Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Unique Visa Services Ltd is the "controller" of your personal information, which means we decide how and why it is used. We are a company registered in England and Wales, company number 06471423, at Suite 6, 61 Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3HZ. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration number [ICO registration number].

For any question about your personal information, contact us at hello@uvsuk.com or on 0161 956 2003.

2. The information we collect

When you contact us, we collect your name, contact details and the details of your enquiry.

When we help with an application, we collect the information that application needs. Depending on the visa or service, this can include:

• Identity and passport details: name, date and place of birth, nationality, passport number and photo
• Contact details and addresses
• Family details, such as your partner, parents and children
• Travel history, previous visas and refusals
• Work, education and financial information, such as payslips and bank statements
• Copies of documents, such as passports, certificates, invitation letters and bookings

Some applications require more sensitive information, because the government or embassy asks for it. This can include health information (for example for medical visas), religion (some foreign visa forms ask for it), and information about criminal convictions (most visa forms ask about these). We only collect this where the application requires it.

If you apply for a child, or include family members in your application, we collect their information from you. Please make sure they know you are sharing it with us.

3. How our online forms work

When you upload a photo of your passport to one of our application forms, the passport is read on your own device to fill in your details. Nothing is sent to us at that stage.

Your answers are saved in your browser tab as you go, so you don't lose them if the page reloads. They are deleted when you close the tab, and are not sent to us until you press Send.

When you send an application or enquiry, your answers and documents are transferred securely (using encrypted HTTPS) to our website and form provider, Netlify, and we are notified by email.

4. Why we use your information

We use your information, under these legal bases in UK data protection law:

• To provide the service you ask for, prepare and submit your application, and keep you updated (performance of our contract with you, or steps you ask us to take before entering a contract)
• To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, for example to our regulator, the Immigration Advice Authority, and for tax and accounting records (legal obligation)
• To run our business properly, keep records, prevent fraud, and deal with complaints or legal claims (our legitimate interests)
• To send you news or offers, but only if you have agreed to this (your consent, which you can withdraw at any time)

We use sensitive information, such as health, religion or criminal conviction information, only where it is needed for your application, with your explicit consent, or where it is needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

5. Who we share your information with

We never sell your personal information. We only share it where needed to provide our service or where the law requires it:

• The government, embassy, consulate or authority deciding your application, such as UK Visas and Immigration, and the visa application centres they use
• Organisations involved in your service, such as the FCDO Legalisation Office, passport authorities, and courier and delivery companies including Royal Mail
• Our service providers, who handle information on our behalf under contract: Netlify (website hosting and form submissions), our email provider, and Google (the "I'm not a robot" check on our contact form, and website fonts)
• WhatsApp (part of Meta), if you choose to contact us that way
• Our regulator, the Immigration Advice Authority, our professional advisers and insurers, and law enforcement or other authorities where we are legally required to share it

6. Sending information outside the UK

If you apply for a visa to another country, we send your application to that country's government, embassy or visa centre, which may be outside the UK. This is necessary to provide the service you have asked for.

Some of our service providers, including Netlify and Google, are based in the USA or process information there. Where this happens, we rely on the safeguards UK data protection law requires, such as the UK-US data bridge or the UK's approved contract terms.

7. How long we keep your information

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Applications and documents sent through our website are moved into your client file, and deleted from our online form system within [30 days]
• Client files are kept for 6 years after your matter ends, to meet our regulatory, legal and accounting obligations
• Enquiries that don't go ahead are kept for up to 12 months
• If you have agreed to receive news from us, we keep your contact details until you ask us to stop

Original documents, such as passports, are returned to you, not kept.

8. Keeping your information secure

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS) across our website, limit access to your information to the staff who need it, and protect our systems and accounts with strong passwords and two-step verification. If a data breach happens that is likely to affect you, we will tell you and the ICO where the law requires.

9. Cookies

Our website does not use advertising or analytics cookies, and does not track you across other websites.

The "I'm not a robot" check on our contact form is provided by Google reCAPTCHA, which may set cookies and collect information about your device to check you are a real person. Google's privacy policy explains how it uses this information. Our website also loads fonts from Google, which means your browser's IP address is sent to Google when the fonts load.

10. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete
• Ask us to delete your information, where we no longer need to keep it
• Ask us to restrict or stop using your information in some circumstances
• Object to us using your information for our legitimate interests or for marketing
• Ask us to transfer information you gave us to another organisation
• Withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it

To use any of these rights, contact us at hello@uvsuk.com. There is no charge, and we will reply within one month.

11. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

12. Changes to this privacy policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we change how we work or the law changes. The latest version will always be on this page.