Who we are
Ferris Visa Consultants is a visa consultancy registered in England and Wales, with its registered office at 27 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LF. For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are the data controller for the personal information described below.
You can reach our data protection contact at privacy@ferrisvisa.com or on +81 1307 022 0587.
What we collect
To prepare a visa application we need a great deal more information than most websites ask for. We collect only what the receiving authority requires, and we tell you why each item is needed.
- Identity and contact details. Name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and expiry, address, email and telephone number.
- Travel information. Destination, dates, purpose of travel, previous travel and visa history, including any previous refusals.
- Financial information. Bank statements, payslips, sponsorship letters and evidence of funds, where the route requires it.
- Immigration history. Previous applications, refusals, overstays and any enforcement action.
- Special category data. Some routes require health information, biometric data, or details of religious or political affiliation. We collect this only where the receiving authority requires it, and we rely on your explicit consent or on the establishment of legal claims as our lawful basis.
- Website usage. Pages visited and approximate location derived from your IP address.
Why we are allowed to hold it
We rely on three lawful bases under Article 6 of the UK GDPR.
- Contract. Most processing is necessary to deliver the service you have engaged us for.
- Legal obligation. We are required to retain certain records for anti money laundering and tax purposes.
- Legitimate interests. We use limited website analytics to understand which pages are useful. You may object to this at any time.
For special category data we rely on Article 9(2)(a), your explicit consent, which you may withdraw at any point. Withdrawing it may mean we can no longer progress your application.
Sending data abroad
Visa applications are by their nature international. Submitting your application means transferring your information to the government of your destination country, which may be outside the UK and may not offer the same standard of protection.
Where we control the transfer we use the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Where the transfer is to a government body as part of your own application, the transfer is necessary for the performance of your contract with us and for the establishment of your legal claim to enter that country.
How long we keep it
We hold your application file for six years from the date of the decision. That period is set by our anti money laundering and professional indemnity obligations rather than by choice.
Passport scans, bank statements and other supporting evidence are deleted on request as soon as a decision has been issued. We confirm the deletion in writing. Website analytics are retained for fourteen months.
How we protect it
Documents are uploaded to an encrypted vault rather than sent by email. Access is limited to the named handler on your file and the second handler who reviews it. Upload links expire and can be used once. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
We never ask for your passwords, and we will never ask you to email a scan of your passport.
Your rights
Under the UK GDPR you have the right to be informed, to access your data, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have data erased, to restrict or object to processing, and to data portability. You also have the right not to be subject to a purely automated decision. We do not make automated decisions about your application.
To exercise any of these, write to privacy@ferrisvisa.com. We respond within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We would ask you to raise it with us first so we have the chance to put it right.