ICAI CA Foundation Registration January 2025 Started: Application Process, Key Dates, and Fees

Yes, candidates have the option to update their preferred test city after submitting the CA exam form. However, this is only possible when the exam authorities open a designated form correction window. This correction period is typically available for 2-3 days during each exam session. Usually, the form correction window becomes accessible a day after the last date for submitting the CA exam form.

During this period, candidates can make various updates to their forms, including changes to their chosen test city, exam medium, image, and signature. It’s important to note that the CA form correction window is a one-time opportunity. If a candidate misses making the necessary adjustments while the correction window is active, they will not have another chance to modify their application.

The registration deadline for the CA Foundation Exam in May 2025 is January 1, 2025. To register, candidates need to visit the official website of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) at icai.org. The CA registration fees is Rs. 9,000 for students from India and $700 for students from the United States. It is recommended that candidates complete their registration at least four months prior to the exam date.

The CA Foundation exam will now be conducted three times a year, beginning in June 2024. The exam sessions will take place in May/June, September, and January. Candidates are advised to stay informed about the registration deadlines, as ICAI allows registration throughout the year. Additionally, candidates must register with the ICAI's Board of Studies and meet the required study period to be eligible for the exam.

The online exam application forms for the ICAI CA are available exclusively on the official website of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). No other website is authorized to provide access to these forms, admit cards, or result links. Aspiring candidates who want to register for the CA program in India must complete their registration on either icai.org or icaiexam.icai.org. These are the only official sites where students can not only apply but also access important details, resources, and study materials for CA Foundation, CA Intermediate, and CA Final exams, along with additional certifications.

For convenience, platforms like Shiksha share direct links to the ICAI application forms as soon as they are available, helping candidates to stay updated with each exam phase.

The duration of ICAI CA exams varies depending on the paper. Some exams are set for three hours, while others are shorter, lasting two hours. Specifically, in the CA Foundation, Papers 3 and 4 are timed at two hours each, whereas all other papers across the Foundation, Intermediate, and Final levels are three hours long. There is no separate time limit for different sections within any CA exam; candidates must complete the entire paper within the allotted time.

Each CA exam paper is scheduled on separate days, without breaks between sections or parts of the paper. Candidates are expected to complete the paper in a single sitting and should plan their preparation to maximize the number of questions they can answer effectively within the given time.

In the application form for the CA exam, candidates have the option to choose their preferred test city. The ICAI CA exam is conducted in more than 180 cities across India, giving candidates a wide range of location choices. When filling out the form, candidates can select up to three cities as their preferred exam locations, ranking them from 1 to 3 based on priority.

The exam center is usually assigned based on the candidate’s first choice, provided there are available seats in that location. However, if the seats in the first-choice city are full, the candidate will be allocated a center in their second choice of city. This process aims to place candidates as close to their preferred location as possible, ensuring convenience while accommodating the availability at various centers.

The CA exams are conducted in more than 150 cities across India, along with 8 international locations: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Kampala, Kathmandu, Kuwait, and Muscat. When filling out the CA exam application form, candidates can select their preferred test city. If they later wish to modify their city choice, this can be done only during the form correction window.

In India, the CA exams are held in a wide range of cities, including but not limited to:

• Andhra Pradesh: Port Blair, Anantapur, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajamahendravaram, Srikakulam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Vizianagaram.
• Assam: Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar, and Tinsukia.
• Chhattisgarh: Bilaspur, Durg, Raigarh, Raipur, Rajnandgaon.
• Delhi/NCR: Chandigarh, Delhi, and nearby cities such as Gurgaon, Hisar, and Panipat.
• Goa: Mapusa and Margao.
• Gujarat: Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Himatnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Mehsana, Nadiad, Navsari, Palanpur, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat, Surendranagar, Vadodara, and Vapi.
• Himachal Pradesh/Jammu & Kashmir: Shimla, Jammu, and Srinagar.
• Jharkhand: Bokaro Steel City, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Ramgarh, and Ranchi.
• Karnataka: Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bellary, Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Hassan, Haveri, Hubli, Kalaburgi, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mangalore, Mysore, Raichur, Shimoga, Sirsi, Tumakuru, Udupi, and Vijayapura.
• Kerala: Adoor, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kalpetta, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Thrissur.
• Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal, Burhanpur, Chhindwara, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Khandwa, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Rewa, Sagar, Satna, and Ujjain.
• Maharashtra: Ahmednagar, Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Badlapur, Beed, Bhiwandi, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Ichalkaranji, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Palghar, Panvel, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Vasai, Wardha, and Yavatmal.
• Manipur/Nagaland/Tripura: Shillong.
• Odisha: Balangir, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Rourkela, and Sambalpur.
• Puducherry: Puducherry.
• Punjab/Haryana: Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Pathankot, Patiala, Sangrur, and other cities like Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Beawar, Bharatpur, and Bhilwara in Rajasthan.
• Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Hosur, Kancheepuram, Karaikudi, Karur, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Vasai, Wardha, and Yavatmal.
• Meghalaya: Shillong.
• Odisha: Balangir, Berhampur (Brahmapur), Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Rourkela, and Sambalpur.
• Puducherry: Puducherry.
• Punjab: Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Pathankot, Patiala, Sangrur.
• Rajasthan: Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Beawar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Marwar, Rajsamand, Sikar, Sirohi, Sri Ganganagar, and Udaipur.
• Sikkim: Gangtok.
• Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Hosur, Kancheepuram, Karaikudi, Karur, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Nagercoil, Namakkal, Pudukkottai, Salem, Sivakasi, Theni, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Vellore, and Villupuram.
• Telangana: Adilabad, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, and Warangal.
• Tripura: Agartala.
• Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Noida, Saharanpur, and Varanasi.
• Uttarakhand: Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar, and Kashipur.
• West Bengal: Asansol, Durgapur, Hooghly, Kharagpur, Kolkata, Raniganj, and Siliguri.

This comprehensive list includes cities spread across various states, offering candidates a wide selection of options to choose from when filling out their exam preferences. Additionally, international locations like Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Dubai allow candidates from different parts of the world to take the exams close to home. It's important for candidates to finalize their preferred cities during the application process, as changes can only be made during the form correction window.