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Before you assign a certificate of sponsorship to your worker, you may need to check whether the worker needs an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate.

Who needs to do this

You’ll need to do this if you’re sponsoring a worker on any of the following:

• a Skilled Worker visa
• a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)
• a Graduate Trainee visa (Global Business Mobility)
• a UK Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)
• a Service Supplier visa (Global Business Mobility)
• a Secondment Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)
• a Scale-up Worker visa
• a Government Authorised Exchange visa
• an International Agreement visa

If you’re sponsoring a worker on any other visa, you do not need to do anything.

What you need to do

If you do need to check, you must follow these steps.

1. Check if the worker needs an ATAS certificate

2. Answer the question on the certificate of sponsorship, confirming whether or not the worker needs an ATAS certificate. If they do not need an ATAS certificate, you may need to give a brief explanation of why.

3. If the worker does need an ATAS certificate, you must tell them that they need to get one and include it in their visa application.

Check if the worker needs an ATAS certificate

The worker will need an ATAS certificate if all of the following are true:

• you have a Student sponsor licence
• you’re sponsoring the worker in a 
• the worker will be carrying out research at PhD level or above in a ‘relevant subject’ - check the 
• the worker’s nationality is not exempt from needing an ATAS certificate - check the 

If your worker does not need an ATAS certificate because they will not be doing research at PhD level or above in a relevant subject but all of the other points apply, you’ll need to add an explanation note.

You can either:

• add a note to the ‘job description’ field on your certificate of sponsorship
• add a sponsor note after you have assigned your certificate of sponsorship

Example explanation note

The worker does not need an ATAS certificate because the role does not involve research at PhD level or above.

If the worker needs an ATAS certificate

You must:

• tell the worker that they need to get an ATAS certificate and include it in their visa application
• make and keep a copy of the ATAS certificate, once it has been issued

You do not need to add an explanation or a sponsor note if your worker does need an ATAS certificate.

Tell the worker that they need an ATAS certificate

Tell the worker that they must  and include it in their visa application.

ATAS certificate applications for workers can take at least 2 weeks to be processed (3 weeks between April and September).

Make and keep a copy of the ATAS certificate

When the worker has received their ATAS certificate, you must keep a copy of either:

• the certificate
• the electronic approval notice the worker received from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)