German doctor licence papers you need

A complete German doctor licence file needs certified copies, German translations, and separate proof for every part of your medical training. One missing paper leads to a letter from the licensing office. Your file then waits on a desk until you send it.

Your licensing office is the authority in the German state where you apply. It compares your medical education with German medical training. It also checks your identity, your right to practise, and your German language papers.

Start with your identity papers

Send a clear passport copy. Add your birth certificate if your name differs across documents. Add your marriage certificate or name-change paper when your diploma shows an older name.

The office must connect the name on your passport to the name on every certificate. A different spelling between your passport and diploma causes an avoidable request for explanation.

• Passport or national identity card
• Birth certificate when names differ
• Marriage certificate or official name-change paper
• German registration paper if your state asks for it

Your medical school papers

Your diploma alone is not enough. Send your diploma, transcript, and detailed course list. The course list should show subjects, teaching hours, clinical rotations, and examination results.

Add your internship paper if your country requires one after graduation. Add your medical licence from the country where you trained. The office needs to see when you became allowed to work as a doctor.

Show every job separately

List each hospital job in a work certificate. Ask the hospital for your job title, exact dates, department, working hours, and main tasks. A one-line letter saying you worked there is weak.

For specialty training, add rotation certificates and your training record. A cardiology rotation, intensive care rotation, and emergency department rotation need separate dates. The office cannot guess them from a CV.

• Work certificate from each hospital
• Specialty training certificates
• Rotation list with departments and dates
• Current certificate of good standing
• CV with no unexplained gaps

Use the right copies and translations

Do not send your only original diploma unless the office asks for it. Send officially certified copies where the state requires them. Keep your originals in a folder for later appointments.

Use a German translation from a sworn translator. The translator should translate stamps, handwritten notes, dates, and both sides of each paper. A translation without the source document attached can be rejected.

Berlin's licensing office states that foreign-language papers need German translations by a publicly appointed or sworn translator. Other states publish their own list. Read the list for your chosen state before you pay for translations.

Do not forget the current papers

A certificate of good standing shows that your medical licence is still valid. You get it from the medical authority or medical council in the country where you last worked. It is different from your diploma.

You also need a medical fitness certificate and a criminal record paper. These papers must be recent when the licensing office receives them. Your state page states which authority may issue each one.

Put the file in order

Make one PDF for each document group. Name files clearly, such as “03_Diploma_translation” or “07_Hospital_Cairo_2022”. The clerk should find your diploma in seconds.

Do not rely on your CV to replace certificates. Your CV tells the story. The diploma, work letters, and good standing paper prove each line.

What to do now

1. Download the document list from your chosen state's licensing office.
2. Make a table with each paper, its original, copy, certification, and translation.
3. Ask every hospital for a signed work certificate with department, dates, hours, and tasks.
4. Book a sworn translator after your papers are final.
5. Send the file in the order shown on the state application form.

Stand: 2026-09-27. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.