Indian Foreign Service Exam 2022: Latest News, Eligibility, Salary & Vacancies

The beginning of the IFS is regularly followed back to British standard when the Foreign Department was made to direct business with the ” Foreign European Powers”. In fact, it had been on September 13, 1783, when the Board of Directors of the Malay Archipelago Company passed a resolution at Fort William, Calcutta (now Kolkata), to make a department, which could help “alleviate the pressing factor” on the Warren Hastings organization in leading its “secret and political business”. Subsequently referred to as the “Indian Foreign Department”, it went ahead with the expansion of diplomatic representation, wherever necessary, to guard British interests.

• In 1843, Governor-General Ellenborough managed managerial changes under which the Secretariat of the govt. was coordinated under 4 divisions – Foreign, Home, Finance, and Military. A secretary-level official headed each of the 4 departments.
• Albeit the govt. of India Act, 1935 tried to depict all the more unmistakably elements of the “Foreign” and “Political” wings of the Foreign Department, it had been before long understood that it had been authoritatively basic to totally bifurcate the foreign office. Consequently, the External Affairs Department was acknowledged separately under the direct charge of the Governor-General.
• In September 1946, on the eve of India’s independence, the govt of India decided to make a service called the IFS for India’s diplomatic, consular and commercial representation overseas.
• In 1947, there was a close to the consistent change of the Foreign and Political branch of the British Indian government into what then, at that point turned into the new Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations and in 1948 the first batch was recruited under the combined officialdom examination system of the Union Public Service Commission joined the service. This strategy of a section has stayed the staple method of admission into the IFS to the current day.

Exam Notification & News

The Indian Foreign Service Exam (IFS) Prelim phase has been postponed thanks to the COVID-19 situation. The exam was scheduled to be conducted on 27th June 2021. Now, it’ll be persisted 10th October 2021.

The officials have released the recruitment notice for IFS 2021 exam. The IFS important dates associated with the exam are as under:

IFS 2021 Exam Events	IFS Important Dates
The Online application process begins	4th March 2021
The Last Date for online application submission	24th March 2021
Prelim exam admit card	3 weeks before the exam
IFS Prelim Exam date	10 October 2021
Prelim exam result	They will announce
Detailed Application form for the main exam	To be announced
IFS Main exam admit card	3 weeks before the exam
IFS Main Exam date	27 February – 08 March 2022
Main exam result	They will announce
Interview	They will announce

• The exam is going to be conducted in 2 stages:

1. Prelim Exam (Objective Type)
2. Main Exam (Written Exam and Interview)

• The prelim exam is additionally called the government officials Aptitude Test (CSAT). It comprises 2 papers. Both papers will comprise multiple-choice questions.
• The questions paper is going to be in both Hindi and English languages.
• The minimum qualifying Negative marking is applicable for the wrong response.
• The Main exam consists of a written exam and interview test. The written exam consists of 9 papers.
• There are going to be no negative markings within the Main exam.
• They announce the outcome after the interview phase is over.
• As per the official notification, they won’t refund the appliance fee under any circumstances.

IFS Exam Date

IFS exam notifications are available for February and therefore the application forms are available from March. Candidates can apply online mode only via the official website of UPSC. The mode of payment is additionally online. The UPSC has released the tentative dates of the IFS exam 2021.

According to the UPSC calendar, the UPSC prelim exam 2021 will happen on October 10, 2021. They will persist IFS main exam on January 07, 2022.

