"Your Child Needs to Clear This Exam Before Flying." The FET Lie That Is Targeting Indian MBBS Families Right Now.

In our 15 years of counselling families across Maharashtra, we at AV Global Overseas have seen every kind of misinformation this industry produces.

Fake university rankings. Hidden fees revealed only after signing. Commission-driven consultants who push students into the wrong country because it pays better.

We have seen it all.

But what is happening right now, in March 2026, is one of the most damaging waves of misinformation we have witnessed in a very long time. And because the families who walk into our offices in Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and Navi Mumbai are asking about it every single day this week, we feel it is our responsibility to put the truth on record. Publicly. Clearly. Without any spin.

The Foreign Eligibility Test. The so-called FET.

If you are a parent or a student and you have received a message, a call, or seen a video in the last few weeks telling you that NMC has introduced a new pre-departure exam that your child must clear before flying abroad for MBBS, here is what you need to know right now.

It is not real.

As of today, March 8, 2026, there is no official NMC gazette notification, no published draft regulation, no advisory, and no circular on nmc.org.in announcing any Foreign Eligibility Test as a pre-departure requirement for Indian students going abroad for MBBS. Not one document. Not one official press statement. Nothing.

We checked. Our compliance team checks official NMC communications regularly. That is part of what we have been doing for 10,000 students over 15 years. And there is no FET notification anywhere from NMC.

So what is the FET that people are talking about? The actual Foreign Eligibility Test that exists in India's medical system is the Fellowship Entrance Test. It is a post-doctoral exam for doctors who have already finished their MD, MS, or DNB and want to pursue a fellowship in a super-specialization. It has absolutely nothing to do with a student who has just cleared NEET and wants to study MBBS in Georgia or Russia.

The version of FET being sold to families right now as a scary new NMC rule is a fabrication built for one purpose: to make you afraid, and to make you pay.

We know exactly how this works. A consultant calls an anxious parent. The parent already has one million questions about their child going abroad. The consultant adds one more fear to that pile. "FET is coming. Your child needs coaching. We have a crash course. Book now." The parent, who is already overwhelmed and just wants to make the right decision, signs up.

This is not counselling. This is exploitation. And after 15 years of honest work with over 10,000 families, we refuse to stay silent about it.

What NMC Actually Requires in 2026

Here is the complete, honest picture of what NMC actually requires from students going abroad for MBBS in 2026. This is not rumour. This is the published regulation.

• Your child must qualify NEET UG. That is the non-negotiable entry point for any Indian student who wants to study MBBS, whether in India or abroad. The qualifying cutoff is the 50th percentile for General category students and the 40th percentile for SC, ST and OBC students. A NEET scorecard remains valid for three years for MBBS abroad admissions. No separate pre-departure exam. No anatomy test at the airport. Just NEET.
• The university must be recognized. The university your child attends must be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools and must be recognized in its own host country. The degree it grants must legally allow the graduate to practice medicine in that country. This is the check that many consultants skip because it eliminates universities that pay better referral fees.
• Correct course duration. The full MBBS program must run for a minimum of 54 months of academic and clinical training, followed by a 12-month internship completed at the exact same institution where your child studied. Not just any hospital in that country. The same institution.
• English Medium Only. The program must be delivered entirely in English. Bilingual or local-language courses do not qualify under NMC's current regulations. Online clinical training does not qualify. Hybrid formats do not qualify.
• No early transfers. Your child cannot transfer universities midway through the program. The degree must come from one institution, start to finish.
• The NExT Exam. When your child returns to India with their MBBS degree, they will sit for the National Exit Test or NExT, which is the licensing exam that replaced FMGE. We provide dedicated NExT preparation guidance to every student we counsel, as part of our support, at no extra charge.

That is the complete list of what NMC genuinely requires. Read it again. There is no FET in there.

The Real Threat to Watch Out For

The real threat to your child's medical career in 2026 is not a made-up pre-departure test. The real threat is choosing a university that does not comply with NMC's FMGL Regulations 2021, and finding out six years and 30 to 40 lakhs later that the degree cannot be used to sit for NExT, and that your child cannot be registered as a doctor in India. That outcome is real. It has already happened to hundreds of students who were not properly guided.

At AV Global, every university on our partner list is personally vetted by our team. We work with 150 plus partner universities across 30 plus countries, and every single one of them is on our list because it meets NMC's compliance standards, not because it pays us more commission.

If any consultant tells you that your child needs to clear FET before flying, ask them one question: what is the official NMC notification number for this regulation? If they cannot give you a specific notification number from nmc.org.in, you now know everything you need to know about them. Walk away.

Your child's dream of becoming a doctor is too important and too expensive to be driven by manufactured fear.

If you have questions about what NMC actually requires, about which universities are genuinely compliant, or if you simply want a second opinion on something a consultant has told you, our counsellors in Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and Navi Mumbai are available for a completely free session. No pressure. No sales pitch. Just honest answers from people who have been doing this since 2009.