According to,  the new  rule declared by the Medical Council of India (MCI), all Indian students who wish to study medicine abroad must apply for MCI Eligibility Certificate. The eligibility certificate is a legal proof given by the MCI, that the Medical University which the student attends to study MBBS abroad is authorized by the Medical Council of India. According to the notice, a Citizen of India/Indian National who wishes to pursue medicine outside of India must obtain Eligibility Certificate from the MCI before leaving the country and will not be able to appear for the Screening Test without first obtaining this certificate from the MCI.

The eligibility certificate was mandatory earlier as well but it was discontinued in October 2013. The allotment of eligibility certificates was stopped for the reason being that there was too much of a back-log of issuance of these certificates. Many previous year students had not received their certificates because of the delay in the MCI management system. However, MCI has declared that those students who have already gone abroad to study MBBS in the year 2013-2015 should also apply for the MCI eligibility certificate if they wish to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) also known as the Medical Council of India Screening Test.