National Overseas Scholarship for ST Students Documents Required: Complete Checklist

To apply for the National Overseas Scholarship for ST Students (NOS-ST), you must upload a fixed set of documents on overseas.tribal.gov.in. The ST/PVTG certificate, the foreign admission offer, degree marksheets showing at least 60%, an income certificate within Rs 6 lakh, date-of-birth proof, a valid passport, and a photograph with signature. A missing or unreadable upload is treated as an incomplete application and rejected, so getting the set right is the single most controllable part of a highly competitive process. NOS-ST is the Ministry of Tribal Affairs scholarship for full-time postgraduate and research study abroad; this checklist details each document, not the full eligibility (in short: notified ST/PVTG, income up to Rs 6 lakh, 60%+, below 35, with a foreign offer).

The complete document checklist

#	Document	Mandatory	What it proves
1	ST or PVTG certificate	Yes	Category eligibility; 3 of 20 awards are for PVTGs
2	Unconditional offer letter from the foreign university	Yes	Admission to a regular, full-time Masters/PhD/post-doc course
3	Degree certificates and marksheets	Yes	At least 60% / first class in the qualifying degree
4	Income certificate	Yes	Family income within the Rs 6,00,000 a year ceiling
5	Class 10 certificate or birth certificate	Yes	Date of birth for the below-35 age condition
6	Valid Indian passport	Yes	Visa processing and release of the air-fare component
7	Passport-size photograph and signature	Yes	Identity on the online application
8	CGPA-to-percentage conversion certificate	Only if graded on CGPA	Correct reading of a CGPA degree as a percentage
9	Disability certificate	Only if claiming disability reservation	Consideration under the benchmark-disability reservation

What each document must show

ST/PVTG certificate. Issue it from the competent authority in the prescribed format for a notified Scheduled Tribe. PVTG applicants targeting the 3 reserved awards need the matching PVTG certificate. A certificate from a non-competent authority is a common rejection ground.

Offer letter from the foreign university. The core requirement is an admission offer for a regular, full-time Masters, PhD or post-doctoral programme. An unconditional offer is preferred; provisional or conditional offers may be considered at the ministry's discretion. Offers for undergraduate, diploma, part-time, online or distance courses do not qualify.

Degree certificates and marksheets. Provide the qualifying degree: Bachelor's for Masters applicants, Master's for PhD applicants, PhD for post-doctoral applicants; showing at least 60% or first class. Marksheets must be legible; an unreadable scan is treated as incomplete.

Income certificate. It must state combined family income (candidate, parents and spouse) not exceeding Rs 6,00,000 a year, issued by the competent authority. This is the most-checked single figure, so ensure the certificate is current and correct.

Date-of-birth proof. Class 10 certificate or birth certificate, used to verify that you are below 35 as on the cut-off date in the year's advertisement.

Valid passport. Needed both for visa processing and for release of the air-fare component after selection. Renew a near-expiry passport before applying.

Photograph and signature. Upload in the prescribed size and format.

Format, size and common mistakes

• Upload documents in the file size and format the portal specifies — oversized or wrong-format files fail to attach cleanly.
• Linking documents through DigiLocker is encouraged and speeds verification.
• Ensure every scan is legible and complete (both sides where relevant); an unreadable marksheet or a missing income certificate makes the whole application incomplete.
• Provide the CGPA-to-percentage conversion certificate if your degree uses a CGPA scale; without it, a genuine 60%+ can be mis-scored.
• Match the name and details across documents. A mismatch between passport, marksheet and certificate can trigger a scrutiny query.

Documents needed after selection

Selection is not the end of the paperwork. To trigger disbursement of tuition, air fare and the first maintenance instalment, selected candidates submit the award acceptance, visa and joining documents. Later maintenance instalments are released against satisfactory progress reports from the foreign institution, so keep those coming on time.

Quick FAQ

Do I need all documents at the application stage? Yes for the seven mandatory items; the CGPA conversion and disability certificates are conditional. Award-acceptance and visa documents come after selection.

Are physical copies required? The application is online, so upload scanned copies; keep originals for later verification and for the post-selection stage.

Is there any fee to submit documents? No. Applying to NOS-ST is free, and no agent can influence selection. For full eligibility, benefits and how to apply, see the parent NOS-ST guide.