‘Serious failings’ in UK security checks on researchers

Lengthy delays faced by international researchers seeking security clearance to work in the UK have been highlighted by an MP after a Syrian academic was stopped from seeing his dying father by bureaucratic hold-ups.

Wendy Chamberlain, whose North East Fife constituency covers the University of St Andrews, is sponsoring a Westminster Hall debate on 13 January to raise concerns over what she calls “serious failings” in the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS).

Under the scheme, which has been run by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) since 2021, researchers, PhD candidates and postgraduates of certain nationalities or those working in security-related fields must apply for ATAS clearance prior to seeking a visa.

However, Chamberlain, a Liberal Democrat MP, told Times Higher Education that she has received numerous requests for help from overseas academics at St Andrews related to delays in processing ATAS applications in the past 18 months.

ATAS operates a 28-day turnaround target yet scholars have been forced to wait as long as 6 months in some cases, said Chamberlain.

Without an established route to query delays or fast-track processes where urgent or compassionate grounds exist, some academics had been prevented from travelling for months, she continued. In one case a Syrian academic was denied the chance to see his dying father after ATAS delays held up his visa renewal, she said.

“It was eventually resolved and he went home but missed his father’s funeral,” Chamberlain explained.

“He completely accepts the need for these additional checks but there was no way to expedite the process despite knowing his father was gravely ill,” she added.

The lack of a dedicated ATAS contact route – a hotline, named contact or mechanism to escalate cases – made it hard for even MPs to raise concerns, said Chamberlain, noting the only point of contact is a public-facing email address that anyone can use.

“When I phoned the FCDO hotline to speak to someone they told me they didn’t operate the scheme and that I’d need to speak to the Home Office – which is incorrect,” said Chamberlain on the difficulties of raising concerns.

That set-up made it difficult for the Home Office, which has no ability to communicate with or influence ATAS officials, or expedite ATAS decisions, she continued. “This leaves applicants and MPs stuck in a loop, with no one able to take responsibility,” she said.

The FCDO does not publish data on ATAS processing times but Universities UK has previously raised concerns about “significant and unacceptable” delays. In one case a UK university had as many as 89 students awaiting clearance in mid-October 2022, THE reported, causing some students to fear deportation or the loss of scholarships if applications were not processed.

If ATAS delays continue, it could hinder UK universities in recruiting the best postgraduate students or staff from overseas, Chamberlain added. “St Andrews performs incredibly well on research and this success is partly because people want to come here. If researchers and students can’t get through the system they might go elsewhere,” she said.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com