Autorisation d'exercice (authorisation to practise, France)

In France, a foreign medical, dental, midwifery or pharmacy diploma does not on its own give you the right to practise. The autorisation d'exercice (AE) is the individual decision that does. The Centre national de gestion (CNG) says the minister decides after the opinion of the national authorisation commission (Commission nationale d'autorisation d'exercice, CNAE), and the CNG runs the procedure.

A favourable decision is notified to you by post and an authorisation order (arrêté) is published in the Journal officiel. With it you can register with the competent order, such as the Ordre des médecins, and then practise in hospital or in private practice. People trained outside the EU are often called PADHUE (praticiens à diplôme hors Union européenne).

• Non-EU diploma, any nationality. You pass the EVC knowledge tests, complete a paid consolidation period (parcours de consolidation des compétences, PCC) of two years for doctors and pharmacists or one year for dentists and midwives, then file your AE request.
• EU or EEA nationals with EU or EEA diplomas. These candidates file directly with the commission, which can grant authorisation or set compensation measures such as an adaptation period or aptitude test.
• Non-EU nationals with an EU specialist diploma. A quota procedure with an annual filing window. For 2026 the window ran from 15 December 2025 to 15 April 2026 and is now closed.
• The transitional route of the decree of 7 August 2020. For doctors this goes through a regional commission (CRAE) run with the ARS before the national commission.

1. File online through the démarches simplifiées platform. The CNG no longer accepts paper files, except those already posted.
2. EVC laureates can file up to two months before the end of their PCC.
3. Attach the official application form, ID, your diplomas, proof of training and experience, and a declaration from your foreign authority, less than one year old, that you have no sanctions.
4. EVC laureates add a detailed CV, the EVC results notification, original employer attestations of status and weekly hours, and the half-yearly evaluation report for their profession.
5. Wait for the commission. You may be called to a hearing.

The CNG says processing takes several weeks, not days, and the PCC itself must be done in the post you were assigned.

• Favourable. Individual notification by post and an AE order in the Journal officiel.
• Further training. For EVC and similar files the commission can recommend more training or another consolidation period; you then resubmit with proof.
• Sursis à statuer. The commission defers its decision because information is missing; you send the requested documents and the file is examined again.
• Compensation measures. For EU-route files, an adaptation period or an oral aptitude test before a new submission.

• Confusing the EVC pass with the authorisation. Passing the EVC only gives you a PCC post. You cannot practise freely until the AE order is published.
• Residence status gaps. Your titre de séjour must match each stage. Many PADHUE hold the talent card for medical professions, which requires an authorisation under the public health code.
• Incomplete half-yearly evaluations. These reports are part of the file, so make sure your hospital completes them on time.