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Who we are?
VFS Global is authorised, under contract with the Australian Government (The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)), to provide a range of visa related services. These services include:
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the collection of range of documents associated with a visa application |
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collection of application charges |
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receipting of money received |
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providing the outcome of a visa decision to an applicant |
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collection of biometrics (ten-digit fingerprint scan and digital photograph) at limited locations http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/biometrics/offshore/countries.htm |
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Your information – your privacy
Under contract we are bound to manage your personal information in accordance with the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) in the Australian Privacy Act 1988. Personal information basically means any information where you are reasonably identifiable.
The Privacy Policy does not apply to VFS Global employee records, which are generally exempt from the legislation. |
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Your right to privacy
The Privacy Act gives you a number of rights, including the following:
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you must be told why your personal information is being collected and whether it can be given to anyone else |
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your personal information can only be collected for a lawful purpose |
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you have the right to see what information is held about you and seek to have it corrected if it is incorrect, out of date or incomplete (the Australian Freedom of Information Act 1982 also covers this) |
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you have the right to have your personal information stored securely and protected from unauthorised access or misuse |
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you have the right to know how your personal information will be used |
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if you believe your privacy has been infringed you can make a complaint |
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Disclosure of Information by DIAC |
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Disclosure of personal information must be in accordance with IPP 11 of the Privacy Act. Examples of when DIAC may disclose personal information can be viewed on the visa application form. Additional information can be found on DIAC’s forms 993i Safeguarding your personal information and 1243i Your personal identifying information. |
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Disclosure of Information by VFS Global |
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VFS Global may disclose personal information to sub-contractors such as data processing companies, courier companies and their officers, employees, agents and representatives for the purpose of providing VFS Global services for DIAC. All sub-contractors will be required to also adhere to the Information Privacy Principles in the Australian Privacy Act. |
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Access to and Correction of Information |
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Your visa application and any documents you provide are forwarded to the appropriate Australian Mission for processing. VFS Global does not retain or store any of your documents. If you wish to pursue access to the documents you can lodge a Freedom of Information request with DIAC, details of which can be located on DIAC’s website. |
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Where there is an administrative error, mistakes can be corrected under the Privacy Act. The types of corrections that fall within this category are:
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minor name changes due to typing errors, missed letters, obvious spelling mistakes |
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third given name omitted |
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data entry variation (eg family name and given name transposed) |
Only obvious errors will be amended under the Privacy Act, if it does not raise questions of the person’s identity. |
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Transfer, Storage and Security of Information |
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VFS Global takes reasonable steps to protect the security of applicants’ personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. VFS Global regularly reviews and implements new security and encryption technologies for protection of personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure. |
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While VFS Global strives to protect such information, VFS Global cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted by applicants to VFS Global or obtained from VFS Global’s online services. Accordingly, the use of our online products is at your own risk. |
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Once any personal information comes into possession, VFS Global is contractually required to protect that information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. |
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Privacy Matters and Complaints |
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If you wish to obtain any information about how VFS Global has handled your personal information you can request the information via VFS Global complaint’s process, details of which can be located on VFS Global website. Generally VFS Global will respond within two working days and details of your enquiry and our response will be forwarded to the Pretoria Visa Office. |
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If you consider that VFS Global has not adhered to the IPPs you can lodge a complaint with the Australian Privacy Commissioner who has the power to investigate all complaints. For further information about the protection of privacy, please visit the Australian Information Commissioner’s website via the following website link: |
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See: http://www.oaic.gov.au/ |
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For any questions regarding this privacy policy, you can contact us by:
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