Step-by-step: How do I fill the UPSC Prelims application (OTR + Part I + Part II)?

Before you log in — keep these ready

This is the single biggest reason aspirants fumble — they start filling and then scramble for documents. Open one folder on your desktop named UPSC_2026_Application and put inside:

• Class 10 marksheet (for DoB) and Class 12 marksheet
• Graduation degree / final-year provisional certificate
• Photograph: 350×350 px, 20–300 KB, JPG/JPEG, white background
• Signature: 350×350 px, 20–100 KB, JPG/JPEG — three signatures stacked vertically on white paper, black ink
• Photo ID (Aadhaar / PAN / Passport / Driving License / Voter ID)
• Category certificate (SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS/PwBD), if applicable, in valid date range
• A working email + Indian mobile number you will keep for years (linked to your OTR for life)

Stage 1 — One-Time Registration (OTR)

UPSC introduced OTR so you don't re-enter personal data every exam. Do this once and reuse across CSE, IFoS, CDS, NDA, CAPF, ESE, etc. There is no fee for OTR — and it remains valid for all future UPSC exams, with only updates needed when life events change (marriage, address).

1. Visit upsconline.gov.in/upsc/OTRP/ → click New Registration
2. Enter name (exactly as Class 10 certificate), DoB, gender, parents' names, domicile, address
3. Set a strong password — you will use this for years; store it in a password manager
4. Upload OTR photo (550×550 to 1000×1000 px, 20–300 KB) and signature (20–300 KB)
5. Verify email + mobile via OTP
6. On submit, an OTR ID is generated — save it permanently

Stage 2 — Part I of the Application

Log in with your OTR ID and select Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2026.

• Confirm pre-filled personal details (OTR data flows in automatically)
• Pick optional subject for Mains (you can change later in correction window or DAF-I)
• Select preferred medium of examination
• Pay the fee: ₹100 (General/EWS/OBC male) via Net Banking, Debit/Credit card, UPI, or SBI Pay-by-Cash challan. Fee is fully waived for SC, ST, PwBD and ALL female candidates.

Stage 3 — Part II of the Application

This is where rejections happen. Take your time.

1. Exam centre — choose from 83 Prelims cities. Allocation is first-apply-first-allot for all centres except Chennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur, which operate on separate (non-capped) quotas. Apply early or you'll be sent 600 km away.
2. Photograph upload — fresh upload as per current spec (350×350)
3. Signature upload — three signatures stacked vertically on white paper, black ink, scanned to 350×350
4. Photo ID — upload one government photo ID; the same ID must be carried to the exam hall
5. Declaration — read it line by line; tick only after confirming each statement
6. Final submit → download PDF → take 2 printouts and keep one in your study folder

Worked scenario — Bhopal aspirant, OBC-NCL category, female

Meet Priya, a 25-year-old OBC-NCL female candidate from Bhopal applying for CSE 2026:

1. OTR: She completed OTR on 5 February 2026, taking 25 minutes
2. Part I: Selected CSE 2026, chose Sociology as optional, Hindi medium. Because she's female, fee is NIL — she still goes through the "payment" step where system records NIL — Submitted
3. Part II: Chose Bhopal centre on Day 2 (locked successfully). Uploaded fresh studio photograph and triple signature. Uploaded Aadhaar as photo ID. Final submit on 6 February — total time across two days: 70 minutes.
4. OBC certificate caution: Priya's OBC-NCL certificate must be issued on or after 1 April 2025 and based on FY 2022-23, 2023-24, or 2024-25 income. She regenerated it from the SDM in January 2026 before applying.

Topper insight

Aditya Srivastava (AIR 1, CSE 2023) has stressed that the application itself is a Day-1 task — "don't keep it pending; the form is a sunk cost, the prep is the asset." Animesh Pradhan (AIR 2, CSE 2023) similarly applied within the first week to lock his preferred centre (Bhubaneswar).

Recent policy change — OTR enhancements for 2026

UPSC's OTR portal received a quiet refresh in January 2026:

• OTP-based login layered on top of password for sensitive edits
• Auto-fill from previous applications — your data carries forward to every new exam notification
• Mobile/email change still requires manual helpline intervention; not a self-service action
• OTR-to-DAF data flow — every personal field you fill in OTR pre-populates DAF-I and DAF-II, removing one source of inconsistency

If you registered OTR before 2024, log in once before applying and re-verify all fields — some legacy entries had spacing inconsistencies that needed manual cleanup.

Mentor's reminder

Do not wait until the last 48 hours. The portal slows to a crawl on closing day, payment gateways time out, and your bank may flag a ₹100 transaction as suspicious. Apply within the first week — and use the correction window only for fixing typos, not for filling the form fresh.