FMGE

Overview

The Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) is a screening test for Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India who earned their primary medical qualification abroad. It comes from the Screening Test Regulations, 2002. If your foreign qualification was awarded on or after 15 March 2002, you must pass this test before you can get provisional or permanent registration with the National Medical Commission or a State Medical Council.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) runs the test. Its role ends at conducting the exam, publishing results and passing them to the National Medical Commission and the State Medical Councils. In its October 2026 bulletin, NBEMS says it will now hold FMGE three times a year.

Who can apply

For the October 2026 session, you must meet all of these conditions:

• You are a citizen of India or an Overseas Citizen of India.

• The Indian Embassy in the country where you studied confirms that your primary medical qualification lets you enrol as a medical practitioner in that country.

• The result of your final examination for that qualification was declared on or before 31 August 2026. You must upload documents proving the result date and that you passed every required course. If the proof is unclear, your application is cancelled.

• You hold an Eligibility Certificate from the National Medical Commission (or the former Medical Council of India), unless an exemption based on your admission or qualification dates applies. If you took admission abroad on or after May 2018, your NEET-UG result counts as the Eligibility Certificate.

• When you joined your course, you met the Indian MBBS admission rules, including the age limit and the minimum marks in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English, with any relaxation for reserved categories. Checking this is your responsibility. If you are later found not to have met these rules, your FMGE result can be cancelled.

You do not need to take FMGE if you hold both an undergraduate and a postgraduate medical qualification from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, and that country recognises you to practise medicine.

Exam pattern

FMGE is a computer-based test with one paper of 300 multiple choice questions, all in English. Each question has four options. The paper is split into two parts taken on the same day with a break in between.

Each part is divided into timed sections, for example three sections of 50 questions with 50 minutes each. Once a section's time ends, you move to the next section and cannot go back to change your answers. Wrong answers do not lose marks.

Syllabus

The syllabus follows the National Medical Commission's Competency Based Undergraduate Curriculum for MBBS. NBEMS publishes a blueprint that shows how the 300 marks are split.

Pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects (100 marks)

Clinical subjects (200 marks)

Passing criteria and results

• You pass if you score at least 150 out of 300. Results are shown only as Pass or Fail, and marks for each part are not published.

• FMGE has no re-totalling, re-evaluation or grace marks.

• Before results are declared, you can challenge a question for technical errors within two calendar days of the exam by sending supporting medical literature through the NBEMS communication portal. Challenges about how hard a question is are not accepted.

• There is no limit on how many times you can attempt FMGE. After you pass, you cannot take it again.

• If you pass, you must attend in-person verification, including finger biometrics and Face ID, before NBEMS gives you the pass certificate.

Important dates

For the October 2026 session, according to the information bulletin:

The June 2026 session was held on 28 June 2026.

Fees

For the October 2026 session, the fee is Rs 4,650 in total: Rs 3,940.68 plus 18% GST. Payment gateway charges are extra. You pay online through the payment gateway on the application portal.

How to apply

1. Read the information bulletin on the NBEMS FMGE page.

2. Register and fill in the online application form. Your Aadhaar number cannot be changed after you submit it.

3. Upload your photograph, signature and thumb impression as the bulletin specifies.

4. Upload your primary medical qualification certificate and its embassy attestation or apostille, your Eligibility Certificate or NEET-UG scorecard, and proof of citizenship.

5. Pay the fee and check that the payment shows as successful.

6. Use the edit windows to fix any problems NBEMS points out, then download your admit card.

Preparation tips

• Use the NBEMS blueprint to split your time. Clinical subjects carry two-thirds of the marks, and Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Community Medicine carry the most.

• Practise answering in timed blocks, because you cannot go back to a section after its time ends.

• Attempt every question, because wrong answers do not lose marks.

• Check your documents early. Problems with your qualification certificate, embassy attestation or result date can get your application rejected.

FAQs