CLAT Application Form 2026 Fee Dates and Process

At a glance

• The CLAT 2026 application form was open from August 1, 2025 to November 7, 2025, with the exam held in May 2026, per the Consortium of NLUs.
• The application fee was Rs 4,000 for General, OBC, PWD, NRI, and Foreign National candidates, and Rs 3,500 for SC, ST, and BPL candidates.
• There is no minimum percentage requirement for Class 12, and no upper age limit, since the 2019 eligibility change.
• The exam is 2 hours, computer-based, with 120 multiple-choice questions across 5 sections, including 28 to 32 Legal Reasoning questions.
• Admission is to 24 National Law Universities (NLUs), with NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, and NLU Delhi as the top three.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is the gateway to the undergraduate and postgraduate law programs offered by the 24 National Law Universities (NLUs) in India. The CLAT 2026 application form was available from August 1, 2025 to November 7, 2025 on the official Consortium of NLUs website. The application fee was Rs 4,000 for General, OBC, PWD, NRI, and Foreign National candidates and Rs 3,500 for SC, ST, and BPL candidates. The CLAT 2026 entrance exam was held in May 2026, and the admission process is now in the counselling and seat-allocation phase. This walkthrough covers the registration steps, the documents required, the fee structure, the correction window, the NLU preference order, and the next steps after the application is submitted.

CLAT 2026 important dates

The CLAT 2026 application timeline, per the consortium's 2026 admissions notice:

The application window of roughly 3 months is the standard for CLAT. Candidates who wait until the last week typically face server load issues and last-minute payment failures; the recommended approach is to submit the application at least 2 weeks before the deadline. The correction window is the safety net for the inevitable typo or document upload error.

The CLAT 2026 exam was held in a single day across multiple test centres in India. The number of test centres has been increasing year-over-year; the 2026 cycle had test centres in 30-plus cities. The admit card is the gate ticket; candidates without the admit card are not allowed to sit the exam.

CLAT 2026 application fee

The CLAT 2026 application fee structure for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs, per the consortium's 2026 fee schedule:

The application fee is non-refundable and must be paid online via NetBanking, debit card, credit card, or UPI. The fee is the same for Indian and NRI or Foreign National candidates; the right pick for NRI or Foreign National candidates is the foreign-currency payment option, which the gateway handles automatically.

The fee for BPL (Below Poverty Line) candidates is the same as SC and ST. The BPL certificate must be issued by the competent government authority and uploaded as part of the application. The counselling fee is separate from the application fee and is typically Rs 30,000 to 50,000 (refundable for candidates who do not take a seat).

Step-by-step application process

The CLAT 2026 application process has six steps:

1. Registration: visit the consortium website and click on the registration link. Enter your name, email, mobile number, and password. The system sends a verification email; click the link to verify the email address. The mobile number is the primary contact for all CLAT communication.
2. Fill the application form: log in and fill the application form. The form has 7 sections: personal information, contact information, educational qualifications (Class 10 and Class 12 or equivalent), category information, NLU preference order, exam centre preference, and declaration.
3. Upload documents: upload scanned copies of the required documents. The required documents and file-size limits are detailed in the next section.
4. Pay the application fee: pay the application fee online. The fee is non-refundable. The system generates a payment confirmation; download and save the confirmation.
5. Submit the application: review the application for completeness, then click the Submit button. The system generates an application confirmation page; download and save the PDF for future reference. The submitted application is locked; corrections are only possible during the correction window.
6. Download the admit card: the admit card is released in April 2026. Download the admit card, verify the exam centre and reporting time, and print a copy. The admit card is the gate ticket for the exam.

The most common application errors are photograph or signature file size outside the 10 to 200 KB range, mark sheet file size above 2 MB, missing or expired category certificate, and a poorly-thought-out NLU preference order. The correction window is the safety net for these errors.

