Further memorandum from the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
CHANGES TO SCREENING FOR FOREIGN POSTGRADUATE
STUDENTS APPLYING FOR COURSES IN SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGIES
I thought the Committee would appreciate an
update on the status of the Academic Technology Approval Scheme
(ATAS), following the Committee's visit to the Counter Proliferation
Department (CPD) in April this year. I am copying this letter
to the Clerk of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC).
As you may recall, the ATAS will replace the
Voluntary Vetting Scheme which has been screening postgraduate
students for counter proliferation purposes since 1994. The ATAS
is due to "go-live" on 1 November 2007 with a subsequent
amendment to the Immigration Rules on 26 November 2007. The scheme
will make the possession of an ATAS certificate a mandatory requirement
for those non-EEA postgraduate students applying for Entry Clearance
and wishing to study in specific, limited subject areas. These
subjects are broadly Maths, Sciences, Technology, Engineering
and Computing generally at PhD or Masters by Research level, but
including a few taught Masters courses that have been identified
as being of particular concern. The list of subjects has been
drawn up on the basis of technical advice from MOD Defence Intelligence
Service (DIS). The need to hold an ATAS certificate will also
apply if a student wishes to extend their stay in the UK; including
if they are already studying one of the identified subjects at
postgraduate level.
The ATAS, like the VVS, will continue to be
administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). There
are dedicated ATAS webpages (www.fco.gov.uk/atas)
on the FCO website where students will be able to find comprehensive
information on the scheme and access the free, online application
form. Once they have received an offer from a Higher Education
Institution (HEI) they will be able to make an ATAS application.
The information they provide will be assessed for proliferation
concerns by the FCO and its advisers (MOD DIS and the various
intelligence agencies). We aim to respond to all applications
within a maximum of three weeks, with the vast majority being
answered within 5-10 working days. Once an ATAS clearance certificate
has been issued a student will apply for their Entry Clearance
or extension of stay in the usual manner.
An ATAS certificate will be specific to the
course and institution applied for. Students are free to make
any number of ATAS applications and hold several ATAS certificates.
Entry Clearance Officers will verify that the information provided
on their ATAS certificate matches that contained in their offer
letter from their HEI.
Our aim for this scheme is not to refuse all
applications but to ensure the UK takes suitable precautions to
mitigate the risk that WMD technology could be acquired here and
used against us or our allies. We are keen to meet the UK's national
security needs while at the same time running a system that will
not have any adverse effect on international students coming to
the UK. We carried out a significant period of outreach to convey
this message to the academic community which has been invaluable
to gain their support of the scheme and enable us to make improvements.
We also commenced a pilot of the ATAS in September,
receiving applications from students and issuing certificates,
in order to test our systems and processes. We have received useful
feedback from both the academic sector and stakeholders within
HMG and are encouraging a wider group of contacts to continue
to test the system. The pilot is scheduled to run for two months,
allowing us to rectify any identified flaws and improve our processes
before we formally launch.
As part of our outreach work we asked our network
of overseas Posts to inform their host governments of the impending
changes. The feedback from this exercise has been very positive,
with a number of countries expressing an interest in implementing
similar schemes in their own countries. We are keen to encourage
this and, following successful implementation of our own scheme,
will be working closely with those countries that wish to put
their own counter-proliferation checks in place.
October 2007
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