Foreign Exchange Student

Participation Form & Approved List

For information on foreign exchange student eligibility, please view the IHSAA Handbook. 

Below is a mandatory form and list of approved applicants for foreign exchange student participation in IHSAA activities. Notification forms below are to be submitted on behalf of each male student who wishes to participate in an interscholastic athletic activity. Forms for female students should be sent to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. 

Notification of Foreign Exchange Student Participation In Athletic Events Sanctioned by IHSAA

Completion of this digital form serves as notification that the following foreign exchange student desires to participate in interscholastic athletic contests and competitions on behalf of the school named below.

Iowa Code section 256.46 was amended, effective July 1, 2006, to state that foreign exchange students (those with J-1 visas) shall have immediate eligibility to participate “unless undue influence was exerted to place the child for primarily athletic purposes.”

In accordance with this change, the IGHSAU and IHSAA, in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Education, have developed this form for high school to use to report their foreign exchange students who desire to participate in an athletic contest of competition sanctioned by the Union or Association. As with all secondary students, foreign exchange students must also be under 20 years of age, not have completed eight consecutive semesters of high school following the entry of the ninth grade or its equivalent for the first time, possess an appropriate physical examination report, and be eligible under the scholastic rule.

NOTE: Failure to submit this form before competition starts for the student’s first sport shall result ineligibility of the student.