Germany Picks One Exam For All Foreign Doctors
From November 2026, Germany's knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung) is the default route for foreign doctors. Here is what changes and what to do before you apply.
Ahmed Quteishat
Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
From 1 November 2026, a new rule starts for foreign doctors in Germany. If your medical degree is from outside the EU, you now sit the knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung) by default.
A paper check of your degree still exists. But you must ask for it in writing, within 4 weeks of applying. That choice sticks: you cannot switch later.
What is actually changing
Until now, your state medical chamber (Landesärztekammer) could compare your degree against a German one on paper first. If the chamber found gaps, you sat the exam.
Now the chamber skips straight to the exam. You only get the paper check if you ask for it fast, in writing.
Miss that 4-week window, and you are on the exam track automatically. There is no asking again later.
What the exam actually looks like
Today the exam takes one day. You do an oral and practical exam with a real patient, in front of 3 examiners.
You get 3 attempts in total. By law, the state must offer you a date within 6 months.
A draft law would change this to a 2-day exam. First, 30 minutes of history taking and examination.
Then a 60-minute written report. Then a 90 to 120 minute oral exam.
This is still a draft, not final law. If you file your application by 31 October 2026, you would stay under the current, shorter exam.
Why the wait is the real cost
The law promises a date within 6 months. Getting that date can still take far longer.
In Bavaria, the wait to start the knowledge exam route grew from 6 months to 21 months. That is the chamber's backlog, not a change in the law.
Plan your move around that real number, not the 6-month legal maximum.
What this costs
The knowledge exam itself costs around €980 in Lower Saxony. In North Rhine-Westphalia it costs about €1,050.
On top of that comes the medical language exam (Fachsprachprüfung). It costs around €595 in Lower Saxony and about €400 in Cologne.
Then there is the licence fee itself. Each state sets its own range for that.
What to do now
- Decide within 4 weeks of applying: paper check or exam.
- Book your medical language exam (Fachsprachprüfung) early, before the knowledge exam gets scheduled.
- Ask your chamber in writing which exam version applies to your file.
- File before 31 October 2026 to keep the current, shorter exam.
Stand: 2026-10-31. 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.
