eduGAIN recognises two categories of federation within its structure: members and participants.  Members are those federations that have completed the first steps to joining eduGAIN, but are not actively using any technology profile (such as providing SAML metadata to the MDS) at the moment.  Many federations may become a member AND provide documentation to actively join a federation at the same time.  This Operational Practice Statement provides more information on the steps needed to become a Member only - as described in the eduGAIN Constitution.

The process to join eduGAIN as a Member Federation is as follows:

• A representative of the applicant Federation signs the eduGAIN Policy Declaration and presents it to the OT.
• The OT confirms that the applicant Federation fulfils the requirements in section 3.1 of the eduGAIN constitution. 
• The OT prepares and presents a membership proposal to the eSG for comment and review.
• The eSG approves or rejects the application via a vote.
• When an applicant is approved, the OT takes the necessary steps to register the Federation to eduGAIN.