Registration application process

Primary source verification

You’ll need to have your qualification independently verified by ECFMG, a division of Intealth, before we can grant your registration. Read about what primary source verification means for you.

English language evidence

Why do you need to check that I can communicate in English?

We need to make sure you have the necessary knowledge of English to communicate effectively before we can grant your application to practise in the UK. This is so you don't put the safety of your patients at risk. Communicating includes speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

As part of your application for registration, you must provide evidence demonstrating that your knowledge of English meets our requirements. See our guidance about meeting our English language requirements.

Registration and licensing history

Once your qualification has been confirmed as acceptable, you’ve passed both parts of the PARA, you’ve demonstrated that you can meet our English language requirements and have started your qualification process with ECFMG, we will then allow you to make an application for registration.

As part of your application for registration, you need to tell us if you have held registration and/or a license with any healthcare authority or regulator, in the UK or overseas, in the last five years.

Examples include:

• Overseas healthcare regulators
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
• The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

You only need to tell us about GMC registration if you are (or previously have been) registered as a doctor or an anaesthesia associate with us.

If you have held registration and/or a license with any healthcare authority or regulator, in the UK or overseas, in the last five years, then we’ll need a Certificate of Current Professional Status. This will need to be provided to us directly from the organisation, you can find out more about a Certificate of Current Professional Status.

Work history

What do I need to provide?

When you make an application for registration, we’ll also ask you to provide us with details of your work history from the last five years in the UK or overseas.

You should include full details of any healthcare work, and any time you were working in non-healthcare related practice or were unemployed.

Examples of non-healthcare practice include:

• Studying
• Extended holidays
• Adoption, maternity leave, or paternity leave

You cannot leave breaks of more than 28 days that are not accounted for.

After you’ve submitted your application, we’ll make checks on your work history and ask you to provide an employer’s reference covering at least the most recent three months of your employment. If you have more than one healthcare employer during this period, we will need references from each employer.

A copy of the employer reference form will be available to download on GMC Online, but you can also find more guidance including a link to the form in our Employer references for PAs and AAs guide.  

If you have not worked in healthcare within the last five years, you do not need to provide a reference.

We’ll make checks on your employer’s reference.

Declaring your fitness to practise

What you need to tell us when you apply for registration

As part of your application, we’ll ask you nine questions about your health and fitness to practise.

Before you answer the questions, we recommend you read our guide on ‘What to tell us when you apply’.

We only need to know about things that could affect your ability to work as a physician associate or lower the public’s confidence in this profession. The guidance will help you decide what you do and don’t need to tell us about. We may refuse registration if you give us information that isn’t true or don’t tell us something you should have. But just because you tell us about something doesn’t mean you can’t join the register. We treat all the information you give us confidentially.

Insurance and indemnity

Please read our guidance on insurance and indemnity before you apply for registration. This is so you understand your responsibility to have adequate and appropriate insurance and/or indemnity arrangements in place by the time you begin to practise as a registered PA. The guidance also tells you where to go if you need advice. Failure to meet the insurance and indemnity requirement may put your registration at risk.

You’ll have to complete a declaration on your application for registration to confirm you will have adequate and appropriate insurance or indemnity arrangements in place by the time you begin to practise as a registered PA.

Translating documents that aren’t in English

What do I need to provide?

For every document that is not in English, you must provide a copy in the original language and a complete and accurate English translation.

All translations must include the contact details of the translation service or translator. This should be attached to the translation, and your documents must be stamped and signed by the translation service.

Who can translate my documents?

We strongly advise your translations are done by:

• court or council appointed translators or
• reputable commercial translation services.

Before you use any commercial translation service, you should check that:

• it has a generally recognised professional accreditation or
• it has a membership with a relevant professional or trade association.

In the UK, professional associations of translators include:

• Institute of Translation and Interpreting
• Chartered Institute of Linguists
• Association of Translation Companies

All three provide online directories of their members which you may find helpful.

How much does it cost to apply?

Once you’ve completed your application, we’ll ask you to pay a registration fee. You won’t be able to submit your application without paying this fee. See our fees page for our current fees.

If your application is refused, closed or withdrawn, we’ll refund what you paid minus a scrutiny fee which covers our processing costs. Once your application is granted, the registration fee becomes non-refundable. See our webpage on refunds. 

How long will it take to consider my application?

We aim to carry out an initial assessment within ten working days of receiving your application for registration.

After we have assessed your application, we’ll let you know if we need any further information or additional evidence to support your application. If you do not respond to our enquiries or provide the requested evidence this will delay the completion of your application or may mean that we will need to decide to close or refuse your application.

We will keep you up to date throughout the progress of your application by email. We will tell you when you need to complete an ID check.

The information you provide in your application is valid for three months. This is the maximum we can keep your application open.

Completing an identity check

You must complete a GMC identity check before we can make a final decision your application for registration.

Once we’ve invited you to complete an identity check, you’ll have three months to complete it. We can’t extend the time limit for the identity checks for any reason.

For more information, please see our guidance on identity checks.

When will you grant my registration?

Once you have provided all the information and evidence we require, you have completed your ID check and we are satisfied you have met all the standards, we will grant your application for registration, and you’ll receive an email to confirm this.

Once registered you, your employer or others will be able to check your personal entry on our registers by searching with your reference number or name. This will provide proof of your registration status and history.