Status Holder Certification for Exporters (Star Export House)

What is Status Holder Certification?

Status Holder Certification is the Government of India's formal recognition of an exporter's track record, granted by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. Exporters who cross defined thresholds of merchandise export performance are classified into five categories, One Star, Two Star, Three Star, Four Star and Five Star Export House, and receive an electronic Status Holder Certificate (e-SHC).

Status Holder recognition is not a subsidy. It carries no cash benefit and no scrip. What it delivers is procedural privilege: faster clearances, fewer guarantees, self-declaration in place of documentary proof, and standing with overseas buyers and banks. For a growing exporter, the compliance time saved is often worth more than a percentage-point incentive.

According to DGFT, Status Holders are treated as business partners in India's export effort, expected to help newer exporters through technology, management and market know-how, an expectation FTP 2023 made explicit through a skilling and mentorship obligation.

What are the export performance thresholds?

Under paragraph 1.26 of FTP 2023, the thresholds are measured on FOB or FOR value of merchandise exports:

The qualifying data set is the merchandise export performance of the preceding three financial years, plus the April to June export data of the current financial year. For the gems and jewellery sector, the window is the preceding two financial years plus the same April to June data, recognising the sector's different turnover pattern.

The FTP 2023 thresholds were a substantial reduction from the earlier policy at the upper categories, which allowed many more firms to reach Three, Four and Five Star recognition than under the previous regime.

Who is eligible for Status Holder Certification?

You can be recognised if:

• You hold a valid Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) and the export data against that IEC is captured in the DGCI&S database.
• Your merchandise exports over the qualifying window cross one of the five thresholds, counting shipments from EDI ports, non-EDI ports and SEZ ports.
• You are a merchant exporter, manufacturer exporter, service provider, export oriented unit or a unit in an SEZ, EHTP, STP, BTP or agri-export zone, subject to the conditions in the policy.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• Your export performance falls below USD 3 million in the qualifying window, since One Star is the entry category.
• Your IEC is inactive, suspended or under a DGFT denied entity listing.
• The exports were made by a different legal entity, status attaches to the IEC holder, not to a group or a brand.
• You are seeking the certificate as an individual without an IEC. Status Holder Certification is a firm-level recognition, so individuals cannot apply for a personal benefit.

Note that there is no application to reject. Because the system issues the certificate from export data, ineligibility simply means no certificate is generated for that year.

How to get your Status Holder Certificate

DGFT moved this to a zero-application process through Trade Notice No. 28/2023-24 dated 9 October 2023. The steps below are what an exporter actually does.

1. Keep your IEC profile current on dgft.gov.in — registered email, mobile number, address and branch details. The certificate is delivered to the registered email, so a stale address means a missed certificate.
2. Make sure your exports are correctly reported against your IEC on shipping bills at every port, including non-EDI ports and SEZ ports, since DGCI&S aggregates from those records.
3. Wait for the annual system run. DGFT's IT module classifies every exporting IEC into the five status categories using DGCI&S data. No application, fee or documentation is required.
4. Collect the e-SHC by 15 August each year from your registered email and the customer dashboard on dgft.gov.in.
5. Verify the category shown. If the system has placed you in a lower category than your records support, raise the discrepancy with DGFT through the Contact@DGFT service with your shipping bill evidence.
6. Quote the certificate to customs, banks and buyers to claim the privileges attached to your category.

Exporters who had filed a status application under FTP 2023 before the automation were also covered: DGFT stated that pending applications would be scrutinised by the IT system for auto-issue where the applied category matched the system-identified category, and those files were then shown as closed.

What privileges does a Status Holder get?

Paragraph 1.29 of FTP 2023 sets out the entitlements. The main ones are:

• Authorisation and customs clearance on self-declaration basis, removing the need to submit supporting evidence for routine clearances.
• Fixation of input-output norms on priority, within 60 days of application.
• Exemption from furnishing bank guarantees for schemes under the Foreign Trade Policy, unless a specific regulation says otherwise. For a firm running advance authorisations or EPCG, this releases working capital.
• Exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks, so export documents can be sent directly to the buyer and remittance received through the banking channel.
• Preferential treatment and priority in handling of consignments by customs authorities.
• Permission to establish export warehouses, available to Two Star Export House and above.
• Self-certification of preferential origin; manufacturer exporters with Three Star Export House status and above may self-certify that their goods originate in India for the purposes of preferential trade agreements.
• Free-of-cost exports for export promotion, subject to an annual limit of Rs 1 crore or 2% of average annual export realisation in the preceding three years, whichever is lower.

How long does Status Holder recognition last?

The Status Holder Certificate is valid for five years from the date of issue, or until the validity of the Foreign Trade Policy under which it was granted, whichever expires earlier. Because the system runs annually, an exporter whose performance rises can be upgraded to a higher category in a later cycle without surrendering the existing certificate.

Downgrade does not happen retrospectively. A certificate already issued runs its term, but a fall in export performance will show up in the category the system assigns in the next annual run.

What obligations come with Status Holder recognition?

FTP 2023 introduced a skilling and mentorship obligation at paragraph 1.30, under which Status Holders are expected to contribute to building export capacity among newer exporters. DGFT indicated a model training programme of at least six weeks' duration placed in the public domain for guidance. This links Status Holders to the wider Niryat Bandhu hand-holding effort for first-time exporters.

Status Holders also remain subject to the ordinary compliance framework; export obligation under any authorisation held, realisation of export proceeds within FEMA timelines, and accuracy of declarations made under the self-declaration privilege. Misuse of self-declaration is treated more seriously precisely because the privilege replaces documentary verification.

Why does the system show a lower status than expected?

