JoSAA 2026 Counselling Begins 2 June: 6-Round Schedule, Registration & Choice-Filling Guide

JoSAA 2026 counselling registration will open on Tuesday, 2 June 2026 at 5:00 PM IST at the official portal josaa.nic.in. This is one day after the JEE Advanced 2026 result (1 June, 10:00 AM on jeeadv.ac.in) and is the single, common counselling window for all IITs, NITs, IIITs, and Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) in India. JoSAA 2026 will run 6 rounds of seat allotment, ending in the last week of July 2026, after which the CSAB 2026 special round picks up unfilled NIT+ seats from csab.nic.in. This supporting guide explains the schedule, the registration process, and the most common choice-filling mistakes to avoid.

JoSAA 2026 official timeline

Per the schedule published on josaa.nic.in:

• 2 June 2026, 5:00 PM – Registration and choice filling opens
• 3-7 June 2026 – Choice filling window (locking deadline at the end of Day 6)
• Round 1 mock allotment – Published mid-week to let candidates re-prioritise before locking
• Round 1 seat allotment – Approximately 7-9 June
• Rounds 2-6 – Spread approximately one week apart through June and July
• End of July 2026 – JoSAA closes; CSAB takes over for unfilled NIT+ seats

The exact day-by-day schedule for each round – reporting dates, withdrawal deadlines, fee payment cut-offs – will appear on josaa.nic.in within 24 hours of registration opening.

Who is eligible for JoSAA 2026?

JoSAA is the only common-counselling authority for the 121 NIT+ system institutes (23 IITs, 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, 41 GFTIs) and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Allahabad-style central institutes. Eligibility is split:

• For IIT seats: You must have qualified JEE Advanced 2026 (i.e., be on the Common Rank List).
• For NIT/IIIT/GFTI seats: You must have appeared in JEE Main 2026 and be ranked above the qualification threshold.

If you qualified both, JoSAA uses your JEE Advanced CRL for IIT allotment and your JEE Main rank for NIT+ allotment in parallel – through a single, unified choice list. You do not need to file separate applications.

Step-by-step JoSAA 2026 registration on 2 June

1. Visit josaa.nic.in at or after 5:00 PM IST on 2 June 2026.
2. Click ‘Candidate Login’ (the link points to josaa.admissions.nic.in/applicant/root/candidatelogin.aspx).
3. Log in using your JEE Main 2026 application number and password. Your details are auto-pulled from the NTA database. JEE Advanced details are auto-linked using your registration number.
4. Verify your personal details – name, date of birth, category, gender, state of eligibility, PwD status. Any error here cascades into allotment – report immediately to the JoSAA helpdesk via josaa.nic.in.
5. Start choice filling. The choice list is your branch-and-institute preference order. Add as many choices as you want.
6. Save and lock before the deadline (typically end of Day 6).

There is no registration fee for JoSAA 2026. The seat-acceptance fee (Rs. 35,000 for General/OBC/EWS; Rs. 17,500 for SC/ST/PwD) is payable only after a seat is allotted.

Choice filling strategy: the 3 mistakes that cost seats every year

Mistake 1: Filling by ‘feasibility’ instead of preference

Many candidates rank choices by ‘what my rank can get’ rather than ‘what I actually want’. This is wrong. JoSAA allocates the highest-preference choice your rank can reach. If you genuinely prefer IIT Delhi Electrical over IIT Roorkee CSE, list IIT Delhi Electrical first. If you put IIT Roorkee CSE first because it ‘feels safer’, that’s what you will get – even if Delhi Electrical was open to you.

Mistake 2: Filling too few choices

The JoSAA system does not penalise long lists. Aim for at least 60-80 choices spanning aspirational, target, and safe options. Candidates who fill only 20 choices and don’t get any allotted have only themselves to blame.

Mistake 3: Ignoring the mock allotment

JoSAA publishes a mock allotment mid-week based on choices filled till then. This is a free reality check. If your mock allotment is shockingly low, your choice list is too aggressive (no safety net). If it’s shockingly high, you may be missing some aspirational picks. Tweak before locking.

What happens after Round 1 seat allotment

Once you receive a Round 1 seat:

• Freeze: Accept the seat as-is and exit subsequent rounds.
• Slide: Accept the seat but stay in the running for a ‘better’ branch at the same institute in later rounds.
• Float: Accept the seat but stay in the running for any higher-preference choice (different institute or branch) in later rounds.
• Withdraw: Pull out of JoSAA entirely. Refund applicable per the withdrawal schedule on josaa.nic.in.

Each subsequent round, your status updates based on your selected option and the latest cut-offs. Round 6 is the final JoSAA round – after which CSAB takes over.

CSAB 2026 – the post-JoSAA safety net

CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board) runs at csab.nic.in and conducts two parallel processes after JoSAA ends:

• CSAB Special Round – For NITs, IIITs, GFTIs only. Unfilled seats from JoSAA Round 6 are reallocated. Typically opens late July or early August 2026.
• CSAB-NEUT / Supernumerary rounds – For specific categories such as candidates from North-East and Union Territories, and for supernumerary female seats.

CSAB is the last chance for an NIT/IIIT seat in 2026. If you missed JoSAA Round 6 or want to upgrade, register at csab.nic.in. IITs do not participate in CSAB – they are JoSAA-only.

JoSAA 2026 documents checklist

Have these ready before 2 June, scanned at 200 DPI and saved as PDFs <2 MB each:

• JEE Main 2026 admit card and scorecard
• JEE Advanced 2026 admit card and scorecard (for IIT-eligible)
• Class 10 marksheet and certificate
• Class 12 marksheet
• Category certificate (OBC-NCL / SC / ST / EWS) – must be in the latest format
• PwD certificate (if applicable)
• Photo identity proof (Aadhaar, passport, or PAN)
• Passport-size photograph and signature scans

JoSAA verifies documents at the time of online reporting after seat allotment. Any mismatch can lead to cancellation.

Quick links

• JoSAA 2026: josaa.nic.in
• JEE Advanced 2026: jeeadv.ac.in
• JEE Main 2026: jeemain.nta.nic.in
• CSAB 2026: csab.nic.in

For the result-day step-by-step playbook, see our pillar post: JEE Advanced 2026 result on 1 June: scorecard, cutoff and JoSAA next steps.

Helpline

For JoSAA registration help, choice-filling reviews, or rank-vs-college conversations, our counsellors are available on 7033005444 from 9 AM to 9 PM IST. Our daily JoSAA roadmap tracker updates round by round.

Practice quiz: JoSAA 2026 basics

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