GS(NP) 96: Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from Ivan Lewis MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

 

We welcome the Foreign Affairs Committee's long-standing interest in the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS). I wrote to you recently to follow-up the Foreign Secretary's letter of 14 August on Global Security, covering the ATAS Review and noting the extension of target times for processing ATAS applications.

 

We continue to review the service ATAS provides. As we have been unable to meet the 10 working days target to process applications, setting a more realistic goal for ATAS applications will help manage the expectations of students and Higher Education Institutions. This was supported by the conclusions of the ATAS Review and discussions around Whitehall. We therefore plan to change our advertised target of processing the majority of applications to 20 days. This still compares favourably with the US, Australian and New Zealand counter proliferation screening processes, which are built into the visa process and can delay decisions considerably. We have written to the Vice Chancellors about this change as well as informing our regular contacts at the Universities.

 

If you would like to know more about ATAS, beyond the information supplied on the FCO website, or on the impact of the proposed change we will be happy to liaise directly.

 

 

26 November 2009