Can a Non EU Doctor Married to a British Citizen Apply for GMC Registration?

Question: I was born outside the EU, and trained and qualified as a doctor in a non-European country. For the past 10 years, I have been working as a doctor in a non-EU country. My British-born husband and I would like to move our family to the UK, but we are unsure if I will be accepted by the GMC and am able to practice medicine in the UK. Can you please clarify?

Answer: Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer to this question. Whether you qualify to practice medicine in the UK depends on several factors. For this reason, it is very important to seek proper legal advice before coming to the UK. You need a firm like Hylton Potts who not only understand the GMC regulations, but also has recent experience of how these regulations and guidelines are actually applied.

One of the key considerations is where you got your qualification and the type of qualification it is. This has a significant bearing on the steps you need to take to register and practice medicine in the UK. The GMC maintains a list of those institutions that provide qualifications that meet the criteria doctors who train in the UK and the rest of the EEA have to achieve. You need to consult that list to see if your qualification is on it.

Provided you have the right kind of qualifications and experience, being married to an EU national could allow you to register without going through the PLAB process. However, you have to be aware that the GMC wants as many doctors as possible to go through the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) process. They reject many of the applications made under section 3 of their guidelines, which covers EC rights. If there is any doubt that a candidate qualifies they will normally reject rather than rule in their favour.

Those that seek legal help stand a far better chance of filling out their application correctly and succeeding than those who try to go it alone. At Hylton Potts, we offer legal advice that can increase the chances of a successful application, and we do so for an affordable fixed fee.