Everything you need to know about the GMC’s ID Check
To be eligible to work in the UK, all Doctors must be on the General Medical Council’s Register (click here to read our full guide on achieving GMC Registration).
As part of the registration process, Doctor’s, whether UK-based or International, must complete an identity check.
To support you with the registration process and ensure you get registered as quickly and efficiently as possible, we’ve put together a quick guide to tell you everything you need to know about the GMC’s ID check.
When do you need to complete your GMC identity check?
After you’ve received your invitation from the GMC to complete your ID check, you have three months to complete it. If you do not do it during this time, the GMC will close your application.
Although you have three months, we recommend you complete it as soon as possible.
How to complete your GMC ID check
The good news is that the GMC now does digital ID checks! Historically, you would have to book an in-person appointment with the Council at their London offices.
If you’re an International Doctor, this would have been quite the pain as you would have to organise it around flying into the UK and completing it before the onwards journey to your new home town/city!
However, this is no longer necessary. Hurray!
The documents needed to complete an ID check are:
- Passport
- Full UK driving licence
- Identity card
Unfortunately, the GMC will not accept:
- Provisional driving licence
- Expired documents
- Scanned or photocopied documents
If you’re an International Doctor, we strongly recommend using your passport, because if you use an alternative document, the GMC may have to follow up to ask you for some additional information. This can delay the entire process.
Once you’ve obtained your ID document, follow these steps:
- Download the Digidentity app on your mobile phone
- Log into your GMC online account
- Go to the ‘My ID Check’ section on your phone
- Click on ‘Digital ID Check’
- Follow the platform’s steps
Top tips on ensuring you take an acceptable ID pass-proof photo: passport style photo, clear background, in focus, look straight ahead, and don’t have anything covering your face!
Once you’ve completed all the steps in the Digidentity app, it’s important that you go back to the ‘Digital ID Check’ section of GMC Online and follow the steps onscreen. This is so Digidentity can send the details to the GMC so they can check the information.
How long will it take to verify your identity with the GMC?
On average, it can take up to 10 working days for the GMC to verify your ID check. You will not have to do anything during this time.
To see the status of your check, simply go to the ‘Digital ID Check’ section on the website.
In some rare cases, you may not be able to verify your identity digitally. If this happens, the GMC will email you to ask you to come and complete your ID check in-person at their London office.
Next steps…
The fantastic news is that as soon as the GMC has approved your ID Check, you will be on their register and eligible to practice medicine in the UK – congratulations!
If you’d like to know more about how ID Medical can support you with securing an NHS role, simply hit our register now button and one of the team will be in touch!
We will match you with a dedicated Recruitment Consultant who will be with you at every stage of the journey. Also, our experienced Compliance team will support you with collating all of the required documents for our fantastic Relocation team, which will be on hand to make your move over to the UK as stress-free as possible!