MBBS in Nepal 2026: MECEE-BL, Fees and the Real Seats

MBBS in Nepal has two entry routes for an Indian student, and they are not equal. Subcategory I means sitting Nepal's own entrance examination, MECEE-BL, and being matched on merit first. Subcategory II means skipping that exam and applying on a NEET rank at or above the 50th percentile, but taking only the seats left unfilled after Subcategory I is matched.

The MECEE-BL 2027 examination for foreign nationals is set for 31 October 2026, and the Subcategory II application window runs to 6 November 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Foreign candidates choose one of two subcategories, and Subcategory I candidates are matched to seats before Subcategory II candidates.

• The MECEE-BL 2027 MBBS examination for foreign nationals in Subcategory I is on 31 October 2026, from 11:00 to 14:00, at a centre inside the Kathmandu Valley.

• The government fee ceiling of NPR 41,68,090 inside the Kathmandu Valley applies to Nepalese students. Foreign students are charged separately in US dollars.

• Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences publishes USD 25,000 a year for foreign students, USD 75,000 in total.

• Nepal's Medical Education Commission is listed as applying for WFME recognition, not as holding it.

How does an Indian student get into MBBS in Nepal?

Through the Medical Education Commission, which runs a single centralised entrance for all bachelor-level health programmes, the Medical Education Common Entrance Examination at Bachelor Level, or MECEE-BL.

The Commission's notice for foreign candidates, dated 6 August 2026, sets out two subcategories.

• Subcategory I is for foreign candidates who will sit MECEE-BL 2027. The notice states that those who appear in the entrance examination conducted by the Medical Education Commission will be given first priority.

• Subcategory II is for foreign candidates who will not sit MECEE-BL but apply on the basis of a rank at or above the 50th percentile, or 50 per cent marks where the result is in percentages, in the recently conducted national-level common entrance examination of their own country. For an Indian applicant that examination is NEET. Subcategory II candidates can select only those seats which remain unfilblled after the merit-based selection process from Subcategory I.

Any foreign seats still unfilled after both subcategories are matched are transferred to Nepalese paying seats.

So the choice is real, and it has a cost. Sitting MECEE-BL means an extra examination and a trip to Kathmandu. Not sitting it means waiting for what is left.

What are the MECEE-BL 2027 dates and requirements?

From the Medical Education Commission notice for foreign candidates dated 6 August 2026, the examination notice dated 7 September 2026 and the extension notice dated 21 September 2026. Selection is by open-house matching.

What does MBBS in Nepal actually cost an Indian student?

Here is where the most common quoting error happens, and it is worth several lakh.

Nepal's Medical Education Commission fixes a fee ceiling for MBBS: NPR 41,68,090 for colleges inside the Kathmandu Valley and NPR 45,95,720 for colleges outside it, under its notice of June 2024. Those figures are widely quoted to Indian families as the government fee.

They are the fee for Nepalese students. Foreign students are charged separately, in US dollars, and the ceiling does not apply to them. Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences publishes both side by side in its 2025 fee structure: a total tuition of NPR 41,68,090 for Nepalese students, and USD 25,000 a year for three years, USD 75,000 in total, for foreign students.

At current rates, the dollar figure is well above the rupee ceiling. Any Indian family shown the NPR number should ask specifically for the foreign-student schedule in writing.

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu makes a related point in its advisory for Indian students: some colleges charge a heavy penalty, close to 100 per cent, on pending dues. The payment schedule matters as much as the headline total.

Which colleges, and how many seats are open to foreign students?

Most of the colleges Indian families consider are affiliated to Kathmandu University, which publishes its own list of affiliated colleges.

From each college's own pages and the Kathmandu University affiliated colleges list. Other Kathmandu University affiliates include Manipal College of Medical Sciences Pokhara, College of Medical Sciences Bharatpur, Nobel Medical College Morang, Lumbini Medical College Palpa, Devdaha Medical College, Birat Medical College and B & C Medical College Birtamode.

On seats, the Medical Education Commission's seat allocation notice of March 2023 set out 1,895 MBBS seats in total, of which 557 were foreign-candidate seats. Most large private colleges held 33 foreign seats out of 100, while Manipal and College of Medical Sciences Bharatpur held 50 each, and government institutions held far fewer: eight at B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, eight at Maharajgunj Medical Campus, five at Patan Academy and two at Karnali Academy.

