Ongoing Updates About DASA / CIWG Scheme

Updates about DASA / CIWG scheme for the year 2026

Here are some important points about the DASA / CIWG scheme (updated for 2026) for NRI students in USA and students living in the Middle East (UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait):

• The tuition fee for CIWG students in NITs and other CFTIs continues to follow the Indian resident fee, which is approximately ₹1,25,000 per year, and NOT the older DASA NRI fee of USD 4000/semester.
  The earlier number of USD 700/semester applied during transition years, but the present applicable fee is the standard CIWG fee.
  
• From 2022 onward, JEE Main Rank has been mandatory for both DASA and CIWG candidates. This rule continues for DASA / CIWG 2026, including applicants from the USA and Middle East (UAE and Gulf countries).
  
• To take advantage of the DASA / CIWG quota scheme, the applicant must have completed at least 2 years of formal education abroad, specifically Grades 11 and 12, as per the updated rule.
  (This eligibility condition remains valid for 2026 applicants.)
  
• The minimum JEE Main cutoff of “180 marks” mentioned for the academic year 2022 is no longer relevant, because DASA admissions now depend entirely on JEE Main Percentile → Rank, and not on raw marks.
  
• 1/3rd of all DASA quota seats remain reserved under the CIWG category (Children of Indian Workers in Gulf countries).
  This CIWG reservation continues for 2026 and is heavily used by NRI families living in the Middle East (UAE, Qatar, Saudi, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait).

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 DASA / CIWG 2026 Important Dates:

Tentative 2026 dates-final schedule to be released officially.

Will you be applying for DASA / CIWG 2026 or years after that? You must then prepare for JEE Main.

CIWG Update 2025-26

CIWG Update – 22nd May 2017 (Revised for 2025–26)

Change in residential criteria for UG admissions under the DASA / CIWG Scheme

As per order F. No. 35-9/2016-TS.III, Government of India, MHRD, Department of Higher Education dated 22nd May 2017, the residential (education abroad) criteria for UG admissions under DASA was revised as follows:

“Prescribed admission criteria for Indian Nationals shall be at least two years of education, inclusive of 11th and 12th or equivalent (not beyond), in a foreign country during the last 8 years, and the candidate must pass the qualifying examination from abroad.”

This rule was originally announced for the academic year 2017–2018, but the same education requirement continues to remain valid for the 2025–26 DASA / CIWG cycle, and applies to:

• NRI students in USA
• NRI/OCI students in Middle East (UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain)
• All foreign-educated Indian nationals applying under DASA/CIWG