How to Fill GATE Application Form 2026: Step-by-Step Guide

How to fill GATE application form 2026? The GATE application process was made live from Aug 28, 2025 by the authorities for the year 2026 at goaps.iitg.ac.in. The GATE application form correction window will be made active in the official website on Oct 2025 tentatively. GATE 2026 application form can be filled out by going to the official website and clicking on GOAPS.

You will be required to create a new account and log in, following which all the required details and documents must be provided. The registration fee for General category students is Rs. 1,800 and Rs. 900 for SC/ST/PwD students. The last date to apply for GATE 2026 without a late fee is Sep 28, 2025

How to Fill the GATE Application Form 2026?

Students must begin by gathering all their documents and creating an account. Then fill in the details, and then upload the documents required. When this is completed, they must pay a certain fee and wait until the seat is confirmed. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to fill out the GATE application form 2026 in detail. 

Step 1: Gather Documents

Before we explain how to fill out the GATE application form, let us look at what all documents will be required during the application process. Keep the following documents ready so that the registration procedure can be finished without any hassles:

• Your personal information
• Name
• Birthdate
• Mobile number
• Parents’ or guardians’ names
• Parents’ or guardians’ mobile numbers
• Address, including zip code
• College name and address with zip code
• Eligibility degree details
• Assigned GATE paper with code
• Scanned/digital photographs
• Scanned/digital signature
• PDF format of the eligibility degree or provisional certificate
• Above certificate from the Head of the Institution (applicable only to candidates currently in their final year)
• Proof of identity (PAN or other Govt. ID, College ID, or Employee ID)
• Financial details for payment (Netbanking, credit/debit card)

Step 2: Register and Log in

Once you are done gathering your details, the next step for how to fill the GATE application form is to create an account on the official GATE portal.

Head over to the official website and click on “GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS).” This will take you to another page where the registration details are to be entered. 

On the registration page, you will need to enter the following:

• Your Name: This is divided into your first name, your middle name, your surname, and your official name. Fill them up and press ‘Confirm’.
• Email Address: Once you have finished with that section, you will be taken to another page where you will be asked for other details, including your email address. Provide either your personal email address or any other email address that you frequently use for communication. You must confirm this email address by retyping it in a separate box.
• Country of Residence: You will need to provide information on where your permanent residence is. The reason why it is asked is that different nationalities fall under different payment procedures.
• Mobile Number: You will need to insert your mobile number for communication purposes.
• Password: This is self-explanatory. However, it is a good practice to create a password that has at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character. Ensure that the password is at least 8 characters long. You will have to confirm this password by retyping it in a separate box.
• Evaluation Test: This is similar to the CAPTCHA test to ensure that whoever is logging in is not a bot. It helps block any unwanted spam bots that can potentially bring down the website. It is good protection for your personal data, which you will need to upload to the website.

Once you have done these steps, press 'Submit'. Your email will be sent an Enrollment ID, which you can use to sign in to your GOAPS account. You will also receive updates on the examination via SMS as well as OTPs for verification.

When you have found your Enrollment ID, go back to the login page, and insert your new Enrollment ID and the password you created to log in to your new GOAPS account in order to submit the documents to confirm your seat. You will have to accept a declaration popup right after logging in.

Step 3: Fill in Exam Details

You will then be directed to the Exam Details page, where you will need to fill up the following details:

• The GATE 2026 Paper you want to appear for
• The country in which the examination is happening
• The cities in which the examination is happening. You will need to pick 3 cities.

Step 4: Enter Personal Details

In this section, the system automatically fills your Enrollment ID, your name, your email address, and your mobile number. The other details will require you to fill them up. Apart from what has already been mentioned below in the 'Gather Your Documents' section, you will need to fill up the following:

• Your nationality 
• The category that you fall under
• If you are a person with disabilities
• Your home country 
• The state or province you reside in
• What country your parent(s)/guardian(s) reside in

Step 5: Fill in Correspondence Address

The next step for filling out the GATE application form involves filling out the home address details. The address section is divided into three lines so that you have a lot of space to write your address, in case it’s too long. A correspondence address is an address to which GATE 2026 resources can be sent, with the guarantee that they will reach you. 

The reason why it is required to fill in the correspondence address is that, in case there are any issues with your residential address, you may use the correspondence address as a backup. You may enter one of your trusted family members’ or a friend’s address, provided that they live within the same country and city as you, so they could easily transfer those resources to you. 

Apart from these details, everything else asks for any details already listed under the Gather Your Documents section.

Step 6: Provide Qualifying Degrees Details

In this section, you will be asked about:

• Your institute’s registration details, such as your serial/registration/roll number
• Whether you graduated with the degree you mentioned
• How many years of a qualifying degree do you have if you graduated
• The names of both the university/college and the state/territory from which you graduated with this degree
• The zip code of the territory

If you are a candidate who either hails from or resides in another country, you will need to either type in ‘999999’ in the zip code box or skip it if such an option is given.

Step 7: Upload Documents

Once you complete the details above, you will be required to upload any documents you have in hand. If you lost count of what you require, we recommend you check the Gather Your Documents section once more to ensure you have not missed anything. You will need to upload your photographs, signatures, and whatever required documents on the page.

Remember that most of the files are taken in the form of a PDF. If they are asking for images, then they must be in JPG or JPEG format. Once this is done, you will then be required to answer the statistical question that is prompted at the bottom of the page: “Where did you first come to know about GATE 2026?”

Step 8: Application Fee Payment

The last step for how to fill the GATE application form 2026 is application fee payment. GATE’s payment is in an online format. So, you will either need to use net banking or a credit/debit card to process the payment smoothly. The payment may or may not include additional banking charges. The category-wise GATE 2026 application fee details are given below:

• General/OBC males and others: INR 1,800
• SC/ST/PWD and females for all categories: INR 900

Photographs and Signature Guidelines for GATE Application Form 2026 

Now you must be clear about how to fill the GATE application form 2026. Let us now check the photograph and signature specifications that must be used by the candidate while uploading their documents in the application form.

Digital Photographs

Ensure that these are passport-sized photographs. It must measure 3.5W * 4.5H centimeters. The files should be in .JPG or .JPEG format. At least 50% of the photographs must be covered by your full face. Also, the dimensions of the picture should be between 240 * 320 pixels (minimum) to 480 * 640 pixels (maximum).

Please make sure that your face in the photograph is not obstructed by anything, such as hair, shadows, dark lighting, etc. If you use corrective lenses, take them off before having your picture taken. Ignore this if you use contact lenses.

Digital Signature

A digital or scanned copy of your signature will be required. You may do this by scanning an A4-size paper that contains a 2H * 7W centimeter rectangular box with your signature on it. Ensure that you signed the box with a pen with black or blue ink.

Do not sign with blocked letters or a different color. To use the signature digitally, you will need to crop the digital copy of the A4-size paper that you scanned to the size of the rectangular box. Similar to digital photographs, JPG and JPEG files are only accepted.

GATE 2026 Application Procedure Completion

Once you have finished processing your GATE 2026 application, you must take a printout of the application form. The status of your application may be tracked by logging back onto your GOAPS account. Keep in mind that checking your status must be done on a regular basis, so we highly recommend checking it once every day.

If there are any issues found within your application, you will be notified of them immediately via your email address or your phone number.