Tentative Dates of Main Exam 2021: –

Date	Morning Session (9 AM-12 PM)	Afternoon Session (2 PM-5 PM)
07-01-2022 (Friday)	Paper-I (Essay)	No Paper
08-01-2021 (Saturday)	Paper-II (General Studies-I)	Paper-III (General Studies-II)
09-01-2021 (Sunday)	Paper-IV (General Studies-III)	Paper-V (General Studies-IV)
15-01-2022 (Saturday)	Paper-A (Indian Languages)	Paper-B English
16-01-2022 (Sunday)	Paper-VI (Optional Paper-I)	Paper-VII (Optional Paper-II)

Know More – IFS Foreign Recruitment Important Date & Notifications

Application Fee

The IFS application fee is often paid offline ‘by cash’ at any branch of the depository financial institution of India or through online mode using Visa/ RuPay/ Master/ Credit/ open-end credit or Internet Banking of SBI. ‘Pay by Cash’ mode is deactivated at some point before the deadline of application submission. The appliance fee is as under:

Categories	Application Fee Amount
Female/ SC/ ST/ PwBD	Exempted
Others	₹ 100/-

UPSC offers the facility to withdraw the appliance form for the IFS exam before the exam. They introduced the facility a few years ago as only half the candidates who fill the appliance form, appear for the exam. And, UPSC possesses in touch the costs of conducting the exam. The official website has activated the window for withdrawal of the appliance form.

For withdrawing the IFS form, here are the steps to follow:

• Visit the official UPSC website.
• Click on the link for withdrawal of the appliance form under the ‘What’s New’ section.
• Click on the ‘click here link’ to proceed.
• After reading the instructions, click on the ‘Yes’ button.
• Enter your registration ID and click on the ‘Continue’ button.
• Proceed to withdraw the appliance form.
• Take a print of the receipt after successful withdrawal.

Candidates must note that there is no provision for a refund of the appliance fee on withdrawal of the appliance form. As per the official notification, they will not refund the appliance fee under any circumstances.

Eligibility Criteria

Nationality

The candidate must be an Indian citizen.

The identity of an applicant should be :

• Citizen of India
• Subject of Nepal
• Subject of Bhutan
• A Tibetan evacuee who came to India before January 1, 1962, for a permanent settlement in India.
• Migrant from any of the subsequent countries for permanently settling in India: Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam.

Age Limit

For the IFS 2021 exam, the candidate must change state, not before 2nd August 1989 and not after 1st August 2000. The age is going to be counted as on 1st August 2021. In other words, the candidate must have attained 21 years aged and must not have attained the age of 32 years.

Relaxation within the age is going to be provided to reserved category candidates as follows:

Categories	Relaxation in Upper Age Limit
SC/ ST	Up to 5 years
OBC	Up to 3 years
Ex-servicemen	Up to 5 years
Defense Service Personnel (disabled during hostilities & released)	Up to 3 years
Blindness and low vision/Deaf and Hard of Hearing/ Locomotor Disability including leprosy cured, acid attack victims, cerebral palsy, dwarfism, and muscular dystrophy/ autism, mental illness, intellectual disability, and specific learning disability up to 10 years	Up to 10 years

Educational Qualification

Candidates must hold a graduation degree (any discipline) from a recognized institute/ University.

Number of attempts

The greatest number of endeavors is as per the following:

• General Category Candidates: 7 attempts
• Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) candidates: No limitation
• Other Backward Class candidates: 9 attempts

Vacancies

There are fewer vacancies for the IFS in comparison to other highly popular services like IAS, IPS, and IRS.

The underneath table records the last position (least position) which got granted the IFS inside the earlier years.

Year	GEN	OBC	SC	ST
2019	113	344	565	654
2018	134	450	468	603
2017	152	602	717	616
2016	208	615	740	922
2015	157	624	727	–
2014	114	567	756	926
2013	141	448	621	824
2012	134	328	659	–
2011	162	360	571	620
2010	140	283	514	676
2009	108	285	246	570
2008	103	257	417	586

As one can see, a candidate must get top ranks to be eligible for Foreign Services. You don’t get to know a far-off language to be eligible for the IFS, although you’ll need to learn one during your training after the choice.

Official Website- https://www.upsc.gov.in

Salary

An IFS officer is paid an overall of 60,000 per month. Moreover, they’re given several benefits like accommodation, transportation, medical expenses, and far more. On the opposite hand, a government servant enjoys a pension and lots of retirement benefits. Also, supported the country the officer’s pay package also can get increased. during this case, the salary can go as high as 2.4 lakhs. Also, the very best position one can attain is of the ambassador or the Foreign Secretary.

