Nostrification in Austria: how do you get a foreign medical degree recognised in Vienna?
Next official sitting
Stichprobentest
Stichprobentest Innsbruck
Exam: 3 February 2027
- MedUni Vienna: submission deadline 14 December 2026 (51 days left). Source: MedUni Vienna, read on 21 October 2026
- Medical University of Innsbruck: registration deadline 7 January 2027 (75 days left). Source: Medical University of Innsbruck, read on 21 October 2026
Dates from the official sources, Vienna time. The university's own information always decides.
In short
Nostrification (Nostrifizierung) is how Austria recognises a foreign degree as the equal of an Austrian one. The Austrian advice centres describe it as the route for doctors whose medical qualifications come from a third country. At MedUni Vienna it runs in three stages: your application with complete documents, an investigation procedure that may include the Stichprobentest, and a written decision (Bescheid). If your degree is equivalent in principle, the Bescheid lists the supplementary exams you still have to pass; the Merkblatt says Rezeptierkunde (pharmacology) and forensic medicine (Gerichtliche Medizin) are on that list in every case.
Step 1: get advice and gather your documents
Start with the advice centres for people with qualifications from abroad (Anlaufstellen, AST) or with one of the medical universities in Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck. Then choose one university and stay with it: the Merkblatt does not allow the same application at a second university, neither in parallel nor after you withdraw the first one.
The MedUni Vienna Merkblatt, its official information sheet, asks for these documents, among others:
- the application form, filled in and signed, with an address where official mail can reach you
- proof of an address in Austria (Meldebestätigung), or the name of a person in Austria authorised to receive your mail
- your original passport and a CV
- your diploma and records of the courses you attended, with their content, and the exams you took
- your thesis or other scientific work, if you want it taken into account
- the Austrian Medical Chamber's confirmation that you need nostrification (Bestätigung des Erfordernisses der Nostrifizierung), no older than one year
- proof of German at level C1 or higher, no older than three years
- the receipt for the nostrification fee (Nostrifizierungstaxe)
Certified copies, apostille and translation
Every document goes in as an original or as a copy certified by a court or a notary, plus a plain photocopy. Foreign documents need the prescribed legalisation: an apostille or full diplomatic legalisation. Documents in German or English need no translation; anything in another language goes in with a translation by a translator sworn in by an Austrian court.
Get the legalisation done first and the translation after, the Merkblatt advises, so the stamps are translated too. If something is missing, the university asks you to complete the file (Verbesserungsauftrag); if you miss its deadline, the application is rejected.
Step 2: the investigation procedure and the Stichprobentest
In the investigation procedure (Ermittlungsverfahren) the university compares your degree with the Vienna curriculum: its subjects, its hours and its teaching goals. To learn more about what your degree covered, it can add a Stichprobentest. The test is not an exam in the sense of the Universities Act but a step in the investigation, and all Austrian medical universities run it together.
The invitation comes by e-mail to the address on your application form, so check your inbox and your spam folder regularly, as the Merkblatt asks. As a rule you must sit the next possible test date after you apply, and you get one attempt only.
Step 3: the decision (Nostrifizierungsbescheid)
When the investigation ends, there are two possible outcomes. If your degree is not equivalent even in principle, the application is refused. If it is equivalent in principle, the Bescheid lists the exams you must pass and any coursework you must complete, sets a deadline for them and entitles you to enrol as a non-degree student (außerordentliche:r Studierende:r) to take them.
Step 4: the supplementary exams
Two exams are on every list: Rezeptierkunde (pharmacology) and forensic medicine (Gerichtliche Medizin). The Merkblatt prescribes them whatever your Stichprobentest result. Any further exams depend on the outcome of the investigation. In Vienna, nostrification candidates register for the prescribed parts of the SIP 4a and SIP 5a exams with a separate form.
All supplementary exams are held in German, and you take them in the order the curriculum sets.
After nostrification: not yet a licence to practise
Once you have met every condition within the deadline, the nostrification is noted on the certificate of your foreign degree. The Merkblatt is clear that nostrification alone does not give you the right to practise medicine in Austria.
The road to practising continues with the Austrian Medical Chamber (Österreichische Ärztekammer): doctors who apply for entry in its list of physicians (Ärzteliste) take its German language exam at the Academy of Physicians (Akademie der Ärzte).
