FMGE registrations begin! Health Ministry, NMC urged to clear pending eligibility certificates
Eligibility Certificates
New Delhi: Although the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has commenced registration for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) in December 2025, the issue concerning medical graduates from abroad who have been awaiting their eligibility certificates for almost two years remains unresolved.
Amid this, the All India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) has sought the intervention of the Union Health Ministry and the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC).
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the issue mainly concerned the MBBS students, who took admission abroad during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years.
Despite submitting the required application for eligibility certificates, which is mandatory for foreign medical graduates to appear in the screening test, i.e., Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) or enrol for the mandatory internship, these FMGs have not been issued the eligibility certificates for the last 1-2 years.
Highlighting the issue about the prolonged delay in the approval of Eligibility Certificates for the FMGs of the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 batches, AIMSA has now written to the Union Health Ministry.
The association pointed out that as per the UGMEB Public Notice (December 2023), these batches were granted exemption from NEET-UG 2018 and 2019. respectively, and were directed to apply for Eligibility Certificates to the National Medical Commission (NMC) under the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB).
"All students concerned were considered on April 16, 2025, and subsequently submitted all required documents in May 2025, along with compliance to all deficiency requests raised by the National Medical Commission (NMC). However, the verification and approval processes remain incomplete for a considerable number of candidates. Due to this prolonged delay, students have already lost multiple FMGE attempts, leading to severe emotional and financial distress. The upcoming examination is therefore a decisive and crucial opportunity for these students to secure their professional future," the association highlighted in the letter.
Accordingly, AIMSA urged the Ministry to intervene to facilitate an expedited review and approval process for these long-pending cases. In another letter addressed to the President of the NMC UG Board, the association explained the matter in detail and urged the Commission to expedite the verification and approval process of these pending applications at the earliest, as the delay continues to impact students' future prospects and ability to appear for the FMGE examination.
What is the Issue?
Back in 2018, a direction was issued that if any student wishes to pursue medical education abroad, they need to qualify the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Undergraduate exam. Before that, eligibility certificates were issued to students for pursuing MBBS abroad. So, they directed that till 5th June 2019, the students could apply for eligibility certificates. However, after that, all the candidates taking admission abroad must clear the NEET exam.
Thereafter, they provided some kind of exemption because some students had already enrolled in the BS course (a pre-medical course) in the Philippines. The issue mainly concerned the students of 2018-2019 and the 2019-2020 batch. These students could not appear in the NEET exam either due to the pandemic or other reasons. So, they applied for the eligibility certificates.
On 07.12.2023, NMC issued guidelines stating that such students who have already commenced their pre-medical education i.e. B.S. course in the Philippines or the pre-medical/language courses in any other foreign countries, were allowed to take admission in MBBS or equivalent medical course in a medical university outside the country in the academic year 2018-19 and 2019-20. However, such candidates were required to obtain/apply for an eligibility certificate from the Medical Council of India u/s 13(4B) of the IMC Act, 1956.
Allegedly, despite submitting the required documents, these FMGs have allegedly not been granted eligibility certificates for the last one and half years.
Recently, FMGs from States/UTs across India visited the NMC office, highlighting the issue of unnecessary delays on the part of the Apex Medical Commission in issuing the eligibility certificates and demanding a solution.
