Disclaimer and Privacy Policy

• Disclaimer
• Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Beware of fraudulent job offers

Disclaimer

The Malta Application Centre is a service provided by VF Services (UK) Ltd T/A VFS Global, Company Registration Number: 05735180, Registered Office: Corporate Office, 21 Dorset Square, NW1 6QE, London, United Kingdom, Registered in England & Wales

The Malta Visa Application Centre of VF Services (UK) Limited is an outsource partner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta and High Commission of Malta in London. In this capacity, the Malta Visa Application Centre is responsible for scheduling appointments, acceptance of applications and visa fees, submission of applications to the High Commission of Malta in London, collecting the processed passports from the High Commission of Malta in London and returning the passport back to the applicants.

It must be noted that the grant or refusal of the visa is at the sole discretion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta and VF Services (UK) Limited is neither involved in the process nor is liable or responsible in any manner whatsoever for any delay in processing or granting or rejection of the visa application of any applicant by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta which reserves the right to ask for further documentation and to refuse the visa application.

VF Services (UK) Limited takes every reasonable precaution while handling the Documents of applicants and shall not be liable in any manner whatsoever to the applicant for any Documents which are lost in transit by accident, theft, natural calamities (act of god) or any other reason outside the control of, or not arising out of a wilful default of VF Services (UK) Limited and also if documents are hand over directly to the Applicant. The applicant agrees and accepts that the mail/courier acceptance and delivery service through which the Documents are returned to the applicants by VF Services (UK) Limited is operated by a third-party. VF Services (UK) Limited does not control or operate any courier company, neither does it control or operate any facility or service provided by the mail/courier company. VF Services (UK) Limited disclaims any and all liability for any loss or damage caused to the applicant in the event that his/her Documents are delayed/ misplaced/ lost/ damaged by the courier company, whether such delay/ misplacement/ loss/ damage result from negligence, accident or any other cause. In no event shall VF Services (UK) Limited and/or its representatives be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages or any damages whatsoever due to such delay/ misplacement/ loss/ damage of the Documents, including the applicant's passport. Without prejudice to the aforesaid, VF Services (UK) Limited's and/or its representatives sole and exclusive liability in case a passport is lost or damaged in transit, is limited/restricted to the reimbursement of the amount of fees charged by the Embassy/Consulate/High Commission of the respective Home Country, for the replacement of a lost / damaged passport through normal application procedure and shall assist the applicant in the replacement of the lost visas. Such reimbursement of the fee amount will be made by VF Services (UK) Limited to the applicant only on the presentation by the applicant of the payment receipt issued by the Embassy/Consulate/High Commission of the respective Home Country. The applicant agrees that the foregoing limitation of liability is an agreed allocation of risk between the parties and this limitation of liability is and shall be an integral part of this disclaimer.

Negotiable Instruments wherever applicable are subject to realisation. The service charges once received by VF Services (UK) Limited from the applicant will not be refundable under any circumstances, irrespective of whether or not the desired visa is granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta to the applicant.

Advertising material may accompany the relevant Documents at the time they are returned to the applicant. If the applicant does not wish to receive any such advertising material along with the relevant Documents, the applicant must intimate the VF Services (UK) Limited in advance at the time of submitting the Documents. Please note that all advertising material accompanying the relevant Documents shall have the endorsement of the Maltese Government.

VF Services (UK) Limited, in its sole discretion, may change, amend, cancel or withdraw any or all of the terms and conditions mentioned herein at any time without any prior notice. No employee of VF Services (UK) Limited has any authority whatsoever to change / amend / amplify or withdraw any or all of the terms and conditions mentioned herein without the prior written approval of VF Services (UK) Limited.

These terms and conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom. Any claims or disputes arising in relation to the services provided by VF Services (UK) Limited to the applicant shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in the UK.

The applicant hereby accepts and confirms that the applicant and/or his/her representative, prior to submitting the visa application, has read, understood and agreed to be bound by, without limitation or qualification, all of the terms, conditions and details provided herein.

