<p>Hello: can someone please explain the process by which non-Indian nationals can apply for IIT admission? </p>
<p>I understand that there is a joint-entrance exam and quota system. Can someone please explain? How are quotas allocated for foreign nationals? Do NRIs/OCIs have a separate quota?</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m from the US and currently going into 12th grade (class XII, India). I’m planning on taking the JEE. The requirement for NRI’s and non-Indian nationals is same, we must show at one of the testing centers to take the JEE entrance exam. However, for this coming year and in the future, the exam is being administered as a SINGLE exam on one day, instead of two exams (Main and Advanced) as it was before. I have emailed them inquiring the date of the exam and I am awaiting a reply, and they are quite slow in this process. </p>
<p>Hope this helped!</p>
<p>Register as an NRI from their website. There’s a drop down menu in the application asking for your test centre preference. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a centre in your city or a city nearby.
Credit cards not issued via an Indian bank won’t work in the application (personal experience) so ask a friend or relative in India for theirs.
I’m assuming you hold an Indian passport, otherwise I don’t know how you can register. </p>
<p>There are no quotas allocated for NRIs, you have to apply via general (~50% of the total seats)</p>
No my kids don’t have indian passports (US). But they have OCI. Apparently the OCI card states that holders will have parity as NRIs (except with regards to purchasing agricultural land).
@sgopal2 , There is no special quota for OCI card holders. Everybody, irrespective of nationality have to appear for JEE-mains (test for paper edition on Apr 4, 2015 and online edition on Apr 10, 11, 2015) once you apply. JEE-mains is conducted by CBSE. The application deadlines are already over. The top 25% students of JEE-mains will qualify for JEE-advanced conducted by on of the IITs. Those who don’t qualify or don’t get admission in IITs may apply to NITs (National Institute of Technology, considered next top institutes after IITs) based on the JEE-mains rank. However, foreign nationals are not eligible on the basis of JEE-mains. They are required to take SAT-subject tests Maths-2, Physics and Chemistry. Based on their total they are eligible to get seats of about 10% reserved for foreign nationals in NITs. Among the best of NITs, Suratkal (karnataka), Tiruchirapalli (TN), Calicut (Kerala) and Warnagal (AP, now in Telangana). If your kids get all 800s in the SAT-subjects (which is not very difficult) they may get into top NITs.
The only difference between an Indian student and a foreign student in either NIT or JEE is the amount of Fees you pay. Currently it is about US$6000 per year in NITs and about US$7000 per year in IITs (not very sure, they don’t reported anywhere). Since the time for JEE applications is over now, the best chance for your kids is NITs (if you/they wish to join in NITs). NIT application deadline for foreigners is June. So May SAT date is the last you can think of. All the best.