MBBS Migration Rules in India: 5% Cap, NOCs and Timeline

MBBS migration in India means transferring from one medical college to another after passing the first professional MBBS examination, under clause 6 of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997. It is allowed on any genuine ground, capped at 5 per cent of the receiving college's sanctioned intake in a year, never within the same city, never during the clinical years, and only with four No Objection Certificates filed within one month of the first professional result.

Key takeaways on MBBS migration rules in India

• The governing text is clause 6 of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997, as substituted by the gazette notifications of 20 October 2008 and 22 December 2008, which the NMC continues to apply.

• You can apply only after passing the first professional MBBS examination, and only within one month of the result being declared.

• Migration during the clinical course of study is not allowed on any ground. That rules out the second professional year onwards.

• The receiving college cannot take more than 5% of its sanctioned intake through migration in a year, and migration cannot increase its sanctioned intake.

• No migration is permitted between two colleges in the same city, on any ground.

• Four No Objection Certificates are needed: your college, its university, the receiving college and its university. The decision rests with the State Director of Medical Education for a transfer within the state, or with the NMC for a transfer to another state.

• After migrating, you sit the second professional examination only once you have the minimum attendance at the new college.

What is MBBS migration and which rule governs it?

Migration is the formal transfer of an MBBS student from the medical college where they were admitted to another recognised medical college in India, carrying over the first professional pass. It is different from a fresh admission through NEET counselling, and different from an inter university transfer in Europe. The rule sits in Part I of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997, titled "Admission, Selection, Counselling, Migration and Training", on the NMC regulations page for the erstwhile Medical Council of India. The original 1997 wording allowed migration only on extreme compassionate grounds, such as the death of a supporting guardian or a disabling illness. The 2008 notifications replaced that with the current wording, under which migration may be granted on any genuine ground, subject to vacancy and the other conditions. The regulation still refers to the Medical Council of India; since 2020 the National Medical Commission exercises those powers.

Who is eligible to apply for MBBS migration?

Clause 6(3) sets the entry condition: a candidate is eligible to apply only after qualifying in the first professional MBBS examination. Three groups are therefore outside the rule.

• First year students who have not yet passed the first professional examination cannot apply. A student with a supplementary attempt pending waits for the pass.

• Students in the clinical course of study cannot migrate on any ground, under clause 6(3). In practice that means a student in the second professional phase or later.

• Students seeking a college in the same city are barred by clause 6(1), whatever the reason.

Both colleges must be recognised, and the transfer must not push the receiving college above its sanctioned intake for the year, under clause 6(2). Our guide to MBBS course duration in India explains where the first professional examination sits in the four and a half year course, and MBBS subjects year wise lists what each phase covers.

How do you apply for MBBS migration, step by step?

1. Pass the first professional MBBS examination. Note the date your university declares the result, because the one month window in clause 6(4) runs from that date.

2. Identify a college in another city with a vacancy in your batch. Clause 6(1) makes migration subject to the availability of a vacancy, and a college cannot admit more than 5 per cent of its sanctioned intake by migration in a year, so a 150 seat college can take at most seven migrating students.

3. Obtain a No Objection Certificate from your present college.

4. Obtain a No Objection Certificate from the university your present college is affiliated to.

5. Obtain a No Objection Certificate from the college you want to join.

6. Obtain a No Objection Certificate from the university that college is affiliated to.

7. Submit the migration application with all four certificates within one month of the first professional result. Under clause 6(4), as substituted on 22 December 2008, the application goes to the Director of Medical Education of the state if both colleges are in the same state, or to the national regulator if the receiving college is in another state. For a central government institution, the earlier wording routes it to the head of that institution.

8. Wait for the decision. The regulations, in their 20 October 2008 wording, expect the deciding authority to communicate its decision within one month of receiving the request.

9. Join the new college, and attend enough teaching there to reach the minimum attendance before the second professional examination, as clause 6(5) requires.

Which documents are required for an MBBS migration application?

• The four No Objection Certificates: present college, present university, receiving college and receiving university.

• First professional MBBS mark sheet or pass certificate, showing the date of declaration of result.

• Admission letter or allotment letter from the original NEET counselling, to establish that the admission itself was regular.

• A written statement of the ground for migration with supporting papers, for example a parent's transfer order, a death certificate or medical records, since the authority decides on the genuineness of the ground.

• Bonafide certificate and attendance record from the present college, which the receiving college uses to plan the attendance you still need.

• Fee receipts and, where a state bond or seat leaving rule applies, the bond papers. Our post on the MBBS bond policy state by state explains what a state may claim when a seat is vacated.

