DHA licence from India.

The steps in order

This is DHA's own order from its Licensing Manual (5.6), with the India-specific part added. Some steps can run at the same time, which is marked.

1. Find your title. Open the PQR and the free Sheryan Self-Assessment Tool and see what DHA says about your qualification and experience. DHA's FAQ says to choose the closest title if yours is not listed, and DHA's credentialing team then selects the suitable title.
2. Check your home registration. DHA asks for a valid licence or registration in your home country or country of last employment, and it must cover the experience you rely on. For India that is your state council registration or your national register entry. Which body that is depends on your profession (see the next section).
3. Get a good standing certificate. DHA asks for one issued by the health regulator of your country of last employment, valid and not older than six months when you apply. DHA's Licensing Manual says the same licensing authority that holds your registration must issue it. How your Indian body issues it, and how long it takes, varies: confirm on the council's site.
4. Create your Sheryan account. This is DHA's licensing portal. It gives you a DHA unique ID and, when you apply for the exam, an Eligibility ID.
5. Start primary source verification (PSV). DHA delegates PSV to DataFlow. Documents are verified directly with their source: qualification, experience or employment, licence or registration, and good standing certificates. Documents not in English or Arabic need a legal translation.
6. Sit the DHA exam if your title needs it. You can do this and PSV at the same time, because DHA says both steps can be done simultaneously. The Get Registered application cannot be processed until the PSV report is complete and the exam is passed, if it is required.
7. Apply to Get Registered and link your PSV report. On approval you receive a registration certificate, valid for one year. It is not a permit to practise. A health facility has to activate it into a licence.

Which Indian body does what

We read these pages on 16 October 2026. Each body is the authority for its own rules, so use this table to find the right website and read the current guidance there.

What DHA asks, by profession

These are the base titles in the PQR (April 2025). Higher titles such as specialist or consultant have their own rules by tier. Experience must be hands-on clinical work in salaried employment, and teaching or non-clinical work is not counted. A break in practice of more than three years brings extra requirements, and DHA generally does not license people with a gap of more than five years.

The DHA exam from India

India is not among the countries named in the PQR's exam equivalency tables for nurses, physicians, dentists or pharmacists, which we checked by searching the whole document. That is a statement about the tables, not about your case. DHA decides, and exemptions cover the exam only, not verification or experience. For General Practitioner, DHA lists passing EMREE as an equivalency.

DHA says all exams are conducted in English. For the computer-based test DHA says you may attend "in any Prometric centers across the globe". It does not list countries or centres, and Prometric's own page blocked our scripted access, so we cannot tell you which Indian cities have a centre. Use the Prometric page that DHA links to and your Sheryan Eligibility ID.

For the format of your title, see the pass mark and format for every DHA title. A Registered Nurse sits 150 questions in 3 hours at 50 percent, and General Practice, General Dentist and Pharmacist are 60 percent. The time includes registration.

How long it takes: it varies

DHA does not state a total time. It states a timeframe for some steps: a new PSV report takes 15 working days from the payment date, and a transfer of an existing report takes five. Everything else depends on you, your council, your university, your employers and DHA's own review. Re-verification is possible if DataFlow cannot verify a document or finds a discrepancy, and that adds time.

DHA may reject an application if you do not respond for more than three months. Read the page on how long DHA licensing takes for each step and who controls it. Be careful with any site that gives a month range as fact, because we could not find one in DHA's documents.

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How Meddex fits

Meddex helps you prepare for the DHA exam itself. It does not take part in any step above. It does not file applications, hold your documents or recommend agents, and it is not connected to DHA, DataFlow, Prometric or any council. The free assessment is a quick way to see where you stand, and the pages for your profession show what is covered.

Meddex prepares candidates for the DHA licensing exam and the EMREE exam. It does not prepare for any Indian council process, does not issue certificates and is not connected to any council, DHA, DataFlow or Prometric.