Transfer medical registration to another state Sections 33 and 34 of the NMC Act, the NOC from your current council, and what Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana ask for.

To practise in another state, plan on registering with that state's medical council: apply to your current council for an NOC (some councils call it a Good Standing Certificate), then apply to the new council for registration with that NOC and your existing certificate. The legal basis is section 34 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which bars anyone not enrolled in "the State Register or the National Register" from practising, read with each state's own registration Act. The NMC's Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023 describe a simpler online transfer, but the regulations themselves say the prevailing system continues until they are in force.

What does the NMC Act say about where you may practise?

Section 34(1) says no person other than one "enrolled in the State Register or the National Register, as the case may be", shall be allowed "to practice medicine as a qualified medical practitioner", hold a physician's office, sign or authenticate a medical or fitness certificate required by law, or give expert evidence on medicine in court. Section 34(2) sets the penalty: imprisonment up to one year, a fine up to five lakh rupees, or both.

Section 33(1) says a person who qualifies the National Exit Test gets a licence and is enrolled "in the National Register or a State Register", and that anyone on the old Indian Medical Register before the Act "shall be deemed to have been registered under this Act and be enrolled in the National Register". Section 31(7) asks the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board to keep the National Register and each State Register electronically synchronised.

The Act defines a "State Register" as one maintained under any state law for registering practitioners, so the state Acts still matter. For example, Telangana applies the Andhra Pradesh Medical Practitioners Registration Act, 1968 (adapted by G.O.Ms.No.68 of 3 August 2015). Section 20 of that Act says no person other than a "registered practitioner", meaning one whose name is on the state's own register, shall practise modern scientific medicine from a date the government notifies. Other states have their own Acts. Read your new state's Act or ask its council before you start seeing patients there.

What does the NMC's 2023 transfer process say?

Regulation 9 of the 2023 registration regulations (Gazette of India No. 320, 12 May 2023) sets out a "Transfer of Licence to Practice" through the Ethics and Medical Registration Board's web portal:

1. The doctor applies to the new state through the portal.
2. The State Medical Council where the doctor is registered gets an intimation and "within a period of 30 days shall approve the application for transfer of Licence to Practice, if it has no objection thereon".
3. If that council takes no decision within 30 days, the transfer is "deemed to have been approved".
4. The new state's council issues a Licence to Practice certificate for that state.
5. The unique registration number stays the same; only the state code attached to it changes, and the change shows in the National Register.

Regulation 6 also lets a doctor "opt any State/States to practice medicine" when applying for a licence, with each chosen council deciding within 30 days. Two cautions. Regulation 4 ends: "Until such time that these Regulations and appropriate sections are in force, licence to practice and prevailing system of Registration shall continue." And the council pages we read on 31 October 2026 still list the NOC. So treat the portal route as the direction of travel and the NOC route as what your new council will most likely ask for today. Our glossary entry on the National Medical Register explains the register itself.

What do state councils ask for?

Requirements and fees differ by council. Three that publish them:

Telangana's separate charge for an unused NOC tells you something practical: an NOC is issued for a move, and if you do not move, the council expects you to say so. None of these pages says whether your registration in the old state is cancelled once you register in the new one. Ask both councils in writing, because it decides whether you can still see patients in the old state, for instance at a weekend clinic near the border. Contact routes for each council are on our state medical councils page.

What should you do, in order?

1. Check your current registration is valid and renewed; see our post on registration renewal and CME credits. A lapsed registration delays everything after it.
2. Read the new council's registration page for doctors from other states. Note its document list, fee and whether it wants the NOC issued within a set period.
3. Apply to your current council for the NOC or Good Standing Certificate, online where the council allows it.
4. Apply to the new council with the NOC, your existing registration certificate and your degree documents, and pay its fee.
5. Do not start practising in the new state until the new certificate is issued. Section 34 attaches a criminal penalty to practising without enrolment.
6. Update the registration number and council name on your letterhead, prescription pad, signboard and clinic software.