How to fill ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 Counselling Choices?

A perfect guide on how you can fill ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 counselling choices. Know about the procedure, the steps to follow while filling and what important documents to carry for the counselling process. Check the important dates for the seat allotment and also keep an eye for the mop-up rounds.

How To Fill ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 Counselling Choices

Getting a good AIEEA PG rank is only half the job. The other half is choice filling, and this is where a lot of candidates quietly lose seats they could have had. ICAR does not hand out a seat based on rank alone. It looks at the rank, then walks down the list of subjects and universities chosen, in the order a candidate chose them, and gives the student the first one that still has a seat for the different category.

So the list locked decides the outcome. This guide explains how to fill ICAR AIEEA PG choice filling 2026, how to register, which documents to keep ready, and what the rules say about upgradation, withdrawal and the mop-up round.

ICAR AIEEA PG Counselling 2026: Important Dates

In the below table, find the important dates for ICAR AIEEA PG Counselling 2026 dates:

Note: The schedule above is taken from the official counselling schedule on icarcounseling.com. ICAR can revise dates, so keep checking the Notifications section of the portal.

What Is Choice Filling in ICAR PG Counselling?

ICAR AIEEA PG choice filling is the stage where a candidate tells ICAR which subjects and which universities a candidate wants, and in what order. Each choice is a pair: a sub-subject (say, Agronomy or Soil Science) and a university that offers it.
Know that ICAR allots a university, not a college. If the chosen university has more than one constituent college, the university itself decides where the candidate will be placed, and it may use category-wise merit for that.

Who Can Fill Choices?

• A student must have scored above zero in ICAR AIEEA (PG) 2026. Candidates with zero or negative marks cannot take part in counselling.
• A four-year or five/six-year bachelor's degree is the basic requirement. Candidates with a three-year bachelor's degree are not eligible.
• The counselling covers PG programmes other than veterinary science.
• The counselling covers 30% of seats in State Agricultural Universities and 100% of seats at the ICAR Deemed Universities, RLBCAU Jhansi and Dr. RPCAU Pusa. Overall, the exam feeds admission to 81 sub-subjects across 76 universities.

A point many candidates miss: the portal does not check the eligibility at the time of registration or choice filling. It is checked later, when the university verifies the documents, and again when the candidate reports in person. If ICAR AIEEA PG choice filling the candidate is not eligible for and get allotted that seat, the admission is cancelled. So do the eligibility homework before filling, not after.

ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 Counselling Registration Process

Registration and choice filling happen together on the same portal. These are the steps listed in the brochure.

1. Go to icarcounseling.com and open the ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 counselling section.
2. Click the registration link. Read the instructions, the declaration and the undertaking properly, then tick "I agree".
3. Log in with the credentials sent to you by SMS or email. If you have forgotten them, the portal lets you recover them using a few personal details.
4. Pay the counselling registration fee of Rs 500 through the online gateway (credit card, debit card, net banking or UPI). It is non-refundable and is not adjusted against any other fee. Payment reconciliation can take up to 24 hours, so a delay in the confirmation is not a reason to panic.
5. Check the personal and academic details shown on screen. These come from your NTA application and cannot be changed later. You may be asked to enter the correct name of the college or university that gave your degree.
6. Fill your choices during the choice filling window.
7. Upload your documents in the prescribed format.
8. Save your choices before the deadline and keep a printout of the final list.

Note: For the mop-up round, candidates who have not registered in Round 1 can still join by paying the Rs 500 fee, as long as they meet the eligibility rules. Candidates who already paid the fee in Round 1 do not pay again.

