Overseas researchers in limbo over UK security clearance delays

Simple. Do not come to the UK if you can help it. The Home Office runs a "hostile environment" policy despite all the public PR about global Britain and the like. This means they assume by default the worst of you if you are from abroad and a foreigner from certain places.

We need to demand that the specific reasons for requiring ATAS certification for a course of study be detailed. As the article says, it seems to be both arbitraty and far-ranging. If the work to be done is able to be published openly, it's hardly a matter of 'national security' after all.

Undoubtedly the security checks are needed in some research subject areas, though some UK staff would fail them as well, if they were to be applied to them. Working on DARPA research projects has certainly led to some interesting situations where UK research staff are concerned, with more than a few contracts being lost due to an academic's previous history or current politics, how many of those will be passed or ignored by ARIA/ARPA security checks will be interesting...