What is primary source verification (EPIC) for AHPRA?

What primary source verification is

A regulator has never seen your issuing university, cannot read its seal, and has no way to know your certificates are genuine. Primary source verification solves that: instead of trusting a copy you hand over, the process goes straight back to the body that issued your qualification and asks it to confirm, at source, that the award is real and yours.

For international medical graduates it is a requirement, not an optional extra, and it does three things: it confirms your identity, it checks the integrity of your documents, and it verifies directly with the awarding institution that your degree and other qualifications were genuinely granted to you. Only then can the verified result feed your AHPRA registration application.

For a UK or Irish GP with straightforward, well-documented qualifications it is usually smooth. The catch is not difficulty; it is time, because the process depends on other institutions responding. Keep verification separate from two things it is often confused with: it is not the English language requirement, and it is not the registration decision itself, which the Medical Board makes later. It sits within the wider registration pathways picture and the complete relocation guide.

EPIC, Intealth, the AMC and AHPRA

Four names matter, each with a distinct job. Intealth runs the verification service (you may know its heritage through ECFMG); EPIC, the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials, is the service itself, accessed through the MyIntealth platform; the Australian Medical Council (AMC) is the body you nominate to receive your verified reports; and AHPRA, with the Medical Board, uses the verified result to register you.

The process, step by step

You spend more time waiting than working, which is why the order matters. Here is the route most GPs follow; confirm the current detail on the AMC primary source verification page.

Steps one to four are yours to complete quickly; step five belongs to other people, so front-load your part and let the wait run. A GP in Manchester with an MBChB and MRCGP sets up MyIntealth, completes the identity requirements, uploads the two qualifications and nominates the AMC, all across one week. Then nothing visible happens for a while, because EPIC has written to the awarding university and is waiting for it to confirm the degree at source. The GP spends that period gathering their certificate of good standing and preparing the rest of the application, so when the verification lands everything else is in place. The move timeline reinforces starting this first.

Which qualifications to verify

Not every certificate you own needs verifying; the right list depends on your pathway, so start from your registration route and work backward. Your primary medical degree is the baseline; essentially every applicant verifies it. Beyond that, your postgraduate and specialist qualifications may need verifying too, particularly your GP fellowship, which matters if you are going through college assessment or want it recognised. Your registration or licence to practise in the UK or Ireland can also form part of the picture. The exact set depends on whether you are on the expedited specialist pathway or a route involving college assessment, so check what each requires before you upload.

If you are not certain which route you are on, settle that first with the eligibility self-assessment, because verifying the wrong things wastes time and money. Verification fees are set by the service and change, so check current amounts and factor them into the overall cost breakdown.

Nominating the AMC: the step people miss

Here is the mistake that quietly costs weeks. A GP uploads their degree, sees it verified, and assumes the job is done. It is not: a verified credential sitting in your MyIntealth account does nobody any good until it is sent to the body that needs it. You have to nominate the Australian Medical Council as a recipient of each verification report, and if you are going through college assessment, nominate the relevant college too. Verification proves the letter is genuine; nomination decides where it is posted. Do it as part of the upload, and check that each credential shows the AMC as a recipient before you move on, following the AMC how-to-apply guidance in order.

How long it takes, and why to start first

The timeline is set by the institution that issued your qualification, not by you. A responsive university returns a verification quickly; a slower one, or a document from decades ago that needs digging out of an archive, can take much longer. This is why verification is so often the longest single wait in the whole registration journey.

The practical consequence is a rule you should treat as fixed: start verification before anything else. It runs in the background while you gather documents, sit any English evidence, arrange your indemnity cover and progress your visa. Use those weeks for the decisions that do not depend on it: which state or territory suits you, the moratorium and where you can work, and what a good GP job looks like, so a supervised-practice role is ready when your registration lands.

Common pitfalls

Most verification problems are the same handful, and every one is avoidable once you know it is coming.

Get verification moving early and the rest of registration becomes a matter of assembling documents and waiting for an assessment. Verification is finite and largely a one-off: once your credentials are verified and sitting with the AMC, that foundation is laid. The next steps are supervised practice, CPD homes and Medicare provider numbers.

Sources

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Read them directly and confirm anything time-sensitive on the day.

Frequently asked questions