JoSAA 2026 timeline (official, josaa.nic.in)
- JEE Advanced result: First week June 2026
- JEE Main result (Session 2): declared 20 April 2026
- JoSAA registration and choice filling open: 2 June 2026
- Choice filling and locking: 2 June to 11 June 2026
- Mock allotment: 8 June and 10 June 2026
- Round 1 seat allotment: 13 June 2026
- Round 2: 30 June 2026
- Round 3: 6 July 2026
- Round 4: 10 July 2026
- Round 5 (final, last round for IITs/IISc): 16 July 2026
- CSAB special rounds: from late July 2026 (after JoSAA Round 5)
Step 1: Registration (free)
Visit josaa.nic.in. Register with your JEE Main / Advanced application number and password. Verify personal details, contact information, category and EWS / PwD / KM (Kashmiri Migrant) status. Save the registration number — you will need it through all 5 rounds.
Step 2: Choice filling (8-10 days)
This is the most important step. You can list up to 50 institute-program-branch combinations in priority order. JoSAA assigns the highest-priority option that matches your AIR.
Smart choice filling strategy:
- List 20-30 options spanning 1.3x your closing rank to 0.7x your closing rank
- Order by priority: dream branches at top, safety options at bottom
- Mix institute types (IIT, NIT, IIIT, GFTI) — do not concentrate on one institute type
- Include both Home State (HS) and Other State (OS) options for NITs
- Include CSAB-eligible programs as fallback
Step 3: Mock allotment (1 day result)
JoSAA processes the choices and shows what seat you would have gotten if final round was held now. Mock allotment is non-binding. Use this signal to refine choices: if you got your top choice, lock; if not, investigate why and adjust.
Step 4: Round 1 to Round 5 — seat allotment
Each round follows the same flow: choice display + freeze/float/slide decision + fee payment if accepted + reporting at allotted institute or online verification.
Freeze — accept the allotment as final. Move to fee payment + reporting.
Float — accept the allotment but keep the option open for higher-priority seats in subsequent rounds. If higher option opens up in next round, you slide up; if not, you stay at the current allotment.
Slide — accept the allotment but want to slide to a higher-priority option of the same institute (e.g., from CSE at NIT-X to CS-AI at NIT-X if both were in your choice list).
Step 5: Document verification
Required documents:
- JEE Main / Advanced scorecard
- Class 10 and Class 12 certificates (with category certificate if applicable)
- ID proof (Aadhaar, PAN, passport)
- Caste/EWS/PwD certificate (if applicable)
- Domicile certificate (for NIT Home State quota, if applicable)
- Medical fitness certificate (typically required at IITs)
- Provisional admission letter from JoSAA
- 6 passport-size photos
Some IITs/NITs require physical reporting; most allow online document verification followed by physical reporting at start of semester.
Step 6: Fee payment
Initial fee deposit (refundable + non-refundable components) at JoSAA round-completion: typically INR 35,000 (refundable INR 25,000 + non-refundable INR 10,000). Full first-semester fee due at college reporting (~INR 1.65-2.5 lakh depending on institute).
Step 7: CSAB special rounds
After JoSAA Round 5, vacant seats roll into CSAB special counselling. CSAB has 2-3 sub-rounds. Useful if:
- You missed JoSAA registration deadline
- You want to try for vacant seats in higher-preference institutes
- Your JoSAA seat was not satisfying
CSAB registration is separate (csab.nic.in). Same JEE Main rank applies. CSAB has Special Round (open to all) and Special Round NIT-System Quotas (for NIT/IIIT/GFTI vacancies).
Common mistakes
- Insufficient choice filling — Listing only 5-10 choices when you should list 20-30. Missed allotments due to over-narrow priority lists are common.
- Order randomness — Putting safety options before dream branches. Order strictly by your true priority.
- Ignoring CSAB — Many candidates think JoSAA Round 5 is the end. CSAB rounds have 1500+ seats reopening; do not skip.
- Late fee payment — Round 1 fee deadline is typically 7 days post-allotment. Missing the deadline forfeits the seat and your initial deposit.
- Not freezing strategically — Freezing too early eliminates higher-round upgrades; freezing too late risks losing the seat. Float in early rounds, freeze around Round 4-5.
State quota optimisation
Home State quota at NITs gives 30-40% rank advantage. If your domicile state has an NIT, use Home State (HS) quota in priority list. Outside-state students get Other State (OS) quota — typically 1.4x the HS closing rank.
EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST advantages
Closing ranks expand significantly for reservation categories:
- EWS: 1.4x General
- OBC-NCL: 1.7x General
- SC: 4-5x General
- ST: 7-9x General
- PwD: 5-12x within respective category