• Foreign Nationals

  • Candidates who are NOT citizens of India (by birth or naturalized) shall be considered as foreign nationals. Seats allotted to such foreign national candidates are supernumerary with a cap of 10% of total number of seats in every course. These candidates are outside the ambit of reservation of seats under the GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PwD categories/sub-categories, as specified herein. There are no separate supernumerary seats or sub-category for females in the foreign national supernumerary seats.

    The foreign national candidates, at the time of registering for JEE (Advanced) 2026 are NOT required to write JEE (Main) 2026 and may register for JEE (Advanced) 2026 directly subject to fulfilment of other eligibility criteria.

  • OCI/PIO Candidates

  • In light of recent judicial pronouncement (Decision dated October 16, 2024 passed by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 12263/2024) concerning OCI/PIO candidates, the following provisions are made for such candidates.

    OCI/PIO candidates who have obtained their OCI/PIO cards before 04.03.2021 have the option of applying for JEE (Advanced) 2026 EITHER as (a) foreign nationals OR (b) at par with Indian nationals. Accordingly, OCI/PIO candidates are divided into three categories as follows:

    1. Those OCI/PIO candidates who have obtained their OCI/PIO cards subsequent to 04.03.2021 (Decision dated February 03, 2023 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 891/2021) will be considered as foreign national candidates and will be governed by the eligibility conditions contained herein for the foreign national candidates as given below. For ease of convenience, these candidates are referred to as OCI/PIO (F). The OCI/PIO (F) candidates will be eligible to compete only for the foreign supernumerary seats.
    2. Those OCI/PIO candidates who have obtained their OCI/PIO cards before 04.03.2021 AND choose to be considered as foreign nationals, will be governed by the eligibility conditions contained herein for the foreign national candidates as given below, and are also referred to as OCI/PIO (F). The OCI/PIO (F) candidates will be eligible to compete only for the foreign supernumerary seats.
    3. Those OCI/PIO candidates who have obtained their OCI/PIO cards before 04.03.2021 AND choose to be treated at par with Indian nationals, will be governed by the eligibility conditions as mentioned in [Eligibility Criteria for Appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2026 for Indian Nationals and OCI/PIO (I)], for the Indian national candidates and are referred to as OCI/PIO (I).

    At the time of seat allocation, the OCI/PIO (I) candidates shall be considered for the seats in the OPEN and/or OPEN-PwD category and shall be included in the Common Rank List (CRL) and/or CRL-PwD, as also for the Female Supernumerary seats as applicable, subject to qualifying the JEE (Advanced) 2026.

    OCI/PIO (I) and OCI/PIO (F) candidates are NOT entitled to the benefit of reservation under the GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC or ST categories for the allocation of seats.

    OCI/PIO candidates who have obtained their OCI/PIO cards before 04.03.2021 are advised to choose their option (OCI/PIO (I) or OCI/PIO (F)) carefully. These candidates have to exercise their option while registering for JEE (Advanced) 2026. The option once submitted cannot be changed at any subsequent stage.

    Candidates may also refer to Clause 15 of the Information Brochure and upload correct and complete documents at the stage of registration for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

    In the event it is discovered that an OCI/PIO candidate has applied for JEE (Advanced) 2026 using his/her JEE (Main) credentials and has also applied as OCI/PIO (F) through direct registration, then such cases shall be treated as use of unfair means and the candidature shall be summarily cancelled.

    • Eligibility criteria for foreign national candidates and OCI/PIO (F)(see Clause 6.2 of Information Brochure)

  • Candidates who are (i) NOT citizens of India (by birth or naturalized) and (ii) OCI/PIO (F) candidates as described above, shall be considered as FOREIGN NATIONALS.

    The foreign national candidates, at the time of registering for JEE (Advanced) 2026 are NOT required to write JEE (Main) 2026 and may register for JEE (Advanced) 2026 directly subject to fulfilment of other eligibility criteria mentioned below.

    All foreign national candidates will be considered in addition to, and not as a part of the 2,50,000 Indian national candidates who qualify for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2026.

    A seat in an academic program will be allotted to a foreign candidate or an OCI/PIO (F) candidate if the candidate’s CRL rank is the same or better than the closing rank of the program-section (i.e. seat category) OPEN in the Gender-Neutral pool, in that academic program, and the candidate satisfies all the eligibility requirements meant for a GEN category candidate. Such seats allocated to foreign or OCI/PIO (F) candidates will be supernumerary and are limited to up to 10% of the total number of seats of the respective IIT, program-wise. More details would be provided in JoSAA Business Rules 2026, as and when it is published. These candidates are outside the ambit of reservation of seats under the GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST and PwD categories/sub-categories. There are no separate supernumerary seats or sub- category for females in the foreign national supernumerary seats.

  • Identity Proof: Identity proof of the candidate is required in the form of Citizenship Certificate/Foreign Passport and/or OCI/PIO Card, where applicable.
Eligibility criteria for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2026
Candidates who are (i) NOT citizens of India (by birth or naturalized) and (ii) OCI/PIO (F) candidates, who have studied or are studying in INDIA/ABROAD at 10+2 level or equivalent at the time of registering for JEE (Advanced) 2026 must simultaneously fulfil each and every one of the following four criteria (Criterion B1 to B4) to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

Candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 2001. In countries where a minimum stint in the armed forces (or allied) for a certain period is mandatory before/after Class XII (or equivalent) examination, the candidate will be given a relaxation of the required number of years. In such cases, the candidate is required to upload a certificate/testimonial issued by the competent authority to this effect at the time of registration.

A candidate can attempt JEE (Advanced) maximum of two times in two consecutive years.

A candidate should have appeared for the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in either 2025 or 2026 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.

Candidates who had appeared in Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2024 or earlier, are NOT eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026, irrespective of the combination or number of subjects attempted/offered. Candidates from countries where a minimum stint in the armed forces (or allied) for a certain period is mandatory after Class XII (or equivalent) examination will be given an appropriate relaxation in the year of Class XII appearance. In such cases, the candidate is required to upload a certificate/testimonial issued by the competent authority to this effect at the time of registration.

* By appearance in Class XII (or equivalent) examination, it is meant that the Board concerned declared the result for that year irrespective of whether or not examination was conducted. It will be considered as an appearance even if the result of a particular candidate got withheld.

However, if the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2023-24 on or after June 18, 2024, then the candidates of that Board who appeared for their Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2024 are also eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026, provided they meet all the other eligibility criteria. In case the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2023-24 before June 18, 2024 but the result of a particular candidate was withheld for whatever reason, then the candidate will not be eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026.

A candidate should NOT have been admitted to an IIT under any academic program that is listed in JoSAA Business Rules of 2025, irrespective of whether or not the candidate continued in the program OR accepted an IIT seat by reporting “online” / at a “reporting centre” in the past. Candidates whose admission to IITs was cancelled (for whatever reason) after joining any IIT are also NOT eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

Candidates who have been admitted to a preparatory course in any of the IITs for the first time in 2025 can appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026.

The candidates who were allocated a seat in an IIT through JoSAA but did not report “online” OR, (ii) withdrew before the last round of seat allotment, OR, (iii) had their seat cancelled (for whatever reason) before the last round of seat allotment for IITs, are eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

However, in all of the above cases, the candidate is also required to fulfil the conditions mentioned from Criterion B1 to Criterion B3.

Note: For admission criteria to IITs, please click here.