German terms you will meet along the way
The official documents behind this guide are in German. These are the words that matter most:
- Nostrifizierung: nostrification, the recognition of your foreign degree as the equal of an Austrian one
- Merkblatt: the university's official information sheet on the procedure
- Ermittlungsverfahren: the investigation procedure, in which the university compares your degree with its curriculum
- Stichprobentest: the test the university can add to that investigation
- Bescheid: the formal written decision at the end of the procedure
- Ergänzungsprüfungen: the supplementary exams your Bescheid prescribes
- Nostrifizierungstaxe: the nostrification fee
- außerordentliche:r Studierende:r: non-degree student, the status in which you take the supplementary exams
- Ärzteliste: the Austrian Medical Chamber's list of physicians
Your next step
Pick your official sitting and your study hours a week. The study plan spreads the topics of your question bank over the weeks up to the exam, no account needed.
Build a study plan to your sittingFree sample
Practise with the free sample: 150 curated practice questions per question bank, no card needed. Explanations can be translated into your language (machine translated, with a daily limit for free accounts). They are not official exam questions.
Start the free sampleFrequently asked questions
Can I apply at more than one university at the same time?
No. The MedUni Vienna Merkblatt does not allow the same nostrification application at another university, neither at the same time nor after you withdraw it.
Does everyone have to take the Stichprobentest?
Not automatically, but plan for it. The university can add it during the investigation, and the advice centres' information sheet says that once basic comparability is established, an invitation is the normal case and taking part is then mandatory. If you are invited, you must, as a rule, sit the next possible date.
Can I work as a doctor in Austria once my degree is nostrified?
Not on that basis alone. The Merkblatt says nostrification on its own does not give you the right to practise medicine in Austria. Entry in the list of physicians goes through the Austrian Medical Chamber, and its German language exam is part of that step.
Are the supplementary exams in English or in German?
In German. The supplementary exams you take as a non-degree student are held in German.
Do documents in English need a translation for MedUni Vienna?
Not at MedUni Vienna. Its Merkblatt asks for a translation by a translator sworn in by an Austrian court only for documents that are not in German or English. If you apply in Graz or Innsbruck, check that university's rules.
Stichprobentest: when is the next official sitting?
Stichprobentest Innsbruck: 3 February 2027. MedUni Vienna: submission deadline 14 December 2026 (51 days left). Medical University of Innsbruck: registration deadline 7 January 2027 (75 days left). Source: MedUni Vienna, read on 21 October 2026. Source: Medical University of Innsbruck, read on 21 October 2026.
Read more
Guides to nostrification in Austria
- Stichprobentest in Innsbruck, Vienna or Graz: what is tested and how do you prepare?
- Nostrification exam dates in Austria: when are the SIP, Stichprobentest, Rezeptierkunde and Gerichtsmedizin?
- Rezeptierkunde and forensic medicine: why are they part of every positive nostrification decision?
- Pharmacology for the Rezeptierkunde exam in Vienna: what is tested and how do you prepare?
- German for doctors in Austria: when do you need C1, and when the Medical Chamber's language exam?
- SIP 4a and SIP 5a in Vienna: which exam parts do nostrification candidates take?
- Nostrification in Innsbruck: which exams come after the Stichprobentest?
- Nostrifying a medical degree in Austria: how long does it take and what does it cost?
- After nostrification: how do you get into the Ärzteliste and the right to practise in Austria?
- Specialist or general practice training in Austria: does your training from abroad count?
- Stichprobentest and SIP while working: how do you plan your preparation?
More short answers
- Where are the exam announcement and the exam calendar published?
- What does exam registration for the SIP, Rezeptierkunde, Gerichtsmedizin and the Stichprobentest need?
- What does “eliminiert” mean in the SIP result and feedback?
- When is it known whether the SIP is held as MC or KAF?
- Stichprobentest: what do the MedUni Vienna and Innsbruck deadlines say?
- SIP, Stichprobentest, Kenntnisprüfung: what is the difference?
- What does the MedPrüf free sample include?
Sources
- MedUni Wien, Nostrifizierung, read on 19 October 2026
- MedUni Wien, Merkblatt Nostrifizierung Humanmedizin, read on 19 October 2026
- MedUni Wien, Nostrifizierung: Ermittlungsverfahren, read on 19 October 2026
- Anlaufstelle für Personen mit im Ausland erworbenen Qualifikationen, Infoblatt Nostrifizierung Humanmedizin, read on 19 October 2026
- MedUni Wien, Nostrifizierung: Prüfungen, read on 19 October 2026
- Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte, Sprachprüfung Deutsch, read on 19 October 2026
Content checked on 19 October 2026