India is becoming the prefered hub for students who dream of quality education. According to the reports on the All India Survey on Higher Education, there are 799 Universities, 39,701 colleges, and 11,923 standalone institutions in India. With more than 890 colleges, Bangalore tops the rank in the maximum number of colleges. With English as the medium of instruction for most of the courses, the colleges and institutions in Bangalore are globally recognised. The country has also become the second-largest higher education centre as international students are attracted towards the peaceful atmosphere and welcoming attitude of the country. To attract more and more students, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India has a reservation of seats for Non-Resident Indians and Foreign Nationals.

NRI Quota is allotted to the Non-Resident Indians by the premier institute of India. NRI Quota can also be availed by Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Foreign Nationals.

The NRI quota seats are available for all branches in Engineering, Medical, Law, Veterinary, Management, and other courses. Many private colleges in Bangalore reserve seats for admission to Non-Resident Indians for deserving students who wish to return and study in their country.

Supernumerary Quota or SNQ is reserved quota that will allow NRI and Foreign students to get admission to some specific colleges for reduced tuition fees that are 30 - 40% less compared to the management seats. Apart from this, under normal NRI quota, the Government of Karnataka reserves 15% seats for Non-Resident Indian / Foreign students who want to pursue their higher education in India.

As per the Supreme Court order, the eligibility criteria for NRI seat aspirants are:

• One of the parents of the student should be an NRI and shall ordinarily be residing abroad as an NRI
• The person who sponsors the student should be a first-degree relation and should be residing abroad as an NRI
• In case a student is taken as a ward by other nearest relative, then such students will be considered for admission if the guardian ordinarily resides abroad as an NRI and has a bonafide that authorizes the student as their ward and has shown interest in the affairs of the student and in the relationship with the student.

Note: To be considered as nearest relative, one must be a real brother/ sister of the student’s mother/ father, maternal/ paternal grandparents, or first-degree maternal/ paternal cousins.

The student should also qualify for NEET conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). After qualifying the exam, the student has to register for the counselling with the Karnataka Examinations Authority.

The admission offers will be done based on merit. Merit is determined by the NEET score obtained by the aspirants.

The students seeking NRI admission in engineering and technology courses in the college of Karnataka need to qualify the concerned entrance exam. The colleges approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) reserve a maximum of 5% seats in each course for NRI quota.