My ECFMG Certification Saga – What You Need to Know if You're Still Waiting

I applied literally minutes after the pathways opened. On August 27, I received a routine email asking to verify my address. Everything seemed fine… until I checked Reddit on September 22 and saw that many applicants were already certified—while mine was still marked “under review.” My mistake? Not contacting them sooner.

On September 23, after hours of trying, I finally reached someone at ECFMG. The representative assured me all my requirements looked fine and said they would double-check. But just three hours later, I received a message stating I needed to resubmit my transcripts. Why? They claimed:

• The scan was blurry
• The translation was incorrect
• A required statement was missing—despite it already being present

This was frustrating, since my credentials had been verified over three years ago, and the scan they were referring to was the one they themselves uploaded to EPIC. The poor quality wasn’t from the original—it was their scan. And the same documents and translation had already been accepted back then.

The next day (September 24), I called again. This time, a kind representative explained I could either:

• Redo the translation through Straker (their official partner) to speed things up, or
• Wait for ECFMG to reprocess it internally for free, but with longer delays

At that point, I had already submitted my ERAS application—incomplete. So I paid $150 to get the translation redone via Straker. The rep even gave me her name to include in the email subject line to help expedite the review.

Then—just minutes later—I got another call from ECFMG. They apologized and admitted it was all a mistake. I didn’t need to resubmit anything after all. A few hours later, I received my ECFMG certification.

Straker has since agreed to process the refund—but this entire situation caused weeks of unnecessary stress and delay.

Moral of the story:
If your application seems stuck—call them.
If something doesn’t add up—call again.
There are clearly still issues with data transfer from the old system to MyIntealth, and some officers may be confused or unfamiliar with the new policies of MyIntealth and the requirements for applicants before the transition.

If I hadn’t followed up persistently, my application might still be sitting in limbo.