ICO Exam Registration, Dates, Fees and Test Centres in India

For the 2026 ICO standard and Advanced examinations, the International Council of Ophthalmology lists 19 October 2026 as the examination date and 17 August 2026 as the registration-and-payment deadline. The deadline is close enough that this guide should be used as a checklist, not as a substitute for the live application portal. The paper you choose, your eligibility, centre capacity and the fee displayed to you are all part of the actual transaction.

Current-rule check, 18 August 2026: ICO’s published deadline has passed as this article is checked. Do not submit a late application based on an old screenshot. Go to the official registration site or contact the ICO examinations office to ask about a future sitting or an exception; this article does not imply that a late place is available.

The short answer: what an Indian candidate needs to do

Create or sign in to the ICO account used for examinations, select the correct component, complete the online application, check the centre offered within that application, pay before the stated closing date and retain the receipt. ICO says examination fees are shown in the online form and are set by World Bank country-income category; candidates from ICO member societies may receive additional discounted rates. That means a fee quoted in a forum, an old Telegram file or a colleague’s receipt is not a reliable number for your application.

The route is straightforward only when you have chosen the right paper. The ICO Standard Examinations are Visual Sciences, Optics, Refraction and Instruments (ORI), and Clinical Ophthalmology. Clinical Ophthalmology follows passes in the first two components or an ICO-recognised equivalent. The Advanced 115 examination follows completion of all three Standard components or a recognised equivalent. Passing Advanced plus a local face-to-face ophthalmology examination is the stated route to the FICO post-nominal; it is not the same assessment as FAICO.

For the broader academic route and optional question practice, start with the ICO / FICO preparation guide. Use official ICO documents for rules; a preparation guide cannot confirm your application status.

Dates: use the live notice, then work backwards

The ICO’s examination overview currently gives these operational facts:

Operational pages age quickly. Before you book leave, flights or accommodation, re-open the ICO examination overview and the ICO FAQ. If your portal confirmation, candidate instructions or an emailed notice conflicts with a general web page, ask the ICO examinations office for written clarification and follow the newer instruction.

Build a deadline buffer

Do not plan to upload documents or make a card payment on the final evening. A sensible administrative buffer is:

1. Three to four weeks before closing: choose the paper, check prerequisite results, verify that your name matches your identity document and collect any qualification evidence the portal asks for.
2. Two weeks before closing: submit the application far enough ahead to resolve a centre, upload or payment query.
3. Within 24 hours of paying: download or screenshot the confirmation, fee receipt, selected centre and candidate number; save them outside your email inbox.
4. One week before the examination: re-read candidate instructions, transport plan and permitted-item rules. ICO’s FAQ says a dictionary and calculator may be used in the examination room, while other electronic devices may not be used. Candidate instructions for your sitting remain controlling.

This is administration, not study productivity theatre. A perfect revision plan cannot compensate for a mismatched name, an unconfirmed payment or a centre change discovered after the closing date.

If the portal and the public page appear to disagree

Do not try to solve a discrepancy by averaging the two. Capture the page title, date and the precise wording shown in your account, then ask the ICO examinations office one narrow question: for example, “My portal shows X for ORI at city Y; does this confirm my selected component and centre for this sitting?” Include your candidate reference if you have one. Keep the reply with your confirmation files. A written answer is safer than a chain of assumptions based on a directory that may have been updated at a different time.

Fees: why there is no single safe INR figure

ICO does not publish one universal examination fee on its public overview. Its FAQ says fees are indicated in the online application form, are set according to World Bank country categories, and may be discounted for members of ICO member societies. Local charges may also apply. Therefore this article deliberately does not convert an assumed Swiss-franc amount into rupees or tell you what an Indian applicant “will pay.”

Use this fee checklist instead:

Never send money using bank information copied from an old WhatsApp forward. The ICO examination page specifically warns that wire-transfer bank information changed and directs candidates to the examinations office for details. Retain the invoice, payment reference and the email address used for your account.

Test centres in India: a list is a starting point, not a booking

The ICO examination-centres directory currently lists Indian coordinators or locations in Hyderabad, Thrissur, Delhi, Chennai, Nagpur, Bangalore/Calicut/Kannur/Kollam/Perinthalmanna, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi. The directory is useful for planning but it is not an assurance that every listed city runs every component at every sitting.

