If you choose to continue to hold your licence while practising abroad, you will have to revalidate in the same way as doctors practising in the UK, and link to a UK designated body. If your employer or contractor is based within the UK it may be that they can provide you with a link to a Responsible Officer, and you should discuss your revalidation with them at the earliest opportunity.

You should confirm your current circumstances with the GMC through your GMC online account, so that the GMC can provide you with appropriate advice.

However, doctors who are based exclusively overseas do not need a license to practise in the UK. The licence to practise gives doctors legal rights and privileges in the UK that do not apply in any overseas country. Doctors who are based overseas must abide by whatever regulatory requirements exist in the country in which they practise.

You can relinquish your licence to practise whilst working abroad and reinstate it on return to the UK. Once your licence is restored, you need to link to a designated body, participate in annual appraisal in the UK and provide supporting information in line with guidance. Any relevant information gathered while working abroad, as well as evidence of ongoing CPD, should be brought to your first appraisal on return to the UK. 

Relinquishing and restoring a licence are both applications that a doctor must make to the GMC. 

The GMC’s information on overseas regulators explains the difference between registration and holding a licence to practise to overseas regulators.