FMGE Guide 2026: Format, Pass Mark, Eligibility and Fees

The Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) is the screening test for doctors who studied medicine outside India and want to practise in India. If you are an Indian citizen or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and your primary medical qualification comes from a foreign university, you generally need to pass the FMGE before you can get provisional or permanent registration with the National Medical Commission (NMC) or a State Medical Council.

The exam is conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which publishes the results and hands them to the NMC and all State Medical Councils. This guide explains the format, pass mark, eligibility, costs and the steps after you pass. Details come from the FMGE October 2026 information bulletin; NBEMS releases a new bulletin for each session.

Key facts

Sessions

NBEMS has run the FMGE twice a year in recent years. In 2026 the sessions were labelled June 2026 and October 2026, and in 2025 June and December. Exact months can shift, so watch the FMGE page on the NBEMS website for the next bulletin.

Who must take the FMGE

The screening requirement applies to Indian citizens and OCIs who obtained a primary medical qualification outside India and seek registration in India. To be eligible for a session you need:

• Citizenship or OCI status.
• A recognised primary medical qualification. The Indian Embassy concerned must confirm that your qualification is recognised for enrolment as a medical practitioner in the country where it was awarded.
• A final exam result on time. For the October 2026 session, the final examination for your MBBS or equivalent had to be passed on or before 31 August 2026.
• The Eligibility Certificate, if applicable, and a provisional pass certificate or degree certificate.

NEET-UG for students who went abroad from 2018

Anyone who started a foreign medical degree from May 2018 onwards had to qualify NEET-UG first. The NEET result serves as the Eligibility Certificate, provided the student met the MBBS admission criteria. A NEET result is valid for three years from the date of declaration for this purpose. If you are still planning to study abroad, check this before you enrol.

Students who joined from November 2021

Candidates who started their foreign medical course on or after 18 November 2021 are assessed under the NMC's newer regulations for foreign medical graduates. Those rules set conditions on the course and training abroad. Read the current regulation text on the NMC website before you choose a university, because a degree that fails those conditions can make you ineligible.

Exemption

You do not need the FMGE if you hold an undergraduate medical degree from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States and a postgraduate medical qualification from one of those countries, and you are recognised to practise as a doctor there.

Special cases

Eligibility of candidates with a qualification from Pakistan depends on security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Candidates who claimed relaxed minimum marks in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English at school level may be asked for proof that they met the MBBS admission criteria.

Exam format

Questions and parts

The FMGE is a single paper of 300 multiple choice questions. Each question has four options, and you choose the correct or most appropriate one. The paper is split into two parts of 150 questions, sat on the same day with a scheduled break.

Timed sections inside each part

Each part is divided into time-bound sections. NBEMS gives the example of three sections per part, each with 50 questions and 50 minutes. The same rules as in NEET-PG apply:

• you cannot move on until the section time ends;
• the next section starts automatically;
• you cannot go back to review or change a finished section.

You can mark questions for review inside a section, and they are scored on the answer you selected.

Scoring

With no negative marking, an unanswered question is a lost chance. Answer everything, even if you have to guess at the end of a section.

Planning across sessions

Because there is no limit on attempts, it is tempting to sit every session "for practice". A better approach is to register only when your timed practice scores sit comfortably above half marks across all subjects. Each session costs a full fee and a day of travel, and a fail gives you no part-wise feedback. If you do not pass, use the months until the next session to rebuild weak subjects from your own mistake log, and watch for the next bulletin, since eligibility rules and cut-off dates are restated each time.

Fees

As of October 2026, the fee for the FMGE October 2026 session was:

Payment gateway charges may be added. The fee is not refunded or carried forward, and it is forfeited for candidates who are absent or declared ineligible. If you pay twice for one application, NBEMS refunds the excess after the application window closes.

Timeline of a session

The October 2026 session followed this pattern:

NBEMS may change the schedule or pattern of any session. Only notices on its website are binding.

After you pass

1. Screening Test Pass Certificate. NBEMS issues this only after in-person verification of the biometric or face ID captured at the exam and of your original documents. Do not skip this appointment.
2. Internship. Foreign medical graduates must complete the internship required by the NMC in India before permanent registration. The length and conditions depend on the regulations that apply to your batch; check the current NMC notice.
3. Registration. Apply to the NMC or your State Medical Council for registration.
4. Postgraduate training. Once registered, you can sit NEET-PG like any Indian graduate.

The overall path to practice is covered in Working as a Doctor in India.

Documents to have ready

Collect these before you apply:

• Primary medical qualification certificate, apostilled or attested by the Indian Embassy concerned.
• Embassy confirmation that the qualification is recognised for practice in the awarding country.
• Proof that your final exam result was declared before the cut-off date.
• Eligibility Certificate or NEET-UG scorecard, as applicable.
• Proof of citizenship or OCI status.
• Internship certificate, if you did an internship abroad.
• Photograph, signature and thumb impression that meet the bulletin's image rules.

Incomplete or incorrect documents can lead to rejection; NBEMS opens a deficient document portal for a limited time, with no further chance after it closes.

FMGE and NEET-PG compared

After the FMGE, many doctors move on to NEET-PG. The exams look similar but reward different habits:

Exam-day checklist

• Print your admit card and read its instructions in full.
• Carry the identity documents the admit card asks for.
• Arrive early; late arrivals are not admitted.
• Leave phones and electronic devices outside; they are strictly prohibited.
• Plan food and water for the break between the two parts.
• Use every minute of each section, since you cannot return to it later.

How to prepare

The FMGE covers the whole MBBS curriculum, much like NEET-PG, but the scoring rewards breadth: you need half the marks, with no penalty for wrong answers.

1. Start with the big clinical subjects (medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics) and the pre-clinical basics they rely on.
2. Work in 50-question, 50-minute blocks to match the sections.
3. Revise short subjects you may have studied lightly abroad, such as community medicine and forensic medicine, which follow Indian practice.
4. Simulate a full day: two 150-question parts with a break, at least twice before the exam.
5. Learn Indian guidelines and national programmes, since your foreign course may have used different protocols.

Many of the methods in How to Prepare for NEET-PG apply directly. The MediFlow Exam Prep app has FMGE-style practice questions for daily timed sessions.

Typical mistakes

• Choosing a university without checking NMC rules. Some foreign courses do not meet the conditions for eligibility.
• Missing the result cut-off date. Your final exam result must be declared before the session's date.
• Leaving questions blank. There is no negative marking.
• Skipping post-exam verification. No verification, no pass certificate.
• Relying on social media for dates. Use only NBEMS notices.
• Expecting part-wise feedback. Only pass or fail is published, so track your weak areas yourself during preparation.

Related reading

• National Medical Commission (NMC)
• NEET-PG guide
• Active recall and practice questions