JoSAA JEE Main Counselling 2026: Date, Eligibility, Documents Required, Admission Process

CSAB is the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB). It conducts national-level counselling based on JEE Main scores for admission to vacant seats left after JoSAA counselling last round, called the CSAB special counselling. Other than the CSAB special counselling, there are two more counselling categories under CSAB. CSAB counselling is of three types: CSAB North Eastern States and Some of Union Territories (NEUT); CSAB Special, and CSAB Supernumerary. All three types of counselling is based on the JEE Main 2026 rank.

CSAB conducts centralised counselling for four categories as mentioned below:

1. CSAB Special Round: For vacant seats after JoSAA final round for all NITs, IIITs and CFTIs across India. The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) will conduct two special rounds of JEE Main counselling. Candidates with a valid JEE Main 2026 score can participate in the special round of counselling.

2. CSAB NEUT: For supernumerary seats in NITs for Union Territories, and in some AICTE-approved institutes for North East and Union Territories (NEUT). CSAB counselling process will be conducted for 12 North East and Union Territories, which include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

3. CSAB Supernumerary: For the supernumerary round of counselling for Union Territories (UTs) of Andaman & Nicobar, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep & Khandvi

Students who took the JEE Main 2026 exam are qualified to take part in the counselling process for admission to all institutes involved in JoSAA using their JEE Main scores. Candidates with a JEE Advanced rank will gain admission to IITs via JoSAA. Through JoSAA counselling, admissions to all 23 IITs, 31 NITs, 25 IIITs, and GFTIs will occur. Seat allocation will depend on the preferences submitted by candidates during the JoSAA 2026 registration. Candidates need to review the JoSAA eligibility criteria before engaging in the counselling process. Here are some key highlights of JoSAA:

• JoSAA organises a combined counselling process for admission of JEE Main and JEE Advanced qualified candidates in IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.
• The counselling for vacant seats after JoSAA counselling will be organised by Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB).
• Supernumerary seats in colleges of the North East and Union Territories locations are allocated by special counselling CSAB NEUT

The eligibility criteria for admission to various participating institutes will be released by JoSAA. Check the details below.

JEE Main eligibility for admission to NITs, IIITs and CFTIs, SFIs

The authority will offer admission to BTech/BArch/planning courses in the NITs, IIITs and GFTIs based on All India Rank (AIR). All candidates need to have minimum 75% marks in class 12 examination (for SC/ST candidates the minimum requirement is 65% in class 12). 

JEE Main eligibility criteria for BArch and BPlan admission

• Architecture students have to pass the qualifying examination with 50% marks in Maths, Physics and Chemistry and 50% in aggregate of the qualifying exam.
• For BPlanning candidates should have passed class XII or qualifying exam with 50% in Maths and 50% in aggregate of the qualifying exam.

JEE Main eligibility for other institutions

• The above criteria will also apply to other Technical Institutions participating in counselling through JoSAA/CSAB.
• In case a State opts to admit students to the engineering Colleges affiliated with State Universities, the State may prepare a separate rank list based on criteria decided by them.

The counselling of JEE Main 2026 consists of various processes. Candidates need to complete each step to participate in the counselling. The detailed procedure of counselling is described here.

Registration - Firstly, candidates have to visit JoSAA portal. Candidates who appeared in JEE Main 2026 or JEE Advanced 2026 need to register to participate in counselling. Below are instructions to fill JoSAA 2026 registration form online:

• Visit official website of JoSAA
• On login page, enter JEE Main 2026 application number, password and security pin.
• Read instructions and click on the 'I Agree' option
• JoSAA counselling form will be displayed
• Fill form and click on ‘Confirm Registration’

Choice Filling & Locking: In second step, candidates will have to lock choice of college and course preferences filled by them. Seats will be allotted to aspirants based on their availability and choices filled. Below are steps of online choice filling and locking.

