diff --git a/src/components/forms/phone-input.jsx b/src/components/forms/phone-input.jsx
index a4e26eb50..03a01470d 100644
--- a/src/components/forms/phone-input.jsx
+++ b/src/components/forms/phone-input.jsx
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
-var classNames = require('classnames');
-var React = require('react');
-var FormsyMixin = require('formsy-react').Mixin;
-var ReactPhoneInput = require('react-telephone-input/lib/withStyles');
 var allCountries = require('react-telephone-input/lib/country_data').allCountries;
-var defaultValidationHOC = require('./validations.jsx').defaultValidationHOC;
-var validationHOCFactory = require('./validations.jsx').validationHOCFactory;
-var Row = require('formsy-react-components').Row;
+var classNames = require('classnames');
 var ComponentMixin = require('formsy-react-components').ComponentMixin;
+var FormsyMixin = require('formsy-react').Mixin;
+var React = require('react');
+var ReactPhoneInput = require('react-telephone-input/lib/withStyles');
+var Row = require('formsy-react-components').Row;
+
+var defaultValidationHOC = require('./validations.jsx').defaultValidationHOC;
 var inputHOC = require('./input-hoc.jsx');
+var intl = require('../../lib/intl.jsx');
+var validationHOCFactory = require('./validations.jsx').validationHOCFactory;
 
 var allIso2 = allCountries.map(function (country) {return country.iso2;});
 
@@ -23,7 +25,8 @@ var PhoneInput = React.createClass({
     getDefaultProps: function () {
         return {
             validations: {
-                isPhone: true
+                isPhone: true,
+                phoneLength: true
             },
             flagsImagePath: '/images/flags.png',
             defaultCountry: 'us'
@@ -62,7 +65,8 @@ var PhoneInput = React.createClass({
 });
 
 var phoneValidationHOC = validationHOCFactory({
-    isPhone: 'Please enter a valid phone number'
+    isPhone: <intl.FormattedMessage id="teacherRegistration.validationPhoneNumber" />,
+    phoneLength: <intl.FormattedMessage id="teacherRegistration.validationPhoneNumber" />
 });
 
