How to Apply for ATAS Certificate to Study in UK
Recognitions
ATAS Certificate (Academic Technical Approval Scheme) is applied to all the international students with immigration permission to be in the UK and are intending to study Masters in UK mainly in science and engineering subjects require ATAS Certificate from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the UK Government. The sensitive subjects are, where the international student’s knowledge can be used to develop Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Advanced Conventional Military Technology (ACMT). Hence, they need to apply for ATAS certificate to study in UK.
UK universities issues an offer letter for an international student and mention whether ATAS certificate is required or not. If a student has any other type of immigration permission to be in UK, still he needs to produce ATAS certificate to the UK university. UK immigration law allows the UK universities to permit international students to study those sensitive subjects only if they provide the ATAS certificate.
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ATAS for New Students
If you are a new scholar and wish to apply for ATAS certificate to study in UK, you require student immigration permission to enter into UK. New students can apply up to 9 months before the course start date. Our UK education consultant advise the candidate to apply as early as possible from the moment they receive the offer letter from UK Higher Education Institution. ATAS certificate will be issued within 6 to 7 weeks and valid for 6 months from the date of issue. Students need not pay any charges to apply for an ATAS certificate and can apply as many certificates as they have as many offers from UK universities.
Due to COVID-19, UK government has updated the law from June 2020 that undergraduate and postgraduate students who require ATAS certificate to study in UK can start their studies remotely before evidence of ATAS clearance has been obtained. But the postgraduate research-based students cannot enrol their studies before submitting their ATAS clearance. International students need to attach their ATAS certificate along with visa supporting documents while applying for a student visa.
Citizens who do not require ATAS certificate
ATAS certificate is not required for the international students who are the citizens of EU countries, Australia, Japan, Canada, United States of America, Singapore, South Korea, Economic European Area (EEA). The requirement of ATAS Certificate is applied to all other residency international students irrespective of country. To enter into UK as an international student who wish to study sensitive subjects, Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) checks your ATAS certificate.
Existing Students in UK holding student visa
If you are an existing student in UK on student Visa, need to carry ATAS certificate that contains the details about the Higher Education Institution (HEI), course that includes modules or proposed research. If a candidate requires to change any of these details, then re-confirm that new ATAS certificate is required or not.
Suppose if your student immigration permission is about to expire, allow sufficient time to complete the immigration permission to stay and ATAS process before expiration. Our UK education consultant advises the candidate to apply prior to 4 months before the expiration date.
Existing student in UK holding non-student visa
If you are an existing student and entered UK trough Tier 1, Tier 2 or tier 5 visa, which was issued on or after 5th April 2015, then you must apply for the ATAS certificate before the course starts. Otherwise ATAS clearance is not required. But still it is required when the candidate renew his visa.
Requirements of ATAS certificate
The requirement of ATAS certificate include
- Offer letter from Higher Education Institution (HEI)
- Details about your course, research modules and the relevant CAH3 code. It is necessary to provide the accurate CAH3 code for your course before you submit your application. Or else need to re-apply.
- Previous academic records.
- Experience certificate. Ensure that there is no gap in both employment and education history. (i.e.) If you are unemployed or full-time parent then that should be specified in the form.
- Published journal papers. Details about the papers that are published in journal by your own or co-publishers.
- Details about how you will get funds to study in UK. Need to provide the sponsors details
- Contact details with 2 references. Make sure that that the candidate knows the referee for more than 3 years.
- Information about your area of research.
All these documents are required for ATAS Clearance. UK government allows the international students to apply for ATAS certificate through online also. If the research description and statements are not provided clearly, then there is a chance for your ATAS application to be rejected.
Students who apply for ATAS certificate to study in UK need to provide the original details. Details that are entered in the application form will be printed on the ATAS certificate. Hence our UK education consultant advise the candidate to enter the correct details up to their knowledge. Also, they insist the students to go through the application once again to make sure that all the details entered in the application form are accurate before submission.
The majority of mistakes that are made in the application form are the accident errors that happen while entering the data at the time of application.
Need to do changes after applying for ATAS Certificate
If the relevant information is changed or need to update the ATAS certificate, then the candidate need to apply for a new ATAS certificate with their new details within 28 days.
Relevant changes include:
- Like to change the course that requires ATAS approval. New approval must be received before starting the new programme.
- The completion date stated on CAS is postponed by three months or more
- Changes in the duration of the course or if the research work needs extra time than expected
- Changing the modules in the project or research work.
- Need to change the UK university.
If you need a new ATAS certificate, our UK education consultant recommends applying for ATAS certificate as soon as possible, so that the candidate can continue to study in UK without any issues.
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