The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : New visa rule for UK-bound students

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

New visa rule for UK-bound students

R. Ravikanth Reddy

They will have to take Academic Tech. Approval Scheme

Move follows involvement of foreign students in recent terror attacks
Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate mandatory before applying for a visa

HYDERABAD: Students going to the United Kingdom for higher education will now have to take an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) from Nov. 1, 2007, for better screening due to security concerns. The move follows the involvement of foreign students in the recent terror attacks.

The ATAS has been designed to ensure that students applying for certain specified courses that have security implications have to seek clearance again even after getting admission in the university.

Non-EU nationals

It applies to non-European Union nationals seeking to study in certain science, engineering or technology disciplines, according to information posted on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mandatory

Such candidates need to acquire an ATAS certificate before they apply for a visa, Entry Clearance (EC) or Extension of Stay (EoS). Candidates can apply online. Possession of the certificate is compulsory even though obtaining it does not guarantee a visa.

The ATAS certificate is specific to both the programme of study and the university in which the student is interested. If aspirants are in possession of a number of offers from different universities and have not decided on the choice of institution, they have to apply for separate ATAS clearance certificates for each varsity and programme of study.

According to the website, “ATAS is targeted at only a small range of sensitive subjects. It is more streamlined and much faster than similar schemes in other countries. Vast majority of ATAS applications will be processed within 10 working days.”

The website indicated that the process was to see that students applying for the specified sensitive subjects do not have links to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programmes.

The British Government wants to stop the spread of knowledge and skills that could be used in the proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery.

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