 module.exports = inputHOC(defaultValidationHOC(phoneValidationHOC(PhoneInput)));
diff --git a/src/components/forms/validations.jsx b/src/components/forms/validations.jsx
index 6410322b9..3d6dbbcc4 100644
--- a/src/components/forms/validations.jsx
+++ b/src/components/forms/validations.jsx
@@ -21,6 +21,14 @@ module.exports.validations = {
             return false;
         }
         return phoneNumberUtil.isValidNumber(parsed);
+    },
+    phoneLength: function (values, value) {
+        if (typeof value === 'undefined') return true;
+        if (value && value.national_number === '+') return true;
+        if (value && value.national_number.length === value.country_code.format.length) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        return false;
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/components/registration/steps.jsx b/src/components/registration/steps.jsx
index 5cb9ee1c1..f4f15fef3 100644
--- a/src/components/registration/steps.jsx
+++ b/src/components/registration/steps.jsx
@@ -82,38 +82,53 @@ module.exports = {
         onChangeShowPassword: function (field, value) {
             this.setState({showPassword: value});
         },
-        onValidSubmit: function (formData, reset, invalidate) {
-            this.setState({waiting: true});
+        validateUsername: function (username) {
             api({
                 host: '',
-                uri: '/accounts/check_username/' + formData.user.username + '/'
+                uri: '/accounts/check_username/' + username + '/'
             }, function (err, res) {
                 var formatMessage = this.props.intl.formatMessage;
-                this.setState({waiting: false});
-                if (err) return invalidate({all: err});
+                if (err) {
+                    this.refs.form.refs.formsy.updateInputsWithError({all: err});
+                    return false;
+                }
                 res = res[0];
                 switch (res.msg) {
                 case 'valid username':
                     this.setState({
                         validUsername: 'pass'
                     });
-                    return this.props.onNextStep(formData);
+                    return true;
                 case 'username exists':
-                    return invalidate({
+                    this.refs.form.refs.formsy.updateInputsWithError({
                         'user.username': formatMessage({id: 'registration.validationUsernameExists'})
                     });
+                    return false;
                 case 'bad username':
-                    return invalidate({
+                    this.refs.form.refs.formsy.updateInputsWithError({
                         'user.username': formatMessage({id: 'registration.validationUsernameVulgar'})
                     });
+                    return false;
                 case 'invalid username':
                 default:
-                    return invalidate({
+                    this.refs.form.refs.formsy.updateInputsWithError({
                         'user.username': formatMessage({id: 'registration.validationUsernameInvalid'})
                     });
+                    return false;
                 }
             }.bind(this));
         },
+        onUsernameBlur: function (event) {
+            this.validateUsername(event.currentTarget.value);
+        },
+        onValidSubmit: function (formData) {
+            this.setState({waiting: true});
+            this.validateUsername(formData.user.username);
+            this.setState({waiting: false});
+            if (this.state.validUsername === 'pass') {
+                this.props.onNextStep(formData);
+            }
+        },
         render: function () {
             var formatMessage = this.props.intl.formatMessage;
             return (
@@ -139,7 +154,7 @@ module.exports = {
                         )}
                     </p>
                     <Card>
-                        <Form onValidSubmit={this.onValidSubmit}>
+                        <Form onValidSubmit={this.onValidSubmit} ref="form">
                             <div>
                                 <div className="username-label">
                                     <b>{formatMessage({id: 'registration.createUsername'})}</b>
@@ -152,6 +167,7 @@ module.exports = {
                                 <Input className={this.state.validUsername}
                                        type="text"
                                        name="user.username"
+                                       onBlur={this.onUsernameBlur}
                                        validations={{
                                            matchRegexp: /^[\w-]*$/,
                                            minLength: 3,
@@ -473,8 +489,21 @@ module.exports = {
         onChooseOrganization: function (name, values) {
             this.setState({otherDisabled: values.indexOf(this.organizationL10nStems.indexOf('orgChoiceOther')) === -1});
         },
-        onValidSubmit: function (formData, reset, invalidate) {
+        validateOrganizationType: function (formData) {
             if (formData.organization.type.length < 1) {
+                return false;
+            }
+            return true;
+        },
+        onSubmit: function (formData, reset, invalidate) {
+            if (!this.validateOrganizationType(formData)) {
+                return invalidate({
+                    'organization.type': this.props.intl.formatMessage({id: 'teacherRegistration.validationRequired'})
+                });
+            }
+        },
+        onValidSubmit: function (formData, reset, invalidate) {
+            if (!this.validateOrganizationType(formData)) {
                 return invalidate({
                     'organization.type': this.props.intl.formatMessage({id: 'teacherRegistration.validationRequired'})
                 });
@@ -494,7 +523,7 @@ module.exports = {
                                  tipContent={formatMessage({id: 'registration.nameStepTooltip'})} />
                     </p>
                     <Card>
-                        <Form onValidSubmit={this.onValidSubmit}>
+                        <Form onValidSubmit={this.onValidSubmit} onSubmit={this.onSubmit}>
                             <Input label={formatMessage({id: 'teacherRegistration.organization'})}
                                    type="text"
                                    name="organization.name"
@@ -515,10 +544,11 @@ module.exports = {
                                                required />
                             </div>
                             <div className="other-input">
-                                <Input type="text"
-                                       name="organization.other"
+                                <Input name="organization.other"
+                                       type="text"
                                        disabled={this.state.otherDisabled}
-                                       required="isFalse"
+                                       required={!this.state.otherDisabled}
+                                       help={null}
                                        placeholder={formatMessage({id: 'general.other'})} />
                             </div>
                             <div className="url-input">
@@ -532,7 +562,7 @@ module.exports = {
                                        placeholder={'http://'} />
                             </div>
                             <NextStepButton waiting={this.props.waiting}
-                                           text={<intl.FormattedMessage id="registration.nextStep" />} />
+                                            text={<intl.FormattedMessage id="registration.nextStep" />} />
                         </Form>
                     </Card>
                     <StepNavigation steps={this.props.totalSteps - 1} active={this.props.activeStep} />