UP Caste Certificate: eligibility, documents & application process (2026)

In short

A Caste (Jati) Certificate certifies that you belong to a community notified as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class in Uttar Pradesh. It is issued once and does not expire, but an OBC applicant claiming reservation also needs a current non-creamy-layer certificate, which does.

Find your community on the right list

Reservation follows notified lists, and the lists are state-specific. A community that is OBC in Uttar Pradesh may be unlisted in another state, and the reverse is also true. Before applying, confirm which of the three lists (SC, ST or OBC) your community appears on for UP, because that decides the certificate you receive and the quota you can claim.

• Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe: certified against the central and state schedules for UP.
• Other Backward Class: certified against the UP OBC list, and paired with a non-creamy-layer certificate for reservation.
• A community not on any of the three lists cannot be certified. An EWS certificate is the route for a general-category household.

Documents you need

The certificate is issued on the strength of family lineage, so the strongest filing is one that shows the same community recorded for a parent or grandparent.

How to apply

1. 1Open the Caste Certificate service: On the e-District portal, under Certificate Services, with your district and Tehsil selected.
2. 2Enter the community exactly as notified: Use the spelling from the notified list, not a local variant. This is the field most often filled loosely and most often queried.
3. 3Attach the family evidence: Upload the parent's certificate or the school record that carries the community, along with identity and address proof.
4. 4Pay and record the application number: Then track the file; the number is the only handle the Tehsil will search on.
5. 5Field verification and issuance: The Lekhpal reports, the Tehsildar approves, and the signed certificate is downloadable from the portal. If no family record exists. Where no relative holds a certificate and no school record carries the community, verification takes longer and the Tehsil may rely on a local enquiry. Applying with a written account of the family's residence and community history saves a round trip.

OBC applicants: the second certificate

A caste certificate establishes that you belong to an OBC community. It does not establish that you are eligible for OBC reservation. That requires a non-creamy-layer certificate, which tests family income and status and is issued for a limited period. Institutions ask for both, and an expired non-creamy-layer certificate is refused even when the caste certificate is decades old.

Timeline and validity

Issuance normally takes 7 to 10 working days, longer where lineage has to be established from scratch. Once issued, the certificate is permanent and can be reused indefinitely; keep the digital copy, because a reprint means a fresh application.

Questions about applying

How should I write the community name on the form?

Use the spelling that appears on the notified UP list. That one field is queried more often than anything else on the form, and a local variant will not match the list.

Who verifies the application and who signs it?

The Lekhpal reports on the family's community and the Tehsildar approves the file. The signed certificate is then downloadable from the portal account the application was filed from.

What happens if the Tehsil runs a local enquiry?

It takes longer than a filing backed by a relative's certificate or a school record. Attach a written account of where the family has lived and which community it belongs to, so the enquiry has less to come back for.