🇺🇸 United States · Doctors
What a doctor trained abroad needs to register in the United States
Read from the regulator's own documents. Each step shows what it costs, who usually pays, and the date we last checked it. Enter your details and we tell you which of these you already meet.
ECFMG Certification and the residency Match
ECFMG · ~24 months · ~US$4,355 · 9 steps
Pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK, satisfy a Pathway with OET Medicine, have ECFMG verify your diploma, then apply through ERAS and match into an ACGME residency on a J-1 or H-1B visa. A state licence follows residency.
- 1Medical school listed in the World Directory with an ECFMG Sponsor Note covering your graduation year
- 2Confirm your school's ECFMG Sponsor Note in the World Directory (search.wdoms.org, Sponsor Notes tab)
- 3Apply for ECFMG Certification through MyIntealth and have your diploma and transcript verified with your school~8 weeks · ~US$800 · you pay · Source ↗
- 4Pass USMLE Step 1 (applied for through the FSMB)~26 weeks · ~US$905 · you pay · Source ↗
- 5Pass USMLE Step 2 CK~26 weeks · ~US$930 · you pay · Source ↗
- 6OET Medicine: 350 in listening, reading and speaking and 300 in writing, in one sitting (no exemptions)you pay · Source ↗
- 7Apply to a Pathway (1 to 6) by 31 January for that year's Match and have it accepted~8 weeks · ~US$945 · you pay · Source ↗
- 8Apply through ERAS and match into an ACGME residency, with ECFMG sponsoring the J-1 visa (or an employer the H-1B)~40 weeks · ~US$775 · who pays varies · Source ↗
- 9Overseas Employment Certificate from the Department of Migrant Workers, through a DMW-licensed recruitment agency or an employer the DMW allows to hire directly (Filipino workers)who pays varies · Source ↗
Rules checked 25 Oct 2026 · outcomeOS describes each regulator's published rules; it does not advise on your individual case. · Privacy · Terms
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