ST. LOUIS — They glided through their pairs routine, expertly if not effortlessly, as in sync on the ice as they are off it. And when they finished their short program Wednesday night at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov beamed, for they stood atop the pairs’ rankings after the first day of competition.
And these national championships may be as far as they’ll go. Because while Efimova and Mitrofanov are indisputably two of America’s best skaters, with a viable chance to medal next month at the Winter Olympics in Milan, they are — at the moment — ineligible to compete for the United States. And the clock is ticking.
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Efimova, who previously competed for Germany, is not a U.S. citizen. Unless she is granted citizenship by the time the United States figure skating contingent is named Saturday, she — and by association, Mitrofanov — will not be able to compete for the United States in the Olympics.
“We’re still not eligible for the Olympics,” a still-smiling Mitrofanov said Wednesday night after the first round of competition. “We are hoping that maybe a last-minute miracle might happen.”
‘This has always been the law’
A Finnish citizen, Efimova obtained her green card in July 2024. Although the citizenship process is complex and highly bureaucratic, the primary obstacle for Efimova is the mandatory three-year waiting period for citizenship after obtaining a green card through marriage. (Mitrofanov, born in Wisconsin, is a U.S. citizen.)
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The Skating Club of Boston, the home rink of the duo — who have been married since February 2024 — has launched a PR effort on their behalf. On the club’s website, Efimova tells their story: how she and Mitrofanov are both children of Russian immigrants, how they began skating together in 2023 and later took their on-ice relationship to the next level, and how she continues to immerse herself in all elements of American life.
“The sincere striving in the attitude and approach of the Americans to be the best in the world …. has really impressed me from living here,” Efimova wrote. “I see it in the skating club, within U.S. Figure Skating, my fellow Team USA athletes and among the many fans of figure skating.”
The International Skating Union requires a one-year lay-out period for skaters competing for a new nation, but does not require those skaters to be citizens of their new country. That allowed Efimova and Mitrofanov to compete in virtually all international competitions except one: the Olympics, where the International Olympic Committee requires competitors to be citizens of the nation whose flag they wear.
Efimov and Mitrofanov won the U.S. figure skating’s nationals last year, and based on their success since then, including a stellar performance this week in St. Louis, the duo would appear to be directly on track for selection to the U.S. Olympic team. The website SkatingScores.com, which tracks competitors based on the U.S. Figure Skating’s criteria for Olympic selection, lists Efimov and Mitrofanov as the top-ranked pair among all U.S. competitors.
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Unfortunately for Efimova, the prospects of a last-second citizenship reprieve appear dim at best. “In short, she is attempting something that is, to my knowledge — and I’ve been practicing immigration law since 2002 — impossible,” says immigration attorney Ken Levine of the Atlanta firm Levine and Eskandari, LLC.
Levine points out that this cut-and-dried stance on citizenship is not a new directive of the Trump administration, noting that there is generally only one realistic way of accelerating the timetable. “This has always been the law,” Levine says. “If someone got their green card through marriage, and they want to file for citizenship earlier than the three years, the only way to do that is to join the military, because they fast-track that.”
Efimova’s status as a potential Olympian doesn’t affect her status in the eyes of U.S. citizenship officials. “George Clooney was just given fast-track citizenship in France. In their legal system, there is a provision for someone that has contributed mightily to the country, has reflected honor, helped the economy,” Levine says. “But there’s nothing analogous like that in the United States.”
U.S. Figure Skating, the sport’s organizing body, notes that other skaters have applied for, and received, citizenship following the receipt of a green card. Both Vadym Kolesnik (originally from Ukraine) and Christina Carreira (Canada) received U.S. citizenship in recent months, though neither petition was expedited and both had to wait several years for resolution.
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A U.S. Figure Skating official confirmed to Yahoo Sports that the governing body is working with the USOPC and The Skating Club of Boston to attempt to expedite the citizenship process. However, in response to an inquiry from Yahoo Sports, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted that the agency does not comment on individual cases, and that all individuals must follow established U.S. law.
“To be honest, the last few weeks, it has been more difficult than normal,” Mitrofanov said Wednesday night. “We had to do a little bit more paperwork and everything like that. There has been a great push for it. Hopefully things happen, but it is out of our control. All we do is focus on our skating, focus on what we’re able to do, which is on the ice.”
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If the duo are not able to skate in Milan, it’s unlikely they will continue to compete for a shot at the 2030 Games. Efimov wants to follow in the footsteps of her father and become a doctor, and plans to start medical school soon to follow that dream.
U.S. Figure Skating will announce its teams starting at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. That’s the deadline for Efimov and Mitrofanov, and there will be no extensions.
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