NIFT revises PhD admission guidelines 2026, clarifies OCI eligibility

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has revised the NIFT admission guidelines 2026 for Phd applicants and eligibility for Overseats Citizen of India (OCI). For NIFT PhD admission 2026, the number of vacancies for NIFT teaching fellow (NFT) has been increased to 20, from the existing 5 seats.

A tuition fee waiver of 100% will be granted to 5 candidates belonging to the EWS, SC, and ST categories who qualify for the NFT criteria. A 50% tuition fee waiver will be granted to the remaining 15 candidates who clear the NFT PhD admission process.

Additionally, the age limit under the NTF criteria shall be 30 years, and there will be no age limit for the other full-time and part-time candidates.

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NIFT Admission 2026: OCI Eligibility Criteria

According to the revised NIFT OCI guidelines 2026, candidates who have an OCI card can apply for admission under the open (general) category or can also apply as OCI candidates under the NRI/foreign national category by submitting Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores as applicable.

The clarification for OCI candidates comes after the Supreme Court's order regarding OCI eligibility.

“Candidates having an OCI card issued on or after March 4, 2021 shall be governed by the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification dated March 4, 2021 and shall be eligible to apply only under the NRI and Foreign National category, subject to submission of SAT, GMAT, and GRE scores, as prescribed,” the official NIFT notice reads.

Furthermore, all admissions will be granted subject to verification of original documents, including OC Card issuance date, nationality, academic qualifications, age, and any other conditions, as specified in the prospectus.

Eligible candidates can apply for the NIFT 2026 entrance exam without a late fee till January 15 on the official website, exams.nta.nic.in/niftee. For NIFT 2026, two new exam cities have been added this year —Vapi in Gujarat and Daman in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu— making the total number of exam cities 102.