CA registration & exam form: a step-by-step walkthrough

CA enrolment runs on two separate ICAI portals - course registration on the SSP portal (one-time per level, valid 4 / 5 / 10 years for Foundation / Inter / Final) and the exam form on the exam portal (filled afresh for every attempt). Registration must be in place roughly 4 months before the attempt you intend to sit; the September 2026 Foundation cycle has its registration cut-off well in advance. This page walks the full sequence end to end - portal logins, document uploads, photo and signature specifications, the registration-vs-exam-form distinction, indicative fees per attempt, concession routes and the most common application errors that send candidates back to a help-desk queue.

How do you register for a CA level on the ICAI SSP?

Register to a level on the ICAI Self Service Portal (SSP) at eservices.icai.org. This is a one-time enrolment per level.

1. Create SSP account: Email + mobile (OTP). This becomes your lifelong ICAI identity (SRN / registration number).
2. Choose level & route: Foundation (after Class 12) or Intermediate via Direct Entry (graduates).
3. Upload documents:Class 10 & 12 marksheets, photo, signature, category certificate (if applicable), graduation marksheet (Direct Entry).
4. Pay registration fee: ~₹9,000 Foundation / ~₹18,000 Intermediate (both groups) / ~₹22,000 Final. One-time per level.

Registered for Foundation? Take a free CA Foundation mock and see your indicative pass-line in 3 hours - the same ICAI New Scheme entry-level pattern as the live paper.

How do you fill the ICAI exam form for an attempt?

For each attempt you sit, fill a separate exam form on the ICAI exam portal at icaiexam.icai.org.

1. Log in with your registration number.
2. Select papers / group(s): Foundation all 4; Intermediate / Final - Group I, Group II, or Both.
3. Choose exam city: Pick from the ICAI centre list (Indian + select overseas).
4. Pay exam fee: Per group / per attempt. Late submission allowed within a short window with a late fee.
5. Download admit card: Releases ~10-14 days before the exam on the same portal.

Exam form filed for the September 2026 Foundation cycle? Take a free CA Foundation mock in the live 4-paper format - the scorecard applies the 50 / 40 pass rule at the end.

Pre-Intermediate / pre-Final training

Don't forget the non-exam requirements that gate progression:

• ICITSS: 4-week IT + soft-skills training before starting articleship.
• AICITSS: Advanced IT + MCS training during the last 2 years of articleship, before the Final exam.
• Self-paced online modules: Mandatory online modules (SETs) to be completed before the Final exam under the New Scheme.

Avoid an under-prepared first attempt - take a free CA Foundation mock before the exam-form deadline and see whether you are inside the pass band paper by paper.

What are the most common CA registration mistakes?

• Confusing registration with exam form: Registering to a level does NOT enrol you for an attempt. You must file the exam form separately each time.
• Letting registration lapse: Foundation validity is 4 years, Inter 5, Final 10. Revalidate before it expires or you lose your registration status.
• Name / document mismatch: SSP details must match your Class 10/12 / graduation records exactly.
• Skipping ICITSS / AICITSS: These are hard prerequisites - you cannot sit Final without completing AICITSS and the self-paced modules.

ICAI SSP portal vs ICAI exam portal: which does what?

ICAI runs two separate portals for two separate purposes. Confusing the two is the single most common cause of late registrations and missed attempts. The cleanest way to remember it: SSP is the lifelong relationship; the exam portal is the per-attempt transaction.

Photo and signature specifications

Both portals reject uploads silently if the photo or signature does not meet the specs - the page accepts the file but the form refuses to submit until the next time you try. Get the formats right at first attempt:

Photograph

• Format: JPG / JPEG only. PNG is rejected by most ICAI upload widgets.
• Size: Roughly 20 KB to 50 KB. A larger photo will need to be compressed; smaller than 20 KB tends to fail the quality check.
• Dimensions: ~3.5 cm x 4.5 cm (passport size). Face occupies ~70 to 80 percent of the frame, head straight, both ears visible.
• Background: Plain white or off-white. Coloured backgrounds, selfies, group photos and screenshots get rejected on hand-check at the exam centre.
• Recency: Not older than 6 months at the time of upload. Your appearance at the exam centre should be recognisably consistent with the photo.

Signature

• Format: JPG / JPEG, 10 to 20 KB typically.
• Style: Sign on a plain white sheet with a black ball-point or fine sketch pen; scan or photograph at high contrast.
• Match other IDs: Use the same signature style across your Aadhaar, PAN, exam admit card and answer-script attestation. Mismatches at the centre trigger an incident report.
• All-caps or initials get rejected. ICAI requires a cursive signature, not a printed name.