Corporate Office: 66 Wilson Street, EC2A 2BT London, United Kingdom

Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions

• The Short Messaging Service (‘SMS’) provided to Visa Applicants is to update on current status to the applicant with regards to Visa Application Process. The information provided by SMS is based on the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta. While VFS ensures that information is made available to the visa applicant promptly and accurately, the Visa Applicant shall at all times be responsible for providing and maintaining an SMS text compatible mobile phone number where VFS can send text messages regarding the status of the Visa Application to the Visa Applicant. The Visa Applicant is responsible for ensuring connection to a mobile network capable of receiving the SMS Services. The Visa Applicant understands that if The Visa Applicant ‘s mobile phone is switched off, disconnected for any reasons or is out of coverage for a period of 24 hours or more, The Visa Applicant’s mobile network provider may delete any SMS messages to be received by The Visa Applicant.
• The time to deliver the SMS is dependent on several factors such as upon the traffic on the mobile network and whether The Visa Applicant mobile phone is within reach and switched on and cannot therefore be guaranteed by VFS. VFS is not a mobile network operator and does not guarantee the delivery of SMS text messages.
• The Visa Applicant confirms that the Visa Applicant has provided the accurate mobile number for receiving SMS and that the Visa Applicant is the owner or its legitimate user, or that the Visa Applicant has the consent of the owner or legitimate user, of the mobile phone using for the Services. The Visa Applicant acknowledges that using another person's mobile phone/providing inaccurate mobile phone number/unauthorized use of mobile phone number for receiving the SMS may entail disclosure of Visa Applicant’s confidential information which disclosure shall be at the sole risk of the Visa Applicant
• The Services, once purchased, will be available to the Visa Applicant from the time of application till complete processing of the application or such other period as VFS may advise via our website located at click here. VFS reserves the right to withdraw this service at any time and without notice.
• The Visa Applicant must not use (or permit any third party to use) the SMS Service to send any message or communication which is Spam, illegal, offensive, abusive, indecent, obscene or menacing or causes annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or infringes the rights of third parties. VFS reserves the right to withdraw the SMS service to such Visa Applicant if The Visa Applicant is in breach of this paragraph 4. VFS may also withdraw the Services if VFS in its sole discretion apprehends that the SMS service is being used for such purposes.
• For operational reasons VFS may vary the technical specification of the Services with or without notice. In the event of any change to the Service these Terms and Conditions is to be treated as varied accordingly.
• The Visa Applicant acknowledges that the SMS Services may, at any time, be adversely affected by problems with The Visa Applicant mobile phone network, force majeure events including, without limitation, interference to the network coverage. VFS is not responsible or liable to The Visa Applicant for any loss, damage or expenses incurred directly or indirectly by The Visa Applicant as a result of any difficulties experienced by the Visa Applicant‘s mobile phone service provider. Subject to the constraints described within this paragraph 7, VFS shall carry out the services with reasonable care and skill.
• If The Visa Applicant does not receive SMS relating to these Services the Visa Applicant should inform VFS through email or Helpline numbers.
• The SMS service delivers the Visa Application Status based on the information received by VFS from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta.
• To use the Services, The Visa Applicant should refer to the instructions available on click here. The Visa Applicant agrees to comply with all instructions we may give concerning the Services, including any security instructions. We will be entitled to treat any failure by Visa Applicant themselves to comply with these instructions as a breach of these Terms and Conditions, which will entitle us to deny Visa Applicant access to the Services.
• The Visa Applicant is responsible for paying charges for the message origination. Charges once paid for SMS service will not be refunded under any circumstances.
• The Visa Applicant shall at its sole risk be responsible for taking all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized persons gaining access to the Services.
• While VFS takes every precaution transmission of information to transmit information. VFS shall not be responsible or liable for any unforeseen events and circumstances beyond the reasonable control of VFS.
• VFS may in its sole discretion temporarily suspend the provision of the Services if such provision could materially affect the quality of any telecommunications service, including the Services, provided by VFS.
• VFS specifically excludes all liability of any kind (including negligence) in respect of any third party information or other material made available on, or which can be accessed using SMS text services.
• This Terms and Conditions is governed by the law of The United Kingdom and both parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in The United Kingdom.

Privacy Policy

About the VFS Global Group

The VFS GLOBAL group of companies are outsourced partners of Diplomatic Missions, Governments and Visa Offices across the globe.

The VFS GLOBAL group of companies are authorized to receive and process applications for various categories of visas, permits and travel documents and perform administrative and non-judgmental tasks/functions related to the same, as per the mandate of the relevant Diplomatic Missions, Governments and Visa Offices.

Also, as mandated by the Diplomatic Mission/s, Governments and Visa Offices the VFS GLOBAL group of companies (themselves or through third party service providers/ vendors) provide various facilities for inquiries related to the visa application process in general and/or status of visa applications submitted, such as call centre, online tracking, e-mail etc.

