Over 800 NEET PG aspirants converted from Indian to NRI Change

Over 800 NEET PG aspirants converted from Indian to NRI Change 

Gives Them A Crack At Costly Seats With Less Competition

Rema.Nagarajan@timesofindia.com 01.02.2026

Medical Counselling Committee that allocates postgraduate seats in various medical specialties has released a list of 811 candidates who have chosen to “change their nationality” from Indian to NRI to get seats in the third round in 2025-26. Seats in NRI quota are the most expensive but that also means competition is less, with cut-offs lower than even for management quota. In effect, therefore, conversion to NRI gives those with low NEET scores but deep pockets a shot at getting seats in high demand clinical disciplines. 

The 811 candidates found to be eligible for conversion to NRI quota include two categories — those who actually are NRIs or children of NRIs and a second category of those who can show themselves to be wards of first degree or second degree relatives who are NRIs. 

There are 113 candidates in the first group and 698 in the second group. The lowest score among NRIs in the first category is 82 out of 800, while it is 28 in the second category. In the first category, 75 candidates scored less than 215, which means their rank is below 1.5 lakh. Over 422 of 698 candidates in the second category of NRIs are below 1.5 lakh rank. But these candidates can afford the NRI quota fees for any specialty. 

Fees for NRI quota PG seats in a clinical specialty could be as high as ₹45 lakh to ₹95 lakh per year, depending on the specialty, state and deemed university. If courts and govt did not allow conversion of Indians to NRIs, many of the quota seats would remain unfilled and would have to be converted into management seats where the fees would be much less. However, with even courts accepting the argument that private medical colleges cannot afford any financial loss, definition of NRIs has been expanded to allow candidates who don’t have NRI parents or siblings to show themselves as a ward of relatives. 

K’taka NRI seats sold for ₹25L to non-NRIs: MLA 

A political and ethical storm has erupted in Karnataka over the state govt’s decision to offer MBBS admissions in govt medical colleges under NRI quota — a move critics allege has resulted in affordable govt seats being effectively sold at a premium, report Sruthy Susan Ullas and Sandeep Moudgal . BJP’s Mangaluru North MLA Y Bharath Shetty raised the issue in the assembly earlier this week. “For the first time, Karnataka is selling govt medical seats for ₹25 lakh per year. A seat, which was meant to be affordable for a meritorious Kannadigaat ₹1-1.5 lakh per year, is now being sold by govt (at a much higher price),” he alleged.