Registration vs exam form: the distinction worked out

The two-step model is the part that trips up first-timers. A worked example using a candidate targeting September 2026 Foundation:

1. Class 12 result in May 2026. Candidate registers on the SSP portal in May - this is the course registration, valid for 4 years. The SSP issues a registration number (SRN).
2. Mid-June 2026. The September 2026 exam-form window opens on the exam portal (icaiexam.icai.org). The candidate now logs in with the SRN and fills the exam form for the September attempt - this is a separate step. Skipping it means the SRN exists but the candidate is not enrolled for the attempt.
3. Mid-August 2026. The admit card is downloadable from the exam portal once payment is reconciled. The card carries the roll number for the September attempt.
4. Late August 2026. Candidate sits the September papers. The SRN remains valid for further attempts; the roll number is attempt-specific.
5. Next attempt. If the candidate fails or wants to re-sit, only step 2 (exam-form filing) needs to be repeated - the SRN from step 1 is still valid for up to 4 years.

Indicative fee structure

ICAI publishes fees in two buckets: one-time course-registration fees and per-attempt exam-form fees. The numbers below are indicative ranges across recent ICAI notifications; the institute revises them periodically.

End to end, total ICAI fees across Foundation, Intermediate and Final - including a handful of exam-form attempts at each level - sit roughly between Rs 70,000 and Rs 90,000 over the full qualification, before any private coaching. The articleship stipend offsets a chunk of the living cost during the 2-year training.

Fee concession routes

ICAI offers reduced fees and waivers under several categories. The concession route does not change the syllabus or exam pattern - only the amounts payable on the SSP and exam portals.

• SC / ST candidates: Reduced registration fees with a valid caste certificate uploaded on SSP.
• Differently-abled candidates: Fee concessions and additional facilities (writers, time extension) on application with a UDID / medical certificate.
• Jammu & Kashmir / NE state residents: Periodic fee-concession schemes announced by ICAI; check the SSP notification at the time of registration.
• Wards of martyred armed-forces personnel: Full or substantial concessions under specified ICAI schemes with the relevant documentation.

Common application errors

The ICAI grievance desk publishes the same shortlist of issues every cycle. Avoid these and the application goes through in one sitting:

• Name mismatch across documents. Your name on SSP must match the name on your Class 10 marksheet exactly - full name, middle name, spelling. ICAI uses the Class 10 marksheet as the authoritative source.
• Date-of-birth inconsistency. DoB on Aadhaar, PAN and Class 10 marksheet should all agree. A single-digit difference triggers a verification hold that takes weeks to resolve.
• Photo and signature swap. Uploading the photograph in the signature field (or vice versa). The system does not catch this; the exam-day verification does.
• Wrong exam centre selection. The exam centre, once locked at the exam-form stage, cannot be changed for the attempt. Pick the centre nearest to your actual residence on exam dates, not your address-on-record city.
• Late payment reconciliation. Payments through net banking / UPI sometimes take 24-48 hours to reconcile. Pay at least 3 days before the deadline so any failure can be retried.
• Skipping articleship form filing. Inter clearance does not auto-create your articleship registration. The principal-trainee deed (Form 102 / 103) must be filed manually after joining a principal CA.

Withdrawal, refund and the post-deadline error window

ICAI does allow candidates to withdraw an exam form before a specified cut-off, typically a few days after the regular form-filing window closes. The refund policy is partial - a processing fee is retained, and the balance is credited back to the original payment method within 30 to 45 working days. Withdrawal after the cut-off is not permitted; the form locks and the candidate is treated as enrolled for the attempt regardless of whether they sit.

If your form has errors that you spot after the deadline, the path is the grievance portal on icaiexam.icai.org. Photograph, signature and minor spelling corrections can typically be requested up to 7 to 10 days before the admit-card release; ICAI processes most corrections within a week. Errors caught after the admit card is generated need a centre-level verification on exam day - bring printed proof of the original SSP record.

Exam-city change and special-case applications

The exam city is locked at the time of form filing, but ICAI runs a short centre-change window after the form deadline - typically 7 days, announced on the exam portal. The change is granted only on documented grounds (medical, residence shift, court summons) and is not guaranteed.

• Overseas centres: ICAI conducts exams at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kathmandu, Muscat and a handful of other overseas cities. Overseas-centre fees are separately notified and are several times the domestic exam-form fee.
• Accommodation requests: Differently-abled candidates can request a writer, extra time (typically 20 minutes per hour), large-print question papers, or a ground-floor seat. The request must be filed at exam-form stage along with the UDID or medical certificate; ad hoc requests at the centre are not entertained.
• Hospital and medical exemptions: A candidate who falls ill or is hospitalised before the exam can apply for a withdrawal with a medical-board certificate; ICAI processes these case-by-case and sometimes grants a fee waiver for the next attempt.