• On the online form, select a choice of colleges and courses
• Candidates can opt for edit/change/delete choices
• After verifying, lock the choices
• Candidates can lock their choices after each round of counselling

JEE Main 2026 Seat Allotment - Seats will be allotted to candidates based on ranks obtained in JEE Main /JEE Advanced. Candidates who are allotted seats need to exercise Freeze, Float or Slide option.

• In case candidate selects Freeze option, allotted seat will be locked in name of candidate and he/she can not participate in future round counselling.
• If Float option is selected, seat gets locked but candidates can also participate in future rounds
• In case Slide option is selected, allotted seat gets cancelled and candidate moves to next round.

Payment of Seat Confirmation Fees - Candidates who selects Freeze/Float options have to pay seat acceptance fees online to confirm their admission, and upload scanned copy of their educational documents and category certificate (if applicable). After online verification of the documents and successful payment of fee, a provisional admission letter will be issued to candidates. Candidates have to download admission letter and check instructions mentioned in it for the balance fee payment, and date of reporting to allotted institute. 

JEE Main Counselling 2026 Fee Payment

Reporting to the Allotted Institute - Candidates have to report to allotted institute and pay remaining fees within date mentioned in allotment letter. Candidates also need to carry original copies of documents that were uploaded online at the time of seat confirmation.

JEE Main 2026 Seat Allotment and Admission Process - Important Points

Check below some important points related to JoSAA counselling seat allotment:

• Admission will be granted to candidates based on their preferences and their JEE Main All India Rank (AIR) 2026 as part of the JEE Main seat allocation process.  
• Candidates will have the opportunity to select their preferred branches/programs and institutes online at the designated time.  
• Document verification will occur during the seat allocation process or at the time of admission.  
• The conducting authority will check various records regarding the candidate's age, identity, qualifying examination, state of eligibility, category, and any disability, if applicable.  
• Candidates who do not present the required documents will be ineligible for admission.  
• Candidates from Gen-EWS, SC, ST, OBC, and PwD categories must provide original certificates in the specified formats issued by the relevant authority during both the JEE Main 20265 seat allotment process and at the time of admission.

The counselling of JEE Main is completely online, and candidates need to register online on the JoSAA portal. Given below is a list of all the documents that are required for registering and participating in JEE Main 2026 JoSAA counselling.

1. Class X Mark Sheet/Certificate or Aadhaar Card or Birth Certificate (for Date of Birth)
2. Class XII Mark Sheet and Certificate (Qualifying Examination)
3. JEE Main 2026 admit card
4. Certificate of category (SC/ST/OBC-NCL/GEN-EWS), if applicable, as per Government of India format, available on JoSAA website, issued by competent authority.
5. Original Certificate for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD), if applicable, issued by competent authority.
6. Original Certificate for persons having less than 40% disability and having difficulty in writing, if applicable
7. Crossed Bank Cheque copy / Image of Passbook with bank account details
8. Medical Certificate
9. OCI certificate/ PIO card, if applicable
10. Passport/Citizenship certificate, if applicable

JoSAA releases the JEE Main opening and closing ranks for all NITs, IIITs and CFTIs after each counselling round. The cutoff is released as the opening and clsoing ranks.

• Opening ranks: The lowest JEE Mains rank at which an institute and course are offered to a candidate.
• Closing rank: The highest JEE Main rank at which an institute and course are offered to a candidate.

JEE Main 2026 JoSAA Cutoff for NITs, IIITs and GFTIs

Check below the JoSAA opening and closing ranks for the NITs below:

The Joint Seat Allocation Authority has released the round-wise seat allotments for various programs offered by 107 participating institutes, including the IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs. Candidates can check here JoSAA cutoff from previous years here. 

JoSAA 2025 Cutoff

JoSAA 2024 Cutoff

JEE Main Cutoff 2021

Candidates can have an idea about the JEE Main 2021 cutoff by going through the table below:

JoSAA 2020 Cutoff: Round 1 to 6