The salary and perks are quite attractive. Aside from the salary, IFS officers would tend to a Special Foreign Allowance. This sum differs from the nation of posting. For instance, when a replacement officer is assigned to the Indian mission within the USA, he/she can get the US $4000 per month. This allowance increases with the grade.

The below table gives the pay scale for various positions within the IFS.

Post Abroad	Post in India	Pay Scale (as of 7th pay commission)
Attaché/Third Secretary	Under Secretary	8000-275-13500
Second/First Secretary	Under Secretary	10650-325-15850
First Secretary	Deputy Secretary	12750-375-16500
Director	Counselor Director	15100-400-18300
Minister/DCM Ambassador	Joint Secretary	18400-500-22400
Ambassador/High Commissioner	Additional Secretary	22400-525-24500
Ambassador/High Commissioner	Secretary	26000 (Fixed)

IFS officials additionally are given acceptable convenience, family help, official vehicles, safety officers, abroad investigation alternatives, and retirement advantages and benefits.

IFS Syllabus

• The conducted authority has released UPSC IFS 2021 Syllabus Candidates planning for the UPSC IFS exam must steel themselves against it and must undergo the syllabus intimately. By having a radical check out the syllabus, they’re going to be ready to realize the stages, subjects, and topics which they have to read to qualify for the exam.
• The IFS Syllabus is mentioned within the notification PDF and is split into two parts – Prelims and Mains and a serious section are predicated on the overall Studies section which can have questions from Geography, History, Polity, English, Hindi, Regional language, diplomacy, et al.
• The syllabus for the IFS exam is that the same as other civil services examinations conducted by UPSC. Candidates making it through the choice procedure which is that the same as other civil services.  After getting selected he/she has got to undergo certain training within the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi.

For detailed information see the ‘Syllabus’ section of this article.

IFS Exam Pattern

The exam will be led in 2 phases:

• Prelim Exam (Objective Type)
• Main Exam (Written Exam and Interview)

The prelim test is likewise called the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) (400 marks). It includes 2 papers as follows:

Papers	Subjects	Time Duration	Maximum Marks
Paper-1	General Studies	2 hours	200 marks
Paper-2	General Studies	2 hours	200 marks

• Both papers will comprise multiple-choice questions.
• The questions paper is going to be in both Hindi and English languages.

The officials fixed a written exam and interview test for the Main exam. The written exam consists of 9 papers. All the papers are going to be of conventional essay type. Here is the small print of the papers:

Paper	Subject	Total Marks
Paper A	One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution	300 Marks
Paper B	English	300 Marks
Paper-I	Essay	250 Marks
Paper-II	General Studies-I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the World and Society)	250 Marks
Paper-III	General Studies-II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)	250 Marks
Paper-IV	General Studies-III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)	250 Marks
Paper-V	General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude)	250 Marks
Paper-VI	Optional Subject-Paper 1	250 Marks
Paper-VII	Optional Subject-Paper 2	250 Marks
	Sub Total (Written Test)	1750 Marks
	Personality Test	275 Marks
	Grand Total	2025 Marks

Know More – IFS Foreign Exam Pattern and Syllabus

IFS Admit Card

We are predicting that the officials will release UPSC IFS 2021 admit card by the last week of September. Candidates are going to be ready to download the admit card and take a printout of it.

Competitors will be given an e-Admission Certificate 3 weeks before the date of the exam. Admit Card for Main Exam and Prelim Exams is formed available on the official website.

