JoSAA Counselling 2026 - Seat Allotment, Important Dates, Documents Required, Cutoff, Counselling Process

The JoSAA Seat Allotment Round 1 2026 will be conducted on June 13, 2026, with students required to complete online reporting, document upload, and fee payment by 17:00, June 26, 2026. The second round of seat allotment will happen on June 30, 2026, followed by the third round on July 6, 2026. The fourth round will take place on July 10, 2026, and the last round will take place on July 16, 2026. Students will be required to complete fee payment and respond to any queries within the specified timelines for each round. Students will be able to lock their preferences before the deadline, after which choices will be auto-locked based on the last saved order. JoSAA has released the detailed schedule for Seat Allotment online.

Through JoSAA counselling, candidates can fill out their course and college preferences in the B.Tech programmes . Based on these preferences, candidates will be allocated seats in the participating institutes through JoSAA counselling. Candidates who passed JEE Advanced are eligible for admission to IITs, and candidates who cleared the JEE Main are eligible for admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. The allocation of seats will be carried out via JoSAA 2026 counselling based on the merit of JEE Main and JEE Advanced rankings.

What is JoSAA?

The JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) has been set up by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) to manage and control joint seat allocation for providing admissions to the eligible candidates across 100 institutes, comprising IITs, NITs, IIITs, and Other-Government Funded Technical Institutes (Other-GFTIs). Admissions across all these institutes will be done via a single platform. The purpose behind introducing a single counselling platform is to bring down the thousands of seats going vacant at the engineering colleges across the country. The Joint seat allocation process has been introduced to make the whole process of admissions smoother, more effective, transparent, and a lot faster.

Candidates who can qualify for the JEE Main or the JEE Advanced are required to register for the JoSAA 2026 counselling process to secure admission into various renowned engineering institutes across India. The counselling process for providing admissions across 23 IITs, 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, and 38 Other-Government Funded Technical Institutes (Other-GFTIs) is managed by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA). Candidates are allotted seats across multiple rounds of JoSAA counselling. The seat allotment of candidates via JoSAA will be based on the merit of the candidates and their preferences for courses and colleges.

JoSAA Counselling Dates 2026

JoSAA Counselling Dates 2026 have been released. Check out the final schedule below:

JoSAA 2026 Highlights

Candidates can check the key highlights pertaining to the JoSAA counselling 2026 as provided in the table below.

Refer to the List of NIT Colleges in India here

JoSAA 2026 Physical Verification Process

For IITs:

• The physical verification process for JEE (Advanced) 2026 qualified PwD candidates starts on the first day of JoSAA 2026 choice filling, and will continue throughout the counselling rounds of JoSAA 2026.

• Each qualified PwD candidate must complete the physical verification process by the end of the counselling round in which they are allocated a seat (if applicable). Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of the allocated seat.

• Before appearing for physical verification, candidates must register on the JoSAA 2026 portal.

• Candidates must select a specific IIT, date, and time (FN/AN) for physical verification using the link provided on the JoSAA 2026 portal before their visit.

For NIT + System:

• The physical verification process for JEE (Main) 2026 qualified PwD candidates starts on the first day of JoSAA 2026 choice filling and will continue throughout the counselling rounds of JoSAA 2026.

• Each qualified PwD candidate must complete the physical verification process by the end of the counselling round in which they are allocated a seat (if applicable). Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of the allocated seat.

• Before appearing for physical verification, candidates must register on the JoSAA 2026 portal.

• Candidates must choose a reporting centre in NIT + System, along with a specific date and time (FN/AN) for physical verification, using the link provided on the JoSAA 2026 portal before their visit.

JoSAA Counselling Process 2026

JoSAA 2026 counselling is a six-step process. Candidates seeking admission to the most prestigious engineering institutes can read the detailed guidelines below. Also, all aspiring candidates are advised to check the eligibility criteria thoroughly before applying for the counselling of JoSAA 2026. You can also compare your JEE Main score to evaluate your Rank here.

Also check: JEE Main Marks vs Rank 2026

The detailed counselling process has been explained below.

• Step 1 - Registration : The first step of JoSAA counselling is the registration process. To register, every candidate has to log in using their credentials, like JEE Main roll number or JEE Advanced roll number and password, and validate the fetched details respectively
• Step 2 - Choice Filling : In this section of the counselling process, students will be able to mark their preferred choices in order of preference of the candidates. Applicants who have cleared the JEE Main exam will be able to choose from NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs; however, applicants who have cleared the JEE Advanced exam will be able to mark their choices from various IITs. Candidates can use the ‘choice rearrange’ and ‘choice interchange’ options to edit their choices. The authorities will also allow students to use the ‘multiple deletion’ option to delete multiple marked choices. After marking the choices and ensuring the correctness of the marked options, students need to save all their marked
• Step 3 - Choice Locking : After marking the options available, candidates need to lock their choices by clicking on the ‘I agree to Lock my Choices’. After entering the marked details, candidates must log in using their JEE Main / JEE Advanced roll number and password to take a printout of the preferences marked
• Step 4 - Allotment of Seats : The allotment of seats to candidates will be made on the basis of seat availability in the respective courses at various institutes. The choices locked by applicants while choice filling will be considered during seat allotment by the authorities
• Step 5 - Seat Acceptance & Payment of Fees : After the completion of the seat allotment process by JoSAA candidates are required to make the necessary payment of seat acceptance in the online mode before the online document verification process. Candidates are required to click on the ‘Pay Seat Acceptance Fee’ tab, which will further redirect them to the EPG page. Students can select any one option to pay the fees, i.e. through debit card/credit card / net banking as per their convenience. After the payment is successful, the payment gateway page will be redirected to the seat allotment result page. Once the payment status is displayed as ‘Success’, then students must download and take a printout of the provisional seat allotment letter for future reference

Eligibility Criteria for JoSAA 2026 Counselling

The eligibility criteria required for JoSAA Counselling 2026 have been presented in the table below. Candidates should check them before proceeding with the other topics. Here are the detailed eligibility criteria to participate in JoSAA 2026 counselling -

List of Documents Required for JoSAA Counselling 2026

The list of all the documents needed for JoSAA 2026 Counselling is available for candidates to review. On the day and time designated for them, candidates must report to the reporting centres with all of the required documentation.

Documents Required For IITs:

• Provisional JoSAA seat allotment letter 2026
• Original JEE Advanced Admit Card 2026
• Date of Birth Proof (10th Standard Mark Sheet)
• Two passport-sized photographs
• Category Certificate (if applicable)
• DS Certificate (if applicable)
• Proof of Seat Acceptance fee payment by e-challan or SBI Net banking
• Candidate Undertaking
• Class 12th (or equivalent) Mark Sheet and Pass Certificate
• Certificate for PwD (if applicable)
• Photo Identity Card
• Medical Certificate
• Registration cum Locked Choices for Seat Allotment
• Passport (for foreign nationals) or OCI Certificate or PIO Card (if applicable)

Documents Required for NITs, IIITs and GFTIs:

• JEE Main Score Card 2026
• Provisional JoSAA seat allotment letter 2026
• Proof of Seat Acceptance Fee Payment by e-challan or Internet Banking through SBI
• Class 10th Standard Mark Sheet or Date of Birth Proof
• Three passport-size photographs similar to one uploaded in application form
• Medical Certificate
• PwD Certificate (if applicable)
• JEE Main Admit Card 2026
• Category Certificate (if applicable)
• Class 12 (or equivalent) Mark Sheet and Pass Certificate
• Candidate Undertaking
• Registration and Filled Choices for Seat Allotment
• Valid photo Identity Card
• OCI Certificate or PIO Card (if applicable)

JoSAA Counselling Fees 2026

Candidates who are satisfied with the seats allotted to them will be required to accept the allotted seats by paying the seat acceptance fee. The details about the JoSAA counselling fees 2026 have been provided in the table below.

Steps to check JoSAA Seat Allotment 2026 Result

Candidates are required to follow the steps mentioned below to check the JoSAA seat allotment 2026 result:

• Visit the official website of the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) i.e. josaa.nic.in.
• Click on the link available for “View Seat Allotment Result”.
• Provide your JEE Main/JEE Advanced 2026 application number, password and security pin.
• Click on “Login”.
• JoSAA 2026 seat allotment results will be displayed on the device screen.
• Download the JoSAA allotment letter 2026 and take a printout.

JoSAA 2026 Post-Seat Allotment Strategy: Freeze, Float, and Slide

Candidates accepting the seats in the earlier rounds are required to pay the seat acceptance fee and report to the allotted institute with the necessary documents to complete the further verification and admission process. Candidates who are not satisfied with the seats allotted to them can wait for better allotments in the further rounds. The Central Seat Allocation Board conducts two separate rounds of counselling for candidates who fail to get a seat via JoSAA counselling. The allotted candidates will be able to select any of the following options as per their preference after the JoSAA seat allocation results 2026 are declared by the authorities:

• Float: If the candidates wish to accept the seat allotted to them but are also open to upgradation and admission to higher preferred institutes or courses, then they will have to choose this option.
• Freeze: Candidates will have to select this option if they are satisfied with their allotted seat and do not wish to participate in further rounds of JoSAA counselling.
• Slide: The candidates who select this option will confirm their allotment, but will also be open to securing admission into a higher preferred course across the same institute.

After JoSAA: CSAB 2026 Special Rounds

After all the JoSAA 2026 counselling rounds are over, any remaining seats are transferred to the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) for the highly anticipated CSAB 2026 Special Rounds. This round is a special round, which is an independent counselling system on its own. There will be no IIT seats in CSAB. You will have to do fresh choice filling, and it is strictly based on CRL. If you could not secure a seat in the five allocation rounds of JOSAA, then you can go for CSAB.

You need to first analyse the vacant seats, then do a fresh registration and a separate fee payment to participate in CSAB. You are also required to submit a fresh preference list, and there is a very short window for this. Plus, the allotment happens across two specialised rounds.

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If you are looking for admission into the Top Private Engineering Colleges In India 2026 across the country, you can just fill the Common Application Form on our website. It is a single application form for admission into various universities.