Lok Satta

Residence certificate is a proof of your permanent residence in a village or town or ward.
It is issued on the basis of length of your stay at a place or permanent employment.

When do you need it ?
- College admissions
- To appear for competitive examinations for professional courses
- To obtain employment in government and local bodies
- To obtain ration card
- To enrol as a voter
- To contest for Rajya Sabha from a State
What are the Residential Requirements in Andhra Pradesh?
For most government jobs and college seats in our state, we need residence certificates.
Senior jobs like Group I services require residence anywhere in the state.
For professional and government college admissions, the state is divided into three areas - old Andhra University area, old Osmania University area and Old Venkateswara University area. Students who are residents of the respective districts and had at least seven years of schooling in those areas only will be admitted to colleges in the respective areas as follows:
- Old Andhra University area : Coastal districts (excluding Nellore) from Srikakulam to Prakasam
- Old Osmania University area : All Telanga districts
- Old Venkateswara University area : Nellore and Rayalaseema districts
For employment in Group II, III and IV services, the candidate must reside in a zone or district. He or she is eligible for selection only from that zone or district quota, and cannot compete elsewhere.
School teachers are selected district-wise and must have certificates of residence in the district where they seek employment.
Selection for certain government jobs at lower levels is also made district-wise.
Selection for other non-gazetted jobs is made zone - wise. For this purpose, the state is divided into six zones as follows:

ZONES	DISTRICTS
Zone I	Srikakulam Vijayanagaram Visakhapatnam
Zone II	East Godavari West Godavari Krishna
Zone III	Guntur Prakasam Nellore
Zone IV	Kurnool Cuddapah Anantapur Chittoor
Zone V	Warangal Khammam Karimnagar Adilabad
Zone VI	Rangareddy Medak Nalgonda Mahaboobnagar Nizamabad Hyderanad (except city)
Zone VII	City of Hyderabad

This division into zones is unique to Andhra Pradesh. It was a result of the 6-point formula implemented to resolve the regional problems in the state.

Students from Andhra Pradesh are not entitled to appear for competitive examinations for admission to medical and engineering colleges in other states in All-India quota. This is because Andhra Pradesh has not made the reciprocal arrangements with other states. As students from other states cannot be admitted in AP, students from AP cannot compete in other states.

Within AP, in medical and engineering colleges, students from one region are treated as 'outsiders' in another region and can be admitted in the 'general quota' usually limited to 15%.

How to obtain Residence Certificate ?

MRO is the competent authority to issue the certificate. You must make an application to the MRO of your Mandal in the prescribed form. (application from). You must fill up the form accurately and fully.

The following documents must be enclosed with the application forms:

A court fee stamp of Rs.2/- (SC and ST candidates exempted)
Two certificates of gazetted officers of the state government giving proof of residence in the prescribed form. (Please see page 167 for this form)
Your study certificate for the last seven years from the schools and colleges where you studied.
Transfer Certificate (TC) issued by your school or college
Copy of the ration card. (If ration card is not available, you can enclose a copy of any other proof of residence, like driving licence, passport, municipal tax receipts, panchayat tax receipts etc.)

No specific time limit is prescribed for the issue of certificate by the MRO. A week is a reasonable time. In complicated cases, it may take a maximum of two weeks. Often there will be verification of your application and documents by local revenue officials. You should cooperate with the MRO, local Revenue Inspector (RI), Village Administrative Officer (VAO) or any other official during verification.

If the certificate is not issued within a week, you may remind the MRO. If there is no proper response within a reasonable time, you may meet the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Sub-Collector.

The certificate of Residence issued by the MRO will be in the form printed on page 168.

After obtaining the certificate, please verify and make sure there are no errors in the details given.