How to Register for the dMAT: Process & Test Centers in India

Registration, payment and certificate issuance for the dMAT are handled entirely by g.a.s.t. — APS India is not involved in any part of the test-booking process, only in requiring the resulting certificate as part of your documentation. Registration is fixed to published test dates; there's no on-demand testing.

Before you read further: registration for the first India sitting closed on 15 September 2026, and the exam itself took place on 26 September 2026. If you didn't book a seat, that cycle is over for you — the section below on where the window stands explains what your actual next opportunity is.

The registration steps

1. Go to the g.a.s.t. portal linked from d-mat.de and create a participant profile.
2. Book a seat at your chosen test center, for the General Academic Module — the module required for APS purposes in India.
3. Use the exact name spelling shown on your passport. You'll present the same ID document on exam day, and a mismatch causes problems you don't want to discover that morning.
4. Upload a passport-style photo for identity verification. This is a hard admission requirement, not a formality — see below.
5. Pay the exam fee to confirm your booking — see the exam fee page for the amount and what happens if you later need to deregister. Registration only counts as complete once the fee is paid, and it becomes binding once g.a.s.t. confirms it.
6. Keep your contact details current in the participant portal up to the registration deadline. You can update these yourself; changing your legal name after registering generally requires g.a.s.t.'s direct agreement, which is why step 3 matters.

The photo requirement people miss

Every piece of information g.a.s.t. requires has to be complete in your participant portal by the registration deadline — and the item most likely to be left half-done is the photo. g.a.s.t. requires a passport-style photograph for identity verification, and states that without it you will not be admitted to the test.

It's worth separating this from the paperwork you can fix later. A wrong phone number is an inconvenience; a missing photo is a locked door on exam morning, after the fee is non-refundable and the deadline for fixing anything has passed. Because the check happens at the test center rather than at upload time, nothing warns you in between. If you've registered, log into the portal and confirm the photo is actually there and accepted, rather than assuming the upload went through.

Changing your test center or date after you've booked

Changes to an existing registration are only possible in consultation with g.a.s.t. directly, at kontakt@gast.de — your test center can't move you. The practical deadline is the registration deadline: once it passes, changes can no longer be made through the regular process at all.

The lesson is to raise a possible change early rather than waiting for certainty. If a few weeks before the deadline you think you might need to move from Pune to Mumbai, ask then — not after it, when the only remaining options are to travel or to forfeit the fee entirely. The same asymmetry applies to cancelling: you can cancel through the portal up to the registration deadline and recover most of the fee, and nothing after it.

Where the registration window stands right now

Registration is open for the 2027 sittings. APS India's dMAT page, updated on 29 October 2026, confirms two test dates in India, 16 January 2027 and 13 March 2027, and says you select your preferred date and location directly in the online registration on the g.a.s.t. portal. The APS page does not list the closing date for each cycle; the portal shows exact registration deadlines and score-release dates, so read them there before committing.

The first sitting, on 26 September 2026, is closed. Its schedule was: registration opened 29 June 2026, closed 15 September 2026, exam 26 September, certificates 12 October. Nothing in APS India's or g.a.s.t.'s published material describes a late-registration route, a waitlist, or a discretionary exception for missing a deadline. g.a.s.t.'s terms allow changes and cancellation only up to the registration deadline, after which the regular process stops accepting them, so a missed deadline means the next date rather than a hard negotiation.

Registration also requires some practical preparation, which is worth doing before the window gets tight: a valid passport (the only accepted ID), a passport-style photo uploaded to the portal, and payment by PayPal or a 3D Secure-enabled Mastercard/Visa credit card (debit cards are not accepted). Registration only completes once the fee is paid. APS India also recommends submitting your APS documents without waiting for the dMAT result, since the dMAT certificate is the one item you may add later. How the dMAT fits into your APS application covers that sequencing, and exam dates covers which 2027 sitting suits which intake.

How test-center seats are allocated

Seats are allocated first-come, first-served, and APS India states plainly that it cannot reserve dMAT test seats — booking is handled entirely by g.a.s.t. This is worth taking literally, because it removes the escalation route applicants often assume exists: if your city is full, there is no one at APS India to appeal to, and no waitlist described anywhere in the official material.

The practical consequence is that a full center behaves differently from a full center at a typical Indian entrance exam. There, a popular venue usually means a less convenient slot or a longer queue. Here, APS India's guidance is that if your preferred center is fully booked, you select a different available center — and with only ten cities in India offering the test (listed below), "a different center" can mean an overnight journey rather than a different neighbourhood. Budget for that possibility when you plan, since g.a.s.t. won't reimburse travel and the exam-day rules require you to be at the venue before materials are distributed.

One thing you cannot do is check availability in advance: both APS India and g.a.s.t. say the final list of available test centers is shown during registration, not published beforehand. Neither organisation publishes seat counts per center, or data on which centers filled first — so treat any confident claim about which Indian cities "always fill up" as guesswork rather than information, including on other sites.

Taken together, that argues for booking early in the window rather than near its deadline, and for treating your center choice as part of the booking rather than something to tidy up later — changes after the fact need g.a.s.t.'s direct agreement and stop being possible once the deadline passes.

Special arrangements take longer to book

If you have a documented disability or condition that requires special exam arrangements, g.a.s.t. requires you to register at least ten weeks before the exam date so accommodations can be arranged — considerably earlier than the general registration deadline. Applicants who need this shouldn't wait to confirm eligibility first; start the accommodation request in parallel.

Test centers

For the India cycles, dMAT test centers are located in: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kolkata, Mananthavady, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune. Final center availability is confirmed at the time of registration. The dMAT is also run outside India — currently at a center in Berlin, Germany, and in Kathmandu, Nepal — though those centers aren't relevant to the APS India requirement covered on this site.

Once you're registered, see how the dMAT fits into your APS application for how to sequence this against your overall timeline, double-check eligibility if you haven't already, and see what to expect on exam day before you go.

Does APS India handle dMAT registration?

No. Registration, payment and certificate issuance are handled entirely by g.a.s.t. through its own portal. APS India is not involved in test-booking — it only requires the resulting certificate as part of your documentation.

Is dMAT registration still open?

Yes, for the 2027 sittings. APS India states that online registration is open on the g.a.s.t. portal for the 16 January 2027 and 13 March 2027 test dates, and you choose your date and test centre while registering. The 26 September 2026 window closed on 15 September. Each date has its own deadline, shown on the portal. See exam dates for what each sitting means for your intake.

What if my preferred dMAT test center is fully booked?

You choose another center that still has seats. APS India states plainly that it cannot reserve dMAT test seats — booking is run by g.a.s.t. on a first-come, first-served basis, so there is no waitlist or escalation route. The list of centers with availability is shown to you during registration.

What name should I use when I register?

The exact spelling shown on your passport. You must present the same ID document on exam day that you used to register, and changing your legal name afterward generally requires agreement from g.a.s.t. directly — so get it right the first time.

Do I need to upload a photo to register for the dMAT?

Yes, and it is not optional paperwork. g.a.s.t. requires a passport-style photo in your participant portal for identity verification, and states plainly that you will not be admitted to the test without it. It has to be uploaded before the registration deadline, like every other required detail.

Can I change my test center or test date after registering?

Only by arranging it with g.a.s.t. directly, and realistically only before the registration deadline. Once the deadline passes, changes can no longer be made through the normal process, so any switch you're considering should be raised well before then.