By: AV Global Overseas Education | Published: March 10, 2026
Our phones have not stopped ringing since last Thursday.
Parents from Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Pune, and Mumbai calling with the same question, sometimes in the same words. "Is it true that MBBS is now 8 years? Is my child's degree going to be cancelled? We saw a video. Someone in our building said NMC has rejected all foreign degrees."
We understand the fear. We genuinely do. When a message lands in a WhatsApp group at 11 PM saying NMC has cancelled everything your child has worked toward, panic is a human response.
But here at AV Global Overseas, we have never made a business out of your fear. We have made a business out of the truth. So let us give you the truth in plain language, right now, without any drama and without anything left out.
What Actually Happened: The NMC Notice of March 5 and 6, 2026
On March 5 and 6, 2026, the Undergraduate Medical Education Board of the National Medical Commission issued an official clarification notice addressing a very specific group of Indian students: those who studied any portion of their MBBS abroad through online classes.
This is not a new rule invented overnight. NMC had previously issued public notices on this same subject on December 7, 2023 and again on June 19, 2024. The March 2026 notice is a clarification to those earlier orders, issued because universities, students and state medical councils were still sending queries about implementation.
What made this notice go viral is that certain YouTube channels and WhatsApp forwards stripped out all the context and replaced it with headlines like "MBBS is now 8 years" and "NMC rejects all foreign degrees." Neither of those headlines is accurate.
Here is exactly what the notice says, point by point.
Who Does This Notice Actually Affect?
This notice affects Indian students who:
- Studied MBBS at a foreign university between 2020 and 2023, and attended online classes for any period during that time. This primarily covers COVID-19 batches from 2020 to 2022, and students who shifted to online learning during the Russia-Ukraine war.
- Did not complete physical onsite compensation for those online periods before the notice was issued.
- Are currently approaching State Medical Councils for registration in India after completing their foreign MBBS degree.
If your child enrolled in their MBBS abroad program after November 18, 2021 and has been studying fully in physical mode on campus from day one, this notice does not disrupt their degree or their timeline. The program structure already meets NMC's requirements, and they are on the right path.
What NMC Has Specifically Required
For the students who are affected, NMC has laid out its requirements in unambiguous language.
- Physical compensation is not optional. Every period of online learning must be compensated with an equal period of physical, onsite academic and clinical training at the foreign university. This training must cover theory subjects, clinical subjects and mandatory hospital clerkship hours in exactly the same proportion as the online period that is being compensated.
- The course must actually be extended. This is the most important point and the one most misunderstood. You cannot compensate for six months of online learning by simply cramming extra work into the current academic year. The course timeline must be physically extended by the period that was missed in-person. A university that issues a compensation certificate without actually extending the course duration is in direct violation of NMC's FMGL Regulations 2021.
- The compensation certificate must be detailed and authenticated. The foreign university must provide a formal certificate listing all subjects covered, the duration of offline training completed, clinical clerkship details, and practical training hours logged at each affiliated hospital. This certificate must then be authenticated by the Indian Embassy or High Commission in that country. A certificate that is not embassy-authenticated will not be accepted by State Medical Councils in India.
- State Medical Councils have been directly instructed. NMC has issued instructions to all State Medical Councils across India to verify compensation training documentation, FMGL or screening test qualification, and completed internship records before granting registration to any Foreign Medical Graduate. If the documentation is incomplete or unverified, the registration application will be rejected.
The Two-Track Rule: Which Framework Applies to Your Child?
NMC has drawn a clear dividing line based on the date of enrollment.
- Students who enrolled in their foreign MBBS program on or before November 18, 2021 fall under the older screening test framework. For these students, the path back to India runs through the FMGE or NExT licensing exam after they have completed their compensation training and received their degree.
- Students who enrolled after November 18, 2021 fall under the CRMI (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations 2021 pathway. The compliance requirements are the same, but the regulatory framework they fall under is different.
If you are unsure which category your child falls under, check the date on their original admission letter from the foreign university. That date determines everything.
So Is MBBS Abroad Really Becoming 8 Years?
No. Absolutely not.
MBBS abroad is not becoming an 8-year degree. Not for new students. Not even for affected students in most cases.
For a student who enrolled in 2020 and studied online for, say, 6 months during COVID, the implication of this notice is that their total course duration is extended by approximately 6 months to cover the compensation period. That takes their degree from a 6-year timeline to a 6.5-year timeline. Not 8 years.
The "8 years" figure that went viral is a worst-case theoretical calculation for a student who spent nearly two full years studying online and has done zero onsite compensation. That situation, while possible for some students in severely affected batches, does not represent the majority of students abroad.
What Families Must Do Right Now
If your child is currently studying MBBS abroad and attended online classes during COVID or the Ukraine crisis, here is the action plan.
- Contact the university immediately and ask directly whether your child's online study period has been documented and whether a physical compensation plan is in place. Ask for this in writing.
- Ask the university whether the course duration has been formally extended on paper. A verbal assurance is not sufficient. The extension must be reflected in official enrollment records and documents.
- Once compensation training is complete, ensure the university issues the detailed compensation certificate we described earlier. Then take that certificate to the Indian Embassy or High Commission in that country for authentication before your child comes home. Do not arrive at a State Medical Council in India without this document in hand.
If your child is back in India already and did not complete compensation training, speak to a qualified regulatory consultant immediately. The path is not closed, but it requires careful navigation and documentation.
A Note for New Students Planning MBBS Abroad in 2026
If you are a parent or student in the process of choosing a university for the September-October 2026 intake, this notice should not scare you away from MBBS abroad. It should make you more careful about which university you choose.
The reason students ended up in this situation is that many universities during COVID continued operating online without proper documentation or without a plan to compensate students. Choosing a university with a strong institutional track record, transparent operations and genuine NMC compliance oversight protects your child from ever facing this situation.
At AV Global Overseas, every university on our partner list has been personally reviewed by our team. We examine not just NMC recognition but the university's response to student welfare issues, its hospital affiliations, its internship records and its transparency with Indian students. We have removed universities from our list when we were not satisfied. We will continue to do so because your child's six years and your family's investment deserve nothing less than that standard.
We Are Here. Come Talk to Us.
If your child is currently studying abroad and you are worried about how this notice affects their degree, book a free consultation with our compliance counsellors at any of our offices in Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune or Navi Mumbai.
If you are planning to send your child abroad in 2026 and want to ensure you choose a university that will never put them in this position, come talk to us before you make any commitment.
Call us on +91 8530 490 888 or visit avglobaloverseas.com. The consultation is completely free.
Your child's career is too important for anything less than complete clarity.
AV Global Overseas Education | MBBS Abroad Counselling Since 2009 | 10,000 Plus Students Guided | avglobaloverseas.com | +91 8530 490 888 & +91 8530 450 888
Offices in Nagpur, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune