GRE At-Home Test 2026: New Second-Camera and ID Verification Rules Indian Students Must Know

If you are an Indian student planning to take the GRE at home in 2026, ETS has quietly added two new requirements that can catch you off guard if you don’t know about them in advance. I’ve been fielding calls from students in the last few months who almost missed their test slot because of one of these — so let me walk you through exactly what changed and what you need to do.

Why ETS Added These New Rules

At-home testing has always relied on webcam-based remote proctoring, and ETS has tightened it twice in 2026 to reduce impersonation and cheating risks. The first change, effective January 5, 2026, introduced a mandatory second camera for every at-home GRE session. The second, effective for anything booked after March 31, 2026, added identity verification through a new app called IDVaaS, completed well before test day rather than only at check-in.

Both changes exist for the same reason: as more students worldwide — including a growing number in India — choose at-home testing over travelling to a Prometric centre, ETS needed a way to verify identity and testing conditions that doesn’t depend entirely on a single webcam angle.

Rule 1: The Second Camera Requirement

Since January 2026, you cannot start your at-home GRE with just your laptop’s built-in webcam. You now need a second device — almost always a smartphone or tablet — to give your remote proctor a full view of your testing environment.

Here’s how it works in practice:

1. Set up your laptop or desktop as usual, with the ProctorU or ETS testing software running.
2. Have your smartphone or tablet ready, running iOS 12 or later, or Android 8 or later.
3. During check-in, a QR code appears on your computer screen.
4. Scan this QR code with your second device to link it to your session.
5. Your proctor will then direct you to walk the second camera around your room — a 360-degree scan — showing your desk, walls, ceiling, and any nearby surfaces to confirm there are no prohibited materials, notes, or second monitors.
6. Once the proctor is satisfied, the second camera stays positioned (often propped up beside or behind you) for the duration of the test, giving a continuous secondary angle.

What to prepare in advance: charge your phone fully, clear space on it (the linking app needs to install and run smoothly), and pick a room where you can physically angle a phone to show all four walls without knocking anything over. Students who test in shared family spaces often need to move to a bedroom or study room to comply with this rule.

Rule 2: Advance ID Verification Through IDVaaS

This is the bigger change, and the one most likely to catch you out if you don’t plan ahead. For any at-home GRE booked after March 31, 2026, you must complete identity verification through ETS’s IDVaaS app at least 72 hours before your scheduled test time.

The process itself is quick — about 5-10 minutes — but it has to happen well ahead of test day:

1. After booking your test, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a QR code and a link to the IDVaaS verification step.
2. Open the IDVaaS app (or the web-based flow, depending on your device) and scan the QR code.
3. Photograph your government-issued ID. For Indian students, I always recommend using your passport rather than an Aadhaar or PAN card — passports are the ID type ETS explicitly recognises without ambiguity for international test-takers.
4. Complete a live face scan, where the app compares your face in real time to your ID photo.
5. You’ll get a confirmation once verification is accepted.

The critical detail: if you book your test less than 72 hours in advance, you must complete IDVaaS immediately after booking — not “sometime before the test.” If you book earlier than that, you still need to finish it at least 72 hours before your slot. Miss this window, and ETS will not let you sit for the exam at that time. Your session is simply invalidated, and you’ll need to reschedule — which typically costs a rebooking fee and pushes your test date back by days.

What This Means for Indian Students Specifically

Indian students have leaned on at-home GRE testing more than students in many other countries, mainly because Prometric test centres are concentrated in a handful of metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune. If you live outside these cities, at-home testing has been the practical choice for years, and these new rules don’t change that calculus much — they just add steps.

The real risk I’ve seen with my students isn’t the rules themselves, it’s timing. Students book their GRE slot two weeks out, get busy with school or applications, and only look at the confirmation email two days before the test — by which point the 72-hour IDVaaS window has already passed if they booked recently. My advice: complete IDVaaS verification the same day you book, regardless of how far out your test date is. There’s no downside to doing it early, and it removes one more thing to worry about closer to test day.

Step-by-Step: Getting Ready for Your At-Home GRE Under the New Rules

Here’s the exact checklist I now give every student planning an at-home GRE:

1. Book your test date on the ETS website.
2. Complete IDVaaS verification the same day, using your passport, well before the 72-hour deadline arrives.
3. Test your internet speed — aim for at least 5 Mbps upload and download for safety margin, since the second camera adds a continuous stream.
4. Choose your testing room — private, door that closes, clear desk, no other people or devices in the frame.
5. Charge your phone or tablet fully the night before, and confirm it meets the iOS 12+/Android 8+ requirement.
6. Do a full mock run the day before — set up both devices, simulate the QR code scan process (ETS’s system check tool lets you test your equipment), and walk your phone around the room as you would during the actual 360-degree scan.
7. On test day, log in 30 minutes early — the second camera linking and room scan adds time to check-in that didn’t exist before these rules.

At-Home vs Test Centre: Which Should You Choose Now?

With these added steps, some students ask me if a Prometric test centre is simpler. It genuinely can be, if you have easy access to one. A test centre uses in-person proctors and ID checks, so neither the second-camera setup nor the IDVaaS step applies at all. If you live in or near a metro city with a test centre, and you’d rather not deal with the technical setup, a test centre removes both new requirements entirely.

If you’re outside a metro city, or you simply prefer testing from a familiar environment, at-home testing is still a strong option in 2026 — you just need to build the IDVaaS step and the second-camera setup into your preparation timeline, not treat them as an afterthought.

Not sure what to do next? Book a free consultation and I will create a personalised plan for you.