Following dates are important regarding the UPSC IFS (Prelims) exam admit card for the year 2021-

Events	Dates
Downloading of UPSC IFS 2021 Admit Card (Prelims)	by Last Week of September 2021
UPSC IFS 2021 Prelims Exam Date	10-Oct-21
UPSC IFS 2021 Admit Card (Mains)	TBA
UPSC IFS 2021 Mains Exam Date	21st November 2021 (Tentative)

Know More – IFS Foreign Admit Card

Result

To check IFS results, candidates need to visit upsc.gov.in. Candidates can check their leads to the merit list with the assistance of their roll number. On the idea of the IFS (Prelims) Result, candidates are eligible to seem for the IFS (Main) Exam, 2021. Applicants need to undergo the prelim test, main exam, and interview round for final selection. The ultimate ranking is predicated on the IFS main (written and interview) exam.

UPSC releases the result for the prelim and main exam in merit list form. The applicant’s scores in the respective exam determine their ranks. Ask the dates table provided below to understand more about UPSC IFS result 2021.

Events	2021
Prelim Exam date	10 Oct 2021
Declaration of Prelim Result	To be announced
IFS (Main) Exam date	27 Feb – 08 Mar 2022
Declaration of Main Result	To be announced

Know More – IFS Foreign Exam Result & Cut off Marks

How to Apply?

Only the UPSC IFS application forms submitted through the online mode are acceptable. Candidates should submit their online applications before the due date. Candidates must submit only one form. However, just in case he has submitted multiple forms, the shape with higher RID is going to be considered by the commission. Thus, confirm that the shape is complete altogether respects for successful registration. For 2021, the appliance process was carried from 4th to 24th March 2021.

Documents required for filling the application:

• Valid photo ID proof (Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, Passport, driver’s license, Voter Card, Photo ID proof issued by State/ Central government)
• Scanned images of photographs and signs in JPG format. The minimum and maximum file sizes should be 20 KB and 300 KB respectively.

The UPSC IFS form submission comprises two parts. Candidates are advised to finish both parts for successful application submission. These steps are to be followed:

• Visit the official site of UPSC.
• Click on the link for registration under the ‘Part-I’ registration column ahead of the government officials’ exam2021.
• Read the instructions carefully and proceed to the registration form.
• Fill altogether the small print required for completing the registration process.
• On successful registration, you’ll receive a Registration ID and password.
• Now click on the link under ‘Part-II’ and complete the remaining form.
• Make the fee payment after uploading the scanned images of required documents.
• After successful completion of the appliance process, take a print of the confirmation page.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Protecting India’s national interests within the country where the officer is posted.
• Improving and promoting friendship between India and therefore the country that the officer is posted in.
• Including NRIs or persons of Indian origin.
• Informing about the developments within the foreign country that would affect India’s policy.
• The role of an IFS officer may be a very promising and challenging one.
• To handle and manage all diplomatic relations between India and of the country they’re appointed.
• To constantly keep updating the Indian MEA office, about recent developments.

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FAQs

Q.1 Do IFS officers add an embassy?

Ans. IFS officers work either within the External Affairs Ministry or within the various embassies and consulates that India has across the planet.

Q.2 Is IFS a stressful job?

Ans. It’s a prestigious job as you’re serving and representing the state. An IFS officer is that the one who represents the state in various countries. So, you ought to mold your personality accordingly. the advantages and perks are very eye-catching but the responsibilities are very stressful.

Q.3 Which degree is best for IFS?

Ans. However, if you would like to become an IFS officer then, of course, Bachelor’s in Arts would be the simplest option which you’ll have. Humanities include subjects like history, politics, sociology, and diplomacy to which you’ll have access during your graduation.

Q.4 Can IFS officers choose the country?

Ans. An IFS officer can choose any 3 places according to the vacant posts. If he/she is lucky then he/she can get one among the three places of his/her choice.

Q.5 Can IFS marry a foreigner?

Ans. Clause 8(1) of the IFS (conduct and discipline) Rules, 1986 says no member of the service shall marry a person aside from an Indian citizen “without the prior permission in writing of the government”.

Q.6 Is IFS an honest career option?

Ans. The exam is straight but it takes consistency and perseverance through NCERTs then mains answer writing practice to succeed in FSI in Delhi. In short, it’s an excellent career but you would like to make certain that you simply need a globally mobile job otherwise you need a more settled India-focused role.