• Exports filed under a different IEC, for instance by a sister concern or a merged entity whose data has not been consolidated.
• Shipments from non-EDI ports not correctly transmitted into the DGCI&S data set.
• Service exports counted informally, the status categorisation runs on merchandise export figures.
• Double weightage claimed but not applicable, since FTP 2023 restricts double weightage to the One Star category only.
• Currency conversion differences, because the thresholds are stated in US dollars while shipping bills are filed in rupees.
• Outdated email or mobile on the DGFT profile, so the certificate was issued but never seen.

The remedy in each case is to write to DGFT through Contact@DGFT with the shipping bill list, port codes and the period concerned, rather than filing a fresh application, since the automated route has replaced the application form.

Where to get help

• DGFT toll-free helpline: 1800-111-550 and 1800-572-1550.
• Contact@DGFT on dgft.gov.in, the online ticketing service that logs a grievance against your IEC.
• Your regional DGFT office, for discrepancies in export data attribution and category determination.
• Your Export Promotion Council, which routinely takes member data issues up with DGFT collectively.

There is no fee for Status Holder Certification and no application to buy. Any agent offering to "arrange" a Star Export House certificate for a fee is selling something DGFT already issues automatically and free of cost.

How to apply

Merchandise exporters do not file anything: DGFT's system reads DGCI&S export data against the IEC and issues the e-SHC on its own. But two groups fall outside that automatic sweep and do need to file a manual application through ANF 1B on the DGFT portal:

1. Service exporters. DGCI&S captures merchandise trade data, not services, so a service provider seeking Status Holder recognition has to apply directly rather than wait for an automatic certificate.
2. Exporters disputing the category the system assigned, or seeking recognition for export performance the automatic run has not picked up correctly (a merged entity, a port whose data feed lagged, or years before the automated procedure began).

For these manual cases, the process is:

1. Log in to the DGFT portal (dgft.gov.in) with your IEC credentials and a registered digital signature certificate.
2. Open the "Services" menu and select the Status Holder Certificate application (ANF 1B) under the Foreign Trade Policy applications section.
3. Enter export performance figures for the qualifying years, backed by your own shipping bill or FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate) data for service exports, since there is no DGCI&S feed to draw on automatically.
4. Upload supporting documents: IEC copy, bank certificate or FIRC statements confirming realisation of export proceeds, and, where double weightage is claimed for One Star status, the Udyam Registration Certificate or ISO/BIS certificate that supports it.
5. Submit the application online. No physical filing is required; DGFT processes ANF 1B applications through the same e-office workflow as other online authorisations.
6. Track the application on the portal until a Regional Authority officer either approves it and issues the certificate or raises a query for clarification.

There is no fee for either the automatic route or the ANF 1B manual route. Because most goods exporters never touch this form, filing ANF 1B when you are not a service exporter or a correction case usually means the system has simply not run its annual cycle yet, not that you need to apply.

How to check your application status

For the automatic route, "status" means checking whether the e-SHC has been generated for the year, not tracking an application:

• DGFT customer dashboard: log in at dgft.gov.in with your IEC credentials and open the certificate or downloads section, where the current year's e-SHC appears once the annual run completes.
• Registered email: the e-SHC is emailed automatically to the address on your IEC profile; search for correspondence from DGFT around the 15 August issue date if the dashboard copy is not visible yet.
• IEC profile management screen: confirms whether the email and mobile number DGFT holds are current, the most common reason a generated certificate is never seen by the exporter.

For an ANF 1B application filed manually (service exporters or correction cases), status tracking works like any other DGFT online application:

1. Log in to the DGFT portal and go to "My Dashboard" or "Track Application Status".
2. Enter the file number issued at the time of ANF 1B submission.
3. The screen shows whether the file is pending scrutiny, under query from the Regional Authority, approved, or issued.
4. If a query has been raised, it appears on the same screen along with the officer's remark; the applicant must respond through the portal before the file moves further.
5. For a long-pending file with no movement, raise a grievance through Contact@DGFT quoting the file number, or contact the jurisdictional Regional Authority office directly rather than refiling.

There is no SMS or helpline-based status check for this certificate; both the automatic and manual routes are tracked entirely through the DGFT portal.

Common reasons for rejection

Because most exporters never file an application, "rejection" here mostly applies to ANF 1B filings by service exporters or those seeking correction. The recurring reasons and their fixes:

• Export proceeds not shown as realised. DGFT requires evidence that export proceeds have actually been received in convertible foreign exchange within the FEMA timeline, not merely that goods or services were shipped or delivered. Fix: attach bank realisation certificates or FIRCs that cover the full claimed turnover before submitting, not partial-year figures.
• Turnover claimed against the wrong entity. A parent company or group brand claiming exports actually invoiced by a subsidiary's separate IEC gets rejected because status recognition attaches to the IEC holder alone. Fix: file the claim from the IEC that actually appears on the shipping documents or FIRCs, not the group's principal IEC.
• Double weightage claimed outside the One Star category. FTP 2023 restricts double weightage to One Star Export House applications only; claiming it to reach Two Star or higher is rejected on that ground alone. Fix: recompute the qualifying turnover at actual value for any category above One Star.
• Service export data without FIRC backing. Since DGCI&S has no service trade feed, an ANF 1B claim for service exports supported only by invoices and not by bank-certified foreign exchange realisation is incomplete. Fix: obtain FIRCs or a bank certificate of export realisation for the full claimed period before filing.
• IEC not in active status. An application filed against an IEC that is suspended, under denial, or has lapsed for non-updation is rejected outright. Fix: reactivate or update the IEC profile on the DGFT portal first, then file or refile the application.
• Missing digital signature or portal registration mismatch. ANF 1B requires submission under a valid Class-3 DSC registered against the same IEC; a mismatch between the DSC holder and the IEC on record stalls or rejects the filing. Fix: register the correct DSC against the IEC before attempting submission again.