That distinction matters. ICO’s FAQ says not all centres can accommodate candidates taking more than one examination on the same day. It also says examinations are held in the candidate’s country and that candidates without a local coordinator or centre should contact the examinations office to request a coordinator in their area or as close as possible. Availability can change with local capacity and the particular paper.

How to choose a centre without creating a last-minute problem

Choose based on confirmed availability first, then travel. Use this order:

1. Select the exact paper and sitting in the official portal.
2. Record the centre the application presents or confirms; do not assume the directory’s city name is your final venue.
3. If you are taking more than one component, ask before paying whether the selected centre supports that combination and schedule.
4. Check your arrival plan, ID requirements and any local coordinator message once the centre is confirmed.
5. If a change is necessary, act before the closing date. ICO says candidates can change centre up to the closing date; after that, they need to contact the examinations office.

For a resident travelling from another state, a day-before arrival is usually safer than trying to combine a night journey, an unfamiliar venue and an examination. That is practical exam advice, not an ICO requirement.

Which paper are you actually registering for?

Registration errors often begin earlier than the form. Use the ICO structure below to name your target accurately.

Do not use “ICO Part A/B/C” loosely when emailing the office. State the exact official component, your prior passes, your desired sitting and the city you are asking about. Clear terminology produces a clearer answer.

Documents and account details: make the application auditable

The portal determines the exact upload requirements. Still, you can prepare a clean file set before opening it:

• identity document and the exact name format you use professionally;
• evidence of previous ICO components if the next paper depends on them;
• qualification or recognition material if requested;
• current contact email and phone number that you will still monitor near the sitting;
• payment card or approved payment plan, with an independent way to save the receipt;
• a simple folder containing the submitted PDF files, confirmation page and correspondence.

Check spelling with care. A different initial, reversed family name or an old email address becomes an administrative problem precisely when you should be revising. If a document is unclear, ask before submitting rather than uploading a substitute and hoping it will be accepted.

Withdrawal, deferral and centre changes

Read the ICO withdrawal policy before assuming a cancellation is simple. ICO says withdrawal must be made in writing to its examinations office, with identifying information. Its policy says a withdrawal before the registration closing date may be deferred for 12 months or refunded minus a CHF 100 administration charge; the published policy also describes conditions for withdrawals after the deadline and supporting evidence in extenuating circumstances. Rules can change, so the live policy and the instructions associated with your sitting govern.

The useful lesson is procedural: do not merely stop attending or cancel a hotel. Write to the office, preserve the reply and complete any confirmation step it requests. A no-show is not the same as a documented withdrawal.

Turn the confirmed date into a revision plan

Once the portal confirms your paper and centre, work backwards from the examination rather than from a generic six-month timetable. Reserve the final 10–14 days for mixed timed blocks, error-log retrieval and image interpretation. Before that, divide the syllabus into repeatable decisions: anatomy pathways, optics calculations, pathology patterns, investigations, pharmacology and clinical differentials.

The free ICO / FICO MCQs can provide brief retrieval sessions between reference-based study. If you want to inspect an optional commercial resource, ICO/FICO Past Papers is a product page. Neither is an official ICO paper, registration service or performance guarantee.

Registration-day checklist

Before selecting submit or pay, answer yes to each item:

• I selected the exact ICO component, not a similarly named examination.
• My prerequisites are documented or I have written confirmation of an accepted equivalent.
• I can see the current deadline and understand that payment must be completed as required.
• I have checked the fee in my own application, its currency and the payment record.
• My name, date of birth and contact details are correct.
• My chosen centre is confirmed for my paper; I have not inferred it from a public directory alone.
• I saved the submitted application and receipt.
• I know the official contact route for a change or query.

Sources

• ICO Examination overview: current date, deadline and pathway — checked 18 August 2026.
• ICO Examination FAQ: application, frequency, fees, payment, centre changes and permitted items — checked 18 August 2026.
• ICO Examination Centres directory — checked 18 August 2026; availability must be confirmed in the application.
• ICO Examination Withdrawal Policy — checked 18 August 2026.