With respect to all such activities, the VFS GLOBAL group of companies act as a data processor and the respective Diplomatic Missions, Governments or Visa Offices (as appropriate) are the data controller.

About VF Services (UK) Limited

VF Services (UK) Limited (VFS UK) is a company within the VFS GLOBAL international group of companies, and this Privacy Policy describes how VFS UK collects, uses, discloses and manages personal information related to individuals (hereinafter referred to as “Applicants”) applying for visas, permits and travel documents through VFS UK.

VFS UK is acting as the data processor when processing applications on behalf of Diplomatic Missions, Governments and Visa Offices, and is acting as the data controller when using data for its own purposes as detailed below.

What information does VFS UK collect and process?

Applicants may be required to provide certain information pertaining to them, including through printed and/or website application forms, in passports and other documents which the Applicants provide, and through telephone and face to face conversations. This information may include an Applicant’s name, photograph, address, e-mail address, date of birth, telephone number, passport information, birth certificate, income, citizenship status, marital status, employment details, criminal and educational background information, and travel dates, purpose of travel, and other travel details.

This information is collected by VFS UK as per the requirement mandated by the concerned Diplomatic Missions, Governments or relevant Visa Offices (as appropriate), and also for its own purposes as detailed in this policy.

Provision of personal information is voluntary. Please note, however, that a refusal to provide personal information may limit or affect the ability of VFS UK to provide any application processing or other requested services, and may affect whether a Diplomatic Missions, Governments or Visa Offices grants any visa, permit or other travel document.

For quality control purposes the interactions with Applicants may be recorded. In such cases the Applicant will be informed of this practice and purpose at the start of any such interaction. Unless a different requirement is mandated by the respective Diplomatic Mission, Government or Visa Office, such recordings will be deleted after a period of 30 days from the date of such interactions.

What does VFS UK do with your information?

Applicants’ personal information may be collected, used or disclosed by VFS UK in order to facilitate the processing of that Applicant’s visa application(s) and/or request(s) including but not limited to for the following purposes:

• Process applications received from each Applicant for requests for various categories of visa, permit and travel documents etc. and perform various tasks/ functions related thereto;
• Respond to various inquiries from an Applicant on the visa application submission process in general;
• Respond to various inquiries from an Applicant regarding the status of their application;
• Provide/ offer any other services to an Applicant as per the requirements of the relevant Government, Diplomatic Mission or Visa Office;

VFS UK also uses Applicant personal data on its own account for the following purposes:-

• To supply any other services which VFS UK has agreed to provide to Applicants.
• To process any payments Applicants make, including by credit or debit card, or any online or electronic means.
• If Applicants have given consent, to send Applicants marketing information (such as airline advertisements). This is normally included by VFS UK when returning an Applicant’s passport, or sent to an Applicant by e-mail if they have given us an e-mail address.

Important information about specific actions

• Inquiry about general visa application process:

  Applicants making inquiries as regards visa application process in general, need not provide any personal information.

• Inquiry about status of submitted visa application/s:

  Applicants making inquiries as regards status of visa application submitted through VFS UK can quote application reference number to receive an update on the status of their visa, permit or travel document applications.

  The Applicants may be requested to provide personal information such as given name or family name or date of birth or phone number or street address or email address or application date etc. or combination of such information for verification/ authentication purposes.

• Applicants making inquiries as regards visa application process however should not ask for or reveal their passport number or personal information while interacting via email with VFS UK and/or its third party service providers/ vendors. Instead use of their application reference number is recommended.

Interview Scheduling:

Certain Diplomatic Missions may require the Applicants to attend for personal interview. Applicants will be required to provide their application reference number and/or certain personal information such as family name, given name, date of birth, phone number, street address, email address, application date, and passport number for purpose of scheduling interviews.

All such information, posted, furnished and submitted by the Applicants while scheduling an interview appointment is converted into such formats as may be required and communicated to the respective Diplomatic Mission having jurisdiction to receive such application/s.

Where is data processed?

Data stored by VFS UK in its systems for the processing of visa applications by Applicants from the European Union is stored within the European Union (EU) boundary. The data of Applicants other than those from the EU may be stored in VFS UK’s systems either within the EU boundary at data centres in the UK (London) and India (Mumbai).

Who do we disclose Applicant personal data to?

VFS UK will not trade, rent or sell personal information of the Applicants.

VFS UK does not disclose or otherwise transfer personal information of the Applicants, except as necessary for the purpose of providing the visa application processing services and any associated services and performing its obligations, and except as otherwise set out herein.

