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Visas and immigration for new staff  Academic Technology Approval Scheme

If you are coming to work in research at the University of Leeds from another country, you might need a Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate. 

ATAS is a UK government scheme to prevent technology research or knowledge from being used to support military programmes ‘of significant concern’ in countries outside of the UK. It is a legal requirement for relevant individuals to hold an ATAS certificate.  

You can check if you need an ATAS certificate using the guidance from GOV.UK and information on this page. 

An ATAS certificate is applicable to one university/research institute. If you are conducting research at more than one university you will need to obtain an ATAS certificate for each.  

Do I need an ATAS certificate? 

You don’t need an ATAS if:

If you are not on the exempt list, you will need an ATAS certificate if:

  • you will be carrying out research in the UK (whether employed or visiting, including academics whose work involves an element of research)
  • you are applying for a new visa or to extend existing permission to stay in the UK under the Skilled Worker, Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange or Visitor immigration routes and
  • you are researching in a relevant field. 

If you are Skilled Worker, Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange

To check if you are researching in an ATAS relevant field, you will need to know the SOC code for your role. You can then check if your role is on the UK Government’s SOC code list. Common codes are 2162 for research roles, and 2311 for teaching. 

If the SOC is on the list, then you need to check if your field of research is on the list of CAH3 codes. These are quite wide-ranging and would cover many areas of research in Arts, Humanities and Cultures, Biological Sciences, Engineering and Physical Sciences, Environment and Medicine and Health. 

If you are undertaking a course of study, you will need a single ATAS certificate for work and study, but it must detail both the research project and study activities. 

If you think these may apply to you, you can check whether you need an ATAS certificate on the GOV.UK website. 

If you are changing from a study to work visa

If you are a student in the UK and you have an ATAS certificate which covers your studies, you cannot use it when you apply for a work visa. If you are switching in the UK into Skilled Worker or Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange you will need to apply for a new ATAS certificate. 

When and how to apply 

You need to create an online ATAS account, fill in and submit an application form on the ATAS website. You do not need to pay for the ATAS application. 

If you are coming to the UK via the Skilled Worker or Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange route: 

  • you will need to submit your ATAS certificate when you apply for your visa. If you need a certificate, but do not provide one, your visa application will be refused.   
  • you must provide evidence that you have applied for an ATAS certificate before we can assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to you.

If you are on coming to the UK via the Visitors route:

  • if you do not have a certificate when you arrive in the UK, you will not be allowed to start the engagement
  • you will need to show your certificate to the University before you are permitted to carry out any activity.

ATAS applications take at least 30 working days (6 weeks) to process, and some complex ones can take longer. There is no ‘fast track’ service.  

More people apply from April to August, so processing times may be longer during this period. The ATAS IT system does not accept duplicate applications.  

If your passport expires or is lost whilst your application is being processed, you must email the government’s ATAS team the details of your new passport. Contact the ATAS team by email: ATAS@fcdo.gov.uk. 

Contact us 

If you have any queries, please email the International HR team at InternationalHR@leeds.ac.uk.