• Migration certificate and transfer certificate from the present university once the migration is approved, which the web story on migration and transfer certificates explains in a quick read.

What are the 5 per cent cap, the vacancy condition and the same city bar?

Three limits in clause 6(1) decide most applications. First, migration is restricted to 5 per cent of the receiving college's sanctioned intake during the year. Second, it is subject to a vacancy existing in that college, so a college whose batch is full has nothing to offer even if it is willing. Third, no migration is permitted on any ground between two colleges in the same city. The table below shows what the cap means at common intake sizes.

The figures are the whole number below 5%, since a college cannot admit a fraction of a student. Clause 6(2) adds that a migration must not result in an increase in the sanctioned intake of the receiving college for that year, so the migrating student fills an existing vacant seat rather than an extra one.

Who decides on MBBS migration, and how long does it take?

The 22 December 2008 substitution of clause 6(4) splits the authority by geography. For a migration within the same state, the Director of Medical Education of that state decides. For a migration to a college outside the state, the application goes to the national regulator, now the NMC. The 20 October 2008 wording, which the regulations print alongside, gives the deciding authority one month from receipt to communicate a decision, and lets state governments, universities and institutions frame their own guidelines for issuing No Objection Certificates within the regulations. Note 2 of that wording sends any request not covered by the regulations to the regulator for a decision on individual merits, which is final. Note 3 requires every college to report the number of students it has admitted by migration within one month of their joining, and the regulator may verify compliance at any time.

What does a migration that fits the rules look like?

A student admitted through NEET to a government college in Nagpur passes the first professional examination, with the result declared on 10 January. Her father is transferred to Jaipur. Within the month she collects No Objection Certificates from the Nagpur college and Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, and from a 150 seat college in Jaipur and its university, after confirming that the Jaipur college has a vacancy in her batch and has not already taken seven migrating students that year. Because the two colleges are in different states, her application goes to the NMC, filed before 10 February. The ground is genuine, the vacancy exists, the cap is not breached and the colleges are in different cities, so every condition in clause 6 is met. On joining Jaipur she must complete the attendance required under regulation 12(1) at the new college before she can sit the second professional examination there. Had she applied in her third year, or to a second college in Nagpur, the application would have failed at the first hurdle regardless of the ground.

What happens after MBBS migration is approved?

The present university issues the migration certificate and transfer certificate, the receiving college enrols the student in the same batch, and the student's first professional pass is carried over. Clause 6(5) then applies: the student becomes eligible to appear in the second professional MBBS examination only after attaining the minimum attendance at the new college in the subjects, lectures and seminars required under regulation 12(1). That regulation sets 75 per cent attendance in a subject, with 80 per cent in non lecture teaching, as our guide on the minimum attendance for MBBS explains. A student who migrates late in the second professional phase can therefore lose an examination sitting simply because the attendance count restarts.

What if the migration application is refused or the window is missed?

If the one month window after the first professional result passes, the regulations give no later window; the student continues at the original college. If a No Objection Certificate is refused, the regulations do not provide an appeal within clause 6, though note 2 allows the state authority to refer a case the regulations do not cover to the regulator for an individual decision. If the receiving college has used up its 5 per cent for the year, the student can look at a different college with a vacancy in another city. Students considering a move abroad should read our post on medical university transfer to Europe, because European universities treat an Indian first professional pass under their own credit recognition rules, and NMC's foreign graduate regulations then apply on return.

Which advanced migration points catch families out?

• The one month clock runs from the declaration of the first professional result, not from the day you collect the mark sheet.

• The 5 per cent cap is counted at the receiving college per academic year and covers all migrating students, so the first applicants in a year have the best chance.

• Same city means same city, not same university. Two colleges under different universities in one city are still barred.

• Deemed universities are covered by the 20 October 2008 wording, which names them expressly, and their No Objection Certificates come from the deemed university itself.

• Migration does not reset the course: the second professional examination falls due on the batch calendar of the new college, and the attendance rule can delay it.

• State bond and seat leaving rules are separate from the NMC regulation and may apply to the college you leave.

• The NMC's 15 October 2026 one time mercy attempt for first year students who have not cleared the first professional examination does not change the migration rule; a student who clears the first professional examination through that attempt still has to apply within one month of that result. Our post on the NMC mercy attempt 2026 covers who qualifies.

FAQs on MBBS migration rules in India

Sources

• Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997, consolidated text with the 2008 amendments to clause 6 (NMC)

• NMC page on the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997