Documents to Keep Ready

• Documents are uploaded as scanned JPEG images of the originals. PDF and DOC files are not accepted, and the files must not be password protected.
• Class 10 certificate (proof of date of birth)
• Class 10, Class 12 and later certificates and marksheets
• Final-year UG marksheet or a certificate from the university registrar
• NTA admit card for AIEEA (PG) 2026
• Computer-generated confirmation page of your NTA application
• ICAR rank card
• Passport-size colour photograph, the same as the one used in the NTA application
• Aadhaar card or 28-digit Aadhaar enrolment ID, or passport, ration card, bank passbook or another valid government ID
• Domicile certificate
• Character certificate from the head of the last institution attended
• SC, ST, UPS, OBC-NCL or Gen-EWS certificate, wherever applicable (OBC-NCL means the Central list only)
• PwBD medical certificate from a government hospital, wherever applicable
• Sponsorship certificate or employer declaration, for in-service candidates
• The allotment letter and the provisional admission letter are not uploaded. A candidate must carry them, along with all the originals, when reporting at the final allotted university. Certificates that are not in English need an English translation certified by the head of the institution.
• One more rule that catches people out: a candidate must have completed all requirements of the bachelor's degree on or before the start of counselling. Be ready to show a provisional degree certificate or the degree itself during online verification.

How to Fill ICAR AIEEA PG 2026 Choices: Step by Step?

1. Log in and open the CAR AIEEA PG choice filling link. The candidate will see the seat matrix, which shows the number of seats by university, sub-subject and category.
2. Select a sub-subject and a university. Candidates can add their choices one at a time. Under the Major Subject Group, the portal only shows the sub-subjects the applicant is eligible for.
3. Keep adding. The brochure advises candidates to fill the maximum number of choices they can. More choices means more chances of being allotted something.
4. Arrange the order. A student can add, delete, swap, and move a choice up or down as many times before the window closes. The order is what ICAR reads, top to bottom.
5. Save and take a draft printout. The printout is useful for talking it over with a teacher or senior before finalizing.
6. Save again after every change. On the last day, the most recently saved list is locked automatically and is the one used for allotment. Nothing can be modified after the deadline.
7. Print the final list and keep it. The portal-generated documents may not be available once counselling closes.

Special Rules for the Mop-Up Round

The mop-up round runs a little differently, and the differences matter if the candidate is going for ICAR AIEEA PG choice filling now.

1. Fill in the fresh choices. Any choices from earlier rounds are cancelled and will not be used. A candidate can choose again, and only from the vacant seats shown on the portal.
2. There is no upgrade in the mop-up round.
3. There is no withdrawal or cancellation through the Applicant Login, and the seat acceptance fee is not refunded under any circumstances.
4. Who can take part: candidates who could not register in Round 1; candidates who registered but did not fill choices; candidates who were allotted a seat but did not upload documents or pay the seat acceptance fee; and candidates who filled choices but got no seat up to Round 4.
5. Who cannot: candidates who already stand admitted, who withdrew, or who were denied admission for not meeting eligibility in Rounds 1 to 4, and anyone with a zero or negative score.
   
   

After Seat Allotment: What Happens Next

Once the seats are alloted, look for these steps below:

1. Check allotment on the portal. The candidate gets an email and an SMS, and can download the allotment letter from the Applicant Login.
2. Upload documents within the stated time. No need to travel to the university during any counselling round.
3. Wait for verification. The university's verifying officer checks the files. If there is a doubt, the officer can raise a query once, and the candidate can answer once, through their login. If not responded on time, the candidate is marked Not Reported and the seat is cancelled.
4. Pay the seat acceptance fee. After the documents are marked Verified, pay Rs 10,000 on the ICAR portal. This amount is the same for every category and is adjusted against the admission fee later. A student is marked Provisionally Admitted once the fee is confirmed.
5. Report in person at the finally allotted university with all the original documents and pay the balance fee.

Upgradation works like this: After paying the seat acceptance fee, a candidate can ask to be moved to a better choice from their own list. You can only move up to a choice you ranked higher, and you do not pay the fee again. If a better seat is given, your earlier seat is gone for good. Upgradation was available only in Rounds 1, 2 and 3.
Refunds: If the candidate cancels or withdraws up to the end of Round 4, the fee collected is refunded after a deduction of Rs 1,000 as processing charges. If you freeze a seat and then neither withdraw nor join, the seat acceptance fee is not refunded. Refunds start after the admission process ends and are completed within six months.
Any ICAR seats still empty after the final round are released to the universities, which fill them under their own procedures.