If you are planning to appear for the CA Foundation May 2027 examination or the CA Intermediate September 2027 examination, 1 January 2027 is an important registration deadline. Many students confuse the course-registration deadline with the examination-form deadline. These are different processes, and missing the course-registration cutoff can make you ineligible for the intended attempt. According to ICAI's eligibility framework, a student must be registered for the Foundation course for the required minimum study period before the examination, while Intermediate students need to complete at least eight months of registration/study period before the examination month.