The foreign seat distribution for the current cycle has not been published yet. The Commission's notice states that details of seat distribution will be published on its website, so the 2023 figures show the shape of the allocation rather than the current count.

There is no India-specific quota and no SAARC arrangement for MBBS in Nepal. The foreign candidate framework is nationality neutral.

Does the Nepali MBBS meet the NMC conditions?

On the two structural points, the published programmes line up well.

The National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 require a course of at least fifty-four months, a twelve-month internship at the same foreign institution, and English as the medium of instruction.

• Duration. Kathmandu Medical College describes a four-and-a-half-year academic course over nine semesters followed by a one year compulsory rotating internship after the university final examination. Four and a half years is fifty-four months, so the structure matches the NMC pattern more closely than that of most destinations.

• Internship. Nepalgunj Medical College and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences both describe one year of compulsory rotating residential internship.

• Language. Kathmandu Medical College states the medium of instruction is English.

Two things still need confirming, college by college. The published pages describe the internship as compulsory rotating and residential without naming the institution where it is served, and the NMC requires it at the same institution that awards the degree. And the explicit statement that teaching is in English throughout appears on some college pages and not others. Both should be obtained in writing from the specific college before any payment.

How do Nepal-trained candidates perform in FMGE?

Around the middle of the table at country level, with an extraordinary spread between colleges.

From the NBEMS FMGE performance report for 2025. NBEMS began publishing country-level totals with the 2025 report, so earlier years exist only by institution.

The college-level figures are the ones to act on, because the gap between the best and worst Nepali colleges is wider than the gap between most countries. In the December 2025 session, B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences recorded 37 appeared and 27 passed at 72.97 per cent, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences 19 and 9 at 47.37 per cent, Nepal Medical College 28 and 10 at 35.71 per cent, Nepalgunj Medical College 72 and 25 at 34.72 per cent, Kathmandu Medical College 57 and 15 at 26.32 per cent, Nobel Medical College 88 and 13 at 14.77 per cent, Universal College of Medical Sciences 75 and 8 at 10.67 per cent, and National Medical College Birgunj 123 and 10 at 8.13 per cent.

That is a nine-fold difference between the top and the bottom of the same country. The choice of college in Nepal matters more than the choice of Nepal.

Is Nepal WFME recognised?

Not yet. Nepal's Medical Education Commission appears on the World Federation for Medical Education register under the heading of agencies currently applying in the recognition programme, rather than in the list of agencies holding recognition status. Agencies in that section are described as being at various stages of the recognition process, including deferment, and no recognition date exists for Nepal.

By comparison, Georgia's agency is recognised until October 2028, China's until June 2030, the Philippine agency PAASCU until April 2033 and India's own National Medical Commission until September 2033.

What do the Indian authorities say about Nepal?

No National Medical Commission notice names Nepal. A search of the Commission's archive returns no results for it.

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu does publish an advisory for Indian students seeking medical studies in Nepal, with a dos and don'ts section. It is undated and refers to the erstwhile Medical Council of India and to pass data from 2015 to 2018, so its regulatory references are out of date, but its practical warnings hold: students should be wary of agents and consultancies offering admission or fee discounts, and should check the penalty terms on pending dues.

How to decide, in order

1. Decide the route first. Sitting MECEE-BL puts you in the priority pool; applying on a NEET rank leaves you with whatever is unfilled afterwards.

2. If you are taking the MECEE-BL route, note that the MBBS examination for foreign nationals is on 31 October 2026, and applications closed on 7 September 2026, including the late window,, so plan a cycle ahead if you have missed it.

3. Shortlist by the college's own FMGE record from the NBEMS report, not by the country figure. The range runs from above 70 per cent to below 10 per cent.

4. Ask for the foreign-student fee schedule in US dollars, in writing, with the instalment dates and the penalty terms on late payment.

5. Ask where the one-year internship is served and confirm in writing that it is at the same college that awards the degree.

What to read next

• How to check NMC and WDOMS recognition is the full verification method.

• Is MBBS abroad worth it compares FMGE outcomes across destinations.

• MBBS in Bangladesh covers the other South Asian route and its quota.

• Private MBBS in India vs MBBS abroad compares total cost across routes.

• NExT or FMGE in 2026 covers the exam every graduate sits.