JEE Main 2027 APAAR ID and Aadhaar Requirement

As of mid-October 2026, NTA has not opened JEE Main 2027 registration or released the Information Bulletin, so nobody can state the 2027 rule officially. For JEE Main 2026 we checked the official Information Bulletin and NTA's FAQs (both on jeemain.nta.nic.in): APAAR ID was not mandatory (FAQ 17: "No."), and the identity step offered Aadhaar e-KYC, with a scanned identity-proof upload for candidates who did not verify through Aadhaar or DigiLocker. Details about later notices, such as the photo verification certificate, come from news reports and are marked as such.

APAAR means Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry. It is a permanent 12-digit student ID introduced under the national One Nation One Student ID initiative and connected to the Academic Bank of Credits. Its purpose is to keep a single, portable record of your academic journey, so that marksheets, scholarships and credits can be verified digitally instead of through paper copies.

For JEE Main, the interest in it is practical: if your APAAR record is complete, your school and board details can be matched without manual typing, which in theory reduces data-entry errors in the academic section of the form. Some coaching sites argue that it also reduces rejection risk, but that is their reading, not an NTA statement we could verify. In the 2026 form the APAAR step sat between the identity step and the exam and centre details, and the bulletin's replica shows a separate qualification page where you still enter your Class 10 and Class 12 details.

The 2026 bulletin's form replica shows the Identity Type page: you choose Aadhaar, tick a consent statement saying you voluntarily share your Aadhaar number to establish identity for the examination by matching personal identification details in Aadhaar records, enter the Aadhaar number twice and a captcha, and then complete an e-KYC page with a one-time password sent to the Aadhaar-linked mobile. The page warns that you cannot change the name after Aadhaar authentication, so check the details before proceeding. The bulletin advises candidates to update their Aadhaar card with a recent photograph, name, date of birth, gender and address, and repeats this advice for verification at the examination centre.

Three official FAQ points matter here. FAQ 9 says documents available in DigiLocker can be uploaded. FAQ 16 says a name difference between the Class 10 marksheet and Aadhaar does not affect candidature. FAQ 19 says that if the live photograph does not match the Aadhaar photograph, NTA reviews it and informs the candidate by e-mail or text message in case of a major discrepancy; it does not by itself cancel the form. Exam cities, by contrast, are chosen from the present and permanent addresses you enter in the form (bulletin Para 5.1), so we do not rely on a claim, seen on some sites, that Aadhaar addresses drive centre allocation.

OTP is the practical bottleneck. The mobile number linked to Aadhaar must be active and with you when you register (FAQ 15). If it is a parent's or an old number, sort that out at an Aadhaar centre before the window opens, since it takes time and you do not want to be doing it on deadline day. Your photograph also feeds into this check; see the photo and signature page for preparing it.

No APAAR ID. In the 2026 cycle APAAR was not mandatory (FAQ 17) and the form asked a Yes or No question. Do not delay your registration to chase one. If you can get it in time, enter it; if not, proceed.

No Aadhaar. This is the case needing care. The 2026 bulletin provides for a scanned identity proof (JPG/JPEG, 10 to 200 KB) from candidates who verify identity by methods other than Aadhaar or DigiLocker, and does not call Aadhaar compulsory. News reports (not an NTA page we could open) say that candidates who registered that way were asked in late December 2025 or early January 2026 to download a photo verification certificate from their login, attach a recent photograph, get it signed by the school or college head and upload the scanned PDF; the deadline was reported as 7 January 2026, later extended to 15 January 2026, with a printed copy to carry to the exam centre. Another report said Class-I gazetted officers could also sign. If 2027 offers that route, start the signature early.

NRI and foreign candidates. Their identity route is different (NTA's 2026 FAQ 14 tells OCI/PIO candidates to enter 111111 in the pin code field of the address); see our page for NRI and foreign candidates.

Whatever route applies, contact details in the form were reported as locked after submission, so enter them carefully (more on that in the step-by-step form guide).

Identity checks do not end at the form. Based on the 2026 bulletin, these are the four checkpoints and what each one wants from you:

The bulletin tells candidates to update Aadhaar with their recent photograph, name, date of birth, gender and address, following UIDAI guidelines. Updates through UIDAI can take time, and the JEE Main form locks parts of your data once identity is authenticated, so do this before registration opens, not during it. A sensible order of work: