NRI Quota in NLUs: All You Need to Know About NRI Reservation, Seats, Cut-Offs & Fees

CLAT 2026 NRI Seat Intake

At present, the NLUs offer a total of around 3700+ CLAT seats under 5-year LLB. Around 247 seats are offered to NRI/NRI sponsored/OCI/FN candidates. The seats offered by NLUs under NRI/NRI-S and FN categories are as mentioned below.

CLAT 2026 NRI/NRI Sponsered & FN seats

CLAT 2026 NRI Admission

The CLAT NRI admission at NLUs offering NLU quota is done based on scores obtained by NRI candidates in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). Candidates have to separately apply to the universities for getting admission under the CLAT NRI quota. The NRI admissions are not done through the centralised CLAT 2026 counselling process. Each university will release a separate NRI admission merit list on its website. The selected candidates are then required to complete document verification and fee payment. NRI seats that are left vacant are converted into general category seats and filled accordingly.

Legality of NRI Quota in NLUs

NRI and NRI-sponsored reservation in NLUs has been much contested. The tuition fee charged from NRIs, NRI-sponsored, OCI cardholders, and foreign nationals generally tends to be higher than other students. But the cut-offs under these categories go low due to reservation, making a chance for some section students who in most cases belong to the class to which the social, and economic reservation may not be justified.

The legality of the NRI quota was challenged in P A Inamdar v State of Maharashtra (2005).

In the judgement, the Supreme Court admitted that the term 'NRI' in relation to admissions is a “misnomer” and by and large, neither the students who get admissions under this category nor their parents are NRIs. In reality, less meritorious students who can afford to bring more money get admission.

However, the Court upheld the NRI quota on two main grounds;

• It enables these institutions to strengthen their level of education and enlarge their educational activities.

• That, it allows the people of Indian origin to bring back their children to their own country for higher education and facilitates their reunion with Indian cultural ethos.

In conclusion, the Court recommended a reservation not exceeding 15% for NRIs and subjected it to two conditions.

• First, the seat should be utilized by the NRIs only for their children or wards.

• Second, the amount collected from such students should be utilized to benefit students from weaker sections.

In a case that came up in 2020, the Odisha High Court observed “NRIS reservation is like the reservation for the elite class and this dubious category of quota is unconstitutional. The eligibility and selection under this category are unregulated, illegal and arbitrary.” The court further suggested the Consortium of NLUs, the Bar Council of India and all the stakeholders involved in the process revisit the so-called NRIS quota and prepare a proper regulation and system while implementing this quota.

CLAT NRI Cut Off 2026

The CLAT 2026 NRI cut off will be available through the CLAT 2026 NRI merit list published by each university. The CLAT NRI cut off 2026 will be updated in this section upon official notification.

CLAT NRI Previous Year Cut Off

Candidates can check the previous year CLAT NRI cut-offs. It will give the candidates an idea of the cut off trends and the expected CLAT cut off for NRI category.

CLAT 2024 NRI Cut Off

CLAT NRI Cut-Offs 2023

NRI Fees in NLUs

Talking about the fees in NLUs, the NRI candidates in most cases have to pay almost double the general category fee. The tuition fee for NRI students is around USD 5,000 per semester (around Rs. 4 Lakh per annum, 1$ = Rs. 80) as tuition fees in MNLU Mumbai. In GNLU Gandhinagar, the tuition fee for NRI candidates is around USD 12,500 per annum (roughly Rs. 10 Lakh per annum). Hostel fees, admission fees, examination fees etc are charged in addition to tuition fees. Candidates can check the tuition fees for NRIs in NLUs below in a table.

NRI/NRI-S fees in NLUs

Reference – Official website/brochures

Admission to Foreign Nationals

While NRIs are required to appear for the CLAT exam, foreign nationals are eligible for direct admission in most of the NLUs. Such candidates need to apply separately to these NLUs at the time of counselling. A separate application form is released under the NRI/NRI-S and FN categories. Admissions to foreign nationals are offered on the basis of their academic performance.