaska will be ineligible for interscholastic competition for Varsity, State Qualifying and State Championship interscholastic competition for one calendar year, from the date of first attendance in the new school. Students who live with coaches are ineligible (see Section 5, C). At schools with no sub-varsity teams, the student could ask for a waiver to participate on the varsity team during the regular season, but would not be able to participate at either conference or state tournaments from the date of enrollment. For the purpose of this bylaw, Direct Placements are those placements in which either the student or the sending organization in the foreign country is party to an arrangement with any other party, including school personnel and/or host parents, for the student to attend a particular school or live with a particular host family in Alaska.
3. A foreign exchange student is considered to be placed with a host family when written notice of placement is provided by the exchange organization to the student and his/her parents, and to the host family.
a. Neither the school the student attends nor any person associated with the school shall have input into selection of the student.
b. No member of the school’s coaching staff, paid or voluntary, shall serve as a host family for a foreign student athlete; nor may a coaching staff member arrange for housing.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions in parts 2 a. and b. above, a school may request a waiver of the transfer rule for a foreign exchange student whose host family includes a member of the school’s coaching staff when it can be verified that the student was not recruited by either the school, coach or host family.
4. The foreign exchange student must possess a current J-1 visa, issued by the U.S. State
Department.
5. In order to obtain a waiver, a foreign exchange student must meet all other eligibility rules required of other students in Alaska.
b. Other International Students
An international student who is not under the auspices of, and placed by, a CSIET listed exchange program must meet the following requirements in order to be considered for interscholastic eligibility in Alaska:
1. The student must possess a current F-1 visa issued by the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
2. The student must provide to the principal of the school he/she attends, an official untranslated transcript and a transcript that is translated into English by an acceptable agent or agency. The transcripts must indicate course work taken in all grades in which the student was enrolled.
3. The international student must pay tuition to the high school he/she attends as prescribed in Section 625 of U.S. Public Law 104-208.
4. No member of the school’s coaching staff, paid or voluntary, shall serve as the resident family of the student; nor may a member of the coaching staff arrange for housing.
5. In order to obtain a waiver, an international student must meet all other eligibility rules required of other students in Alaska.
c. Additional requirements for Foreign Exchange / Other International Students: Foreign exchange and other international students must also:
1. attend the school for no less than a complete semester; and
2. not have participated in the same sport (for which eligibility is being sought) at another school earlier in the same school year; and
3. not have graduated from (the home country’s equivalent of) a secondary school; and
4. must affirm that there is no evidence of athletic recruitment resulting in the student’s attendance at the school either by the school or any other outside entity.
d. Non compliance with one or more of the foregoing provisions shall render the foreign exchange and the international student ineligible for interscholastic competition.
Arizona
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ELIGIBILITY – Prefatory Statement: In an effort to preserve and promote interscholastic competitive opportunities for Arizona students and further the goals of competitive fairness and equity, and recognizing the concerns of AIA member schools related to displacement of Arizona students by students from foreign countries, the following bylaw addresses the interscholastic eligibility status of international students attending an AIA member school:
15.15.1 Foreign Exchange Students: A foreign exchange student is a student that is in the U.S. under a J-1 Visa, and who is placed in a school by an educational exchange program approved by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET). A foreign exchange student is eligible at a school in the attendance zone of the home in which the student is placed. A foreign exchange student must meet all other eligibility requirements and is eligible for a maximum of one school year.
15.15.2 International Students: An international student is a student who is in the U.S. under any Visa or document other than a J-1 Visa and who is attending an AIA member school. Except as stated below with regard to domicile, an international student must meet all eligibility requirements of any regularly enrolled student. An international student is eligible only for non-varsity level competition, which may include only 9th through 11th grade, and is not at any time of enrollment eligible for varsity level competition. With regard to domicile, an international student’s non-varsity eligibility shall be at a school in the attendance zone of the home in which the student is placed.
-Additional Information can be found in the 2016-17 Handbook-