Applicant personal data will be disclosed to the appropriate Diplomatic Mission, Government, Visa Office, for the purposes of processing any application and other purposes as outlines in this policy. Such personal data will be retained by them as data controllers in their own right, in accordance with their separate privacy policies.

VFS UK may disclose and share personal information when it is necessary to comply with a court order, any on-going judicial proceeding, or other legal, statutory or regulatory process served on VFS UK or to exercise legal rights or defend against legal claims, criminal investigations, judicial matters or in prevention, investigation, detection, prosecution of criminal activities or matters related to national security.

VFS UK and its third party service providers may provide personal information in response to a search warrant or other legally valid inquiry pursuant to contravention of law / order or to an investigative body or as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law VFS UK may also disclose personal information where necessary for the establishment, exercise or a defence of legal claims, or as otherwise permitted by law.

VFS UK may also disclose (or otherwise make available) personal information to third party service providers providing services like courier delivery, SMS and call centre services. These third party service providers are provided with such information they need to perform their designated functions and are not authorized to use or disclose personal information for their own purposes. For example, where the visa applicant has opted for courier service, VFS UK will disclose certain personal data such as name, address, phone number to the third party courier service providers. However personal information will not be shared with service providers for SMS services. Such third party service providers are also required to adhere to security & privacy requirements as outlined by VFS UK. Such third party service providers may be based outside the European Economic Area, and in such case VFS UK complies with all applicable legal requirements to permit Applicant data to be transferred to them outside the European Economic Area.

VFS UK may disclose an Applicant’s information to VFS UK’s payment processor, but only to the extent required for the purposes of payment processing. They will use it for the purposes of processing the Applicant's payment.

Spam

• VFS GLOBAL does not tolerate spam.
• VFS GLOBAL website/s or communication tools shall not be used to send spam or otherwise send content that would violate the terms and conditions of VFS GLOBAL user agreement.
• VFS GLOBAL filters and automatically scans messages for viruses and other illegal or prohibited content before they are sent.
• To report any issues related to spam or spoof emails to VFS GLOBAL, please address e-mails to communications@vfsglobal.com.
• A user/users is/are not licensed, permitted, expected to add, modify, deface, hack, misuse or abuse VFS GLOBAL’ website or the contents therein.

Security

VFS UK has implemented measures designed to help protect personal information in its custody and control. VFS UK maintains reasonable administrative, technical, physical and organizational safeguards in an effort to protect personal information in its custody and control.

Retention and Destruction of Personal Information:

Records of Applicant personal information will be deleted in accordance with the following terms, except that VFS UK may retain Applicant personal information to the extent that and for so long as it may be required for any purpose of use stated in this policy.

Application packages collected from Applicants will not be copied or retained by VFS UK. Unless otherwise mandated by the relevant Diplomatic Mission, Government or Visa Office, any paper records, hard copies, forms or other physical records containing personal information will be destroyed by a secure shredding process within thirty (30) days of a passport’s return to an Applicant.

For the purposes of assisting the Applicants should they contact VFS UK with follow-up queries, Applicant personal information may be retained in electronic form, after passport and/or documents have been returned to the Applicants, for a maximum of thirty (30) days or for such period as specified by the respective Governments/ Diplomatic Missions.

VFS UK performs secure disposal or destruction of personal information on equipment or devices used for storing personal information. When disposing of equipment or devices used for storing personal information (such as filing cabinets, computers, diskettes, and audio tapes), VFS UK takes appropriate measures such as to removal or deletion of any stored information to prevent access by unauthorized parties.

Third Party Links

VFS UK’s website may contain links to third party sites promoting various products and/or services that VFS UK does not own or operate. These links to websites are in the nature of paid advertising and are not verified by VFS UK. These links are provided for convenient access to the websites and an Applicant’s use of the links is voluntary. The links do not indicate that VFS UK endorses or is associated with any of these other third party websites. Applicants are requested to use their own discretion which dealing with these websites and neither VFS UK nor its officers, employees, agents shall have any responsibility or liability of any nature whatsoever for these other third party websites or any information contained in them.

These linked websites have their own separate and independent privacy statements, notices and terms of use, which Applicants are recommended to carefully review the same. VFS UK does not have any control over such third party websites, and therefore shall have no liability or responsibility their personal information practices.

Consent to Policy

All Applicants (including website users who submit a preliminary visa application online, but do not progress the visa application by attending at a visa centre) disclosing personal information shall be deemed to have read and understood this Privacy Policy and each Applicant consents to the use and disclosure of their personal information in accordance with the provision of this Privacy Policy, to the extent that such consent is legally required.

