Nationality Verification Now Required for National Championship Events

Starting this season, fencers must verify their nationality before they can register for Junior Olympics, the Division I and Parafencing National Championships, or Summer Nationals. Most people can finish it in under 10 minutes.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Starting this season, USA Fencing will require nationality verification for National Championship events.

It works the same way as age verification, which many of you completed last season. You won't be able to register for an affected event until your nationality is verified. Nothing else about registration changes.

Junior Olympics (Jan. 8–11, 2027 in Oklahoma City) is the first Championship of the season, so we're rolling this out now to give you time to get it done.

Good news for many of you: you may already be verified. Age verification is still in place, and if you uploaded a passport or another valid form of ID when you verified your age, there's a good chance you've already been approved. Log in and check before you do anything else.

• Junior Olympics: Junior and Cadet categories
• Division I and Parafencing National Championships: Division I and Parafencing categories
• Summer Nationals: Y10, Y12, Y14, Div. IA, Div. II, Div. III and Veteran categories

Other categories held at these same tournaments do not require nationality verification.

North American Cups are unaffected. NACs remain open to all eligible fencers. Other age, rating and point requirements still apply.

For USA Fencing National Championships, athletes are required to be US citizens and/or permanent residents with a green card. Requiring nationality verification will help us proactively make certain this requirement is met, and lessens the likelihood of fencers having to be withdrawn after registering due to ineligibility! It also sures up rule compliance checks for some of the most prestigious competitions on the annual calendar.

Any one of the following:

• Passport or passport card
• Birth certificate
• Certificate of citizenship
• Certificate of naturalization
• Green card, for U.S. permanent residents only

This depends on what you upload:

A government-issued photo ID, such as a passport: 5 to 10 minutes.

A birth certificate: 60 to 90 minutes.

1. Log in to your membership account at member.usafencing.org
2. Go to My Account > Edit Profile > Nationality Verification (Under Personal Information)
3. Upload one of the accepted documents

That's it. Don't wait for registration to open. Verification has to be complete before you can enter, and doing it now means you won't be scrambling later.

• Oct. 7, 2026: Registration opens
• Nov. 11, 2026: last day to register at regular fees
• 5 p.m. the day before your event: registration closes, as always

Your nationality has to be verified before you can register, so treat the regular-fee deadline as your real target.

Fencers who hold citizenship in more than one country must choose a single country to represent, and that choice has to be consistent. You can't switch back and forth between representing the United States and representing another country.

Fencers who have competed in a sanctioned FIE tournament while representing a country other than the USA are not eligible to compete in the U.S. National Championships. Those fencers competing in sanctioned EFC competitions are eligible as long as they hold a US passport, green card, or birth certificate and their representing country in the USA Fencing membership system is listed as USA.

If you have represented another country internationally and your USA Fencing account still lists the United States, contact the national office so we can update your record. If we identify an inconsistency ourselves, we'll update your representing country, and if you no longer represent the United States, you may be denied entry to U.S. Championship events.

Sorting this out proactively is always better than having it changed before an event.

If you have trouble uploading, or the system identifies you incorrectly, email information@usafencing.org and we'll get it corrected. Telling us which document you submitted and attaching your valid form of ID will speed up the review.

Email information@usafencing.org.