Germany's 2026 law changes when you can apply
From 1 November 2026, the knowledge exam is the default path for foreign doctors in Germany, so your exam date, not a paper check, sets when you can apply.
Ahmed Quteishat
Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
From 1 November 2026, German law changes how foreign doctors get their licence. The knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung) becomes the default path for doctors trained outside the EU. That exam date, not a paper check of your degree, now sets the earliest day you can send real job applications.
What was the old system?
Before this law, the office reviewing your file could choose to check your degree on paper first. This paper check had no promised date.
Some doctors waited many months for a letter back, only to be told they needed the exam anyway.
What changes on 1 November 2026?
The knowledge exam becomes your default path. You can still ask for the paper check instead, but you must ask within 4 weeks of applying.
That choice is binding. Once you are on the exam route, you cannot switch back to the paper check.
How fast is the exam route?
The office must confirm your file within 1 month. It must decide your path within 4 months once your file is complete.
After that, the state has to offer you an exam date within 6 months. In Bavaria, the wait for this route has grown from 6 to 21 months recently. Ask your chamber for its current wait before you plan around it.
Is a longer 2-day exam coming too?
There is a draft proposal, not law yet, for a longer 2-day knowledge exam. It would include a 30-minute exam with a patient, a 60-minute written report, then a 90 to 120 minute oral.
If this draft becomes law, applications filed by 31 October 2026 would stay under the current 1-day exam format. Nothing is confirmed, so treat this as a reason to file early, not as settled law.
What should you do now?
- Send your application now, with your degree, transcripts, home licence and language certificate, so you file before 31 October 2026.
- Decide the paper check question in writing within 4 weeks of applying. Most doctors are better off on the exam route, since it has a guaranteed date.
- Ask your chamber directly: what is the current wait for an exam date in this state?
- Build your German CV while you wait, so you can send job applications the day your licence or your temporary permit (Berufserlaubnis) arrives.
Stand: 2026-11-07. 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) before you act.
Ahmed Quteishat — Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
Ahmed built Klaro after watching how much of a doctor's move to Germany gets lost in paperwork rather than medicine.