Documents required for the application

• Passport-size photograph: 10 to 200 KB, JPG or PNG format.
• Signature: 10 to 200 KB, JPG or PNG format.
• Class 10 mark sheet: PDF, under 2 MB.
• Class 12 mark sheet: PDF, under 2 MB.
• Category certificate (SC / ST / OBC): if applicable, PDF, under 2 MB.
• BPL certificate: if applicable, PDF, under 2 MB.
• PwD certificate: if applicable, PDF, under 2 MB.
• NRI or Foreign National certificate: if applicable, PDF, under 2 MB.

The most common rejection reason is file size outside the required range. Candidates should compress image files to under 200 KB before uploading and PDF mark sheets to under 2 MB using a standard PDF compressor tool.

NLU preference order explained

The NLU preference order is the most important decision in the CLAT application process. The order determines the seat-allocation algorithm's offer order; a higher preference is offered first if seats are available. The 24 NLUs in the consortium, ranked by NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) and placement record:

The order should reflect the candidate's genuine preference; placing a higher-ranked NLU first is the right pick even if the candidate's rank is borderline, because the algorithm will skip to the next preference only if the higher preference is full. The order can be revised during the counselling registration and during each seat-allocation round.

CLAT 2026 exam pattern

The CLAT 2026 undergraduate exam pattern, per the consortium's 2026 exam pattern notice:

The exam is 2 hours, computer-based, with negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. The combined score is the merit score used for the seat-allocation rounds. The Legal Reasoning section is the differentiator for the top NLUs; the top 20 to 30 ranks are dominated by candidates who score 35 or more in Legal Reasoning.

Eligibility for CLAT 2026

The CLAT 2026 undergraduate eligibility criteria:

1. Educational qualification: Class 12 (or equivalent) from a recognized board, with no minimum percentage requirement since 2019. Candidates appearing in the Class 12 exam in 2026 are also eligible to sit CLAT 2026, provided they pass the exam and submit the mark sheet by the time of admission.
2. Age limit: no upper age limit for CLAT 2026. The upper age limit was removed in 2019.
3. Nationality: Indian nationals, NRIs, PIOs, OCIs, and foreign nationals are all eligible.
4. Category certificate: candidates claiming reservation must have a valid category certificate issued by the competent government authority, valid as of the application date.
5. NRI or Foreign National: candidates claiming NRI or Foreign National status must have a valid certificate and are eligible for the supernumerary seats reserved for that category.

The no-minimum-percentage eligibility is a significant change from the pre-2019 rule. The practical effect is that more candidates apply, the competition is higher, and the merit cut-offs for the top NLUs are steeper.

What to do after the application

For candidates who have submitted the CLAT 2026 application, the next steps are to prepare for the exam (2 to 3 months of focused preparation is the typical recommendation for a competitive score), download the admit card in April 2026, sit the exam in May 2026, check the result in June 2026, register for counselling in June to July 2026 with a counselling fee of Rs 30,000 to 50,000, and participate in the 5 seat-allocation rounds from July to August 2026. The top NLUs accept roughly 1 to 2 percent of applicants, so the preparation needs to cover the Legal Reasoning section in depth, plus the English, Current Affairs, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques sections.

What to watch for CLAT 2027

Three signals settle the rest of 2026 and 2027 for CLAT candidates. First, the CLAT 2027 application form is expected to be released in August 2026, with the deadline in November 2026 and the exam in May 2027. Candidates who missed the 2026 cycle should start preparing for 2027 immediately. Second, the NLU consortium expansion is expected to add 2 to 4 new NLUs by 2027 to 2028 as state governments establish new law schools, increasing the seat count. Third, the CLAT exam pattern has been stable since 2019 and is expected to remain the same for 2027.

Resources and next steps

• Consortium of National Law Universities: consortiumofnlus.ac.in
• NLSIU Bangalore (top NLU): nls.ac.in
• NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad: nalsar.ac.in
• CLAT 2027 application form (expected August 2026): consortiumofnlus.ac.in
• CLAT previous-year question papers and mock tests: free on consortiumofnlus.ac.in