Thirteen institutes failed, seven accredited for one year of a five-year course, over 2,000 Indian students affected: Kyrgyzstan's 2026 state review and the transfer India's rules do not allow

Kyrgyzstan is one of the most popular destinations for Indian students who miss a government MBBS seat at home. A presidential decree gave the state a monopoly on the training of medical and pharmaceutical personnel, and in 2026 the Ministry of Health ran a state-accreditation review of medical schools. According to Millennium Post, it assessed faculty, clinical facilities, resources and educational programmes. Institutions that failed, 24.kg reported, had their licences terminated and lost the right to enrol students or issue state-recognised diplomas.

The Embassy of India in Bishkek issued an advisory on 13 July 2026 telling students not to take admission at any university that had failed, or that was accredited for only one year of the five-year course. Thirteen were on the failed list, among them Avicenna International Medical University, ADAM University, International Medical University and Osh International Medical University. Seven received one-year accreditation. On 25 August the embassy said the State Enterprise Foreign Student Admission Office had clarified that for Kyrgyz National University and Jalal-Abad State University the one-year term was procedural, so students could enrol there, and it told aspirants to undertake due diligence.

According to 24.kg, citing the Health Ministry, 7,137 students were enrolled at the non-accredited institutions in 2026; 5,500 were subject to transfer and 3,391 had been moved by 11 September. Transfers are free, but students had complained that some institutions were demanding payment for transcripts, and the ministry said unaccredited schools may not hold classes or demand tuition for the new year before a student has transferred. Medical Dialogues put the number of Indian MBBS students affected at over 2,000.

Their problem is on the Indian side. Under the FMGL 2021 regulations the National Medical Commission does not allow a student to transfer between foreign institutes. Medical Dialogues reported that the embassy had taken the matter to the NMC and, according to students, had asked for a one-time exemption. AIMSA's Foreign Medical Students Wing wrote to the External Affairs Minister seeking a legally valid transfer mechanism and written NMC clarification on recognition of degrees after transfer. The check that failed was timing: an institute licensed when a student enrolled lost its accreditation years later, and India's rules had no door for that case.

For a family considering Kyrgyzstan, read the embassy's advisories and the Foreign Student Admission Office's orders before paying anything, and confirm the university's accreditation status and its term, not just its licence. If you are already at a listed institute, do not pay tuition for the new year, keep the transfer order with your originals, and get the NMC's position in writing before accepting a transfer. The May 2024 attacks on Bishkek hostels are recorded elsewhere on this site.