Your Rights

This privacy policy is not intended to create a contract or form part of any contract. The Applicant has certain non-contractual legal rights which we summarize below.

Access to your personal data: Applicants may request VFS UK to confirm whether it is processing personal data about the Applicant, to confirm what personal data is being processed, and to provide a copy of such personal data, subject to certain limitations. A fee may be charged for handling an Applicant’s request, in an amount prescribed by law, which is £10 as at the date of this policy. Applicants may request access to their personal information by writing an email to the Info email ID mentioned on the “Contact Us” page with a subject matter of “Subject Access Request”. This request will be forwarded to the relevant Government, Diplomatic Mission or Visa Office if it relates to data they are data controller of, and further action will be taken by VFS UK based on the directions received by the relevant Government, Diplomatic Mission or Visa Office.Use causing substantial distress or damage: Applicants have the right to ask VFS UK to stop processing personal data for any purpose or in any manner that is causing or is likely to cause them unwarranted and substantial damage or distress, subject to exceptions.

Use for direct marketing: Applicants have the right to stop their personal data from being used for direct marketing.

Correction of inaccuracies: Applicants have the right to ask a court to order VFS UK to rectify, block, erase or destroy any inaccurate personal data.

Compensation: Applicants have the right to claim compensation under applicable law for damage and (in certain cases) distress suffered if VFS UK do not comply with the applicable data protection laws.

Accuracy of data

VFS GLOBAL shall not be responsible for ascertaining the authenticity or accuracy of the information provided by the Applicant. It shall be the duty of the Applicant to ensure that the information provided to VFS UK is accurate, complete and up to date.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

Please be advised that the Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time and Applicants should regularly visit VFS UK’s website to access the latest policy statement.

Contact Us

For any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices described herein, please write to vfsprivacy@vfsglobal.com for more information.

Inquiries

For inquiries as regards Privacy Policy please send e-mail to vfsglobalprivacyofficer@vfsglobal.com.

Beware of fraudulent job offers

Fraudulent Recruitment / Employment Offers

It has come to VFS Global’s attention that, individuals misrepresenting themselves as VFS Global’ agents or representatives have approached people to offer fraudulent/fictitious employment opportunities, with the intent to steal personal information or solicit money from people. We encourage you to exercise caution and common sense when receiving any such employment offer, which requires payment of any fees/money, or promises a work visa in exchange for money. The said offers are completely fake and not valid. VFS Global is not a Recruitment agency and does not offer recruitment services. Scammers operate primarily via the internet, email, phone etc. We warn people to beware of such scams.

Please be advised that, VFS Global is a visa processing company and we work only with government and diplomatic missions to fulfil their administrative requirements of visa application processing. Neither VFS Global nor its representatives will ask for money from individuals under any circumstances to lure them with employment opportunities either in VFS Global or outside. If you receive any offer that purports to be from VFS Global, which ask for money, these types of offers are fraudulent.

Warning signs of recruitment fraud

The following are some examples of recruitment fraud which are in violation of VFS Global’s processes and ethical practices:

• The email is not sent from an official VFS Global e-mail address but from a free e-mail service such as: Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. It is also possible that, the email is sent from a fake email address.
• You are asked to disclose private or confidential information.
• You are asked to be interviewed over the phone or via an instant-messenger type program.
• You are requested to pay fees/money.
• You are requested to complete bogus recruitment documentations such as an application or employment visa forms, (the VFS Global name and logo could be forged/fabricated and featured on the documentation without authority).
• Insistence on urgency.
• Money will be requested for processing Work Permits, Visa applications or the like.

Such actions are presumably intended to defraud or obtain personal information from the victims.

The activities of these individuals involve criminal and civil liabilities. While VFS Global takes such matter seriously and reserves its right to contact competent law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute such illegal activities, it is often difficult to locate and prosecute these individuals.

Therefore, if you receive a request, either in writing or verbally, for an interview or a job offer that you believe is or might be fraudulent or suspicious, please disregard them. You may also verify the same with VFS Global at communications@vfsglobal.com

If you come to know that a fraud is being perpetrated, we encourage to forthwith contact your local police and/or any competent authorities and also to keep us informed by reporting the fraud at acco@vfsglobal.com

Under no circumstances will VFS Global be liable or responsible for any loss, damages, expenses or inconvenience resulting from these unauthorized persons and/or activities.