  The number and spatial distribution of confirmed quasi-stellar objects (QSOs)
behind the Magellanic system is limited. This undermines their use as
astrometric reference objects for different types of studies. We have searched
for criteria to identify candidate QSOs using observations from the VISTA
survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC) that provides photometry in the
YJKs bands and 12 epochs in the Ks band. The (Y-J) versus (J-Ks) diagram has
been used to distinguish QSO candidates from Milky Way stars and stars of the
Magellanic Clouds. Then, the slope of variation in the Ks band has been used to
identify a sample of high confidence candidates. These criteria were developed
based on the properties of 117 known QSOs presently observed by the VMC survey.
VMC YJKs magnitudes and Ks light-curves of known QSOs behind the Magellanic
system are presented. About 75% of them show a slope of variation in Ks>10^-4
mag/day and the shape of the light-curve is in general irregular and without
any clear periodicity. The number of QSO candidates found in tiles including
the South Ecliptic Pole and the 30 Doradus regions is 22 and 26, respectively,
with a ~20% contamination by young stellar objects, planetary nebulae, stars
and normal galaxies. By extrapolating the number of QSO candidates to the
entire VMC survey area we expect to find about 1200 QSOs behind the LMC, 400
behind the SMC, 200 behind the Bridge and 30 behind the Stream areas, but not
all will be suitable for astrometry. Further, the Ks band light-curves can help
support investigations of the mechanism responsible for the variations.
