Privacy Policy

1. Our commitment to your privacy

Visa & Migration Doctors (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a Perth migration practice operated by Students Avenue Pty Ltd. We are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information we collect and hold in providing immigration assistance and migration advice.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, how and why we collect it, how we hold, use and disclose it, and how you can access or correct your information or make a complaint.

We manage personal information in accordance with:

• the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs); and
• the Migration Agents Code of Conduct (the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021), which imposes independent duties of confidentiality (section 35) and secure keeping of client documents (section 53) on all registered migration agents.

Applicability. Our practice may fall within the “small business operator” exemption in section 6D of the Privacy Act (annual turnover of $3 million or less). We have nevertheless adopted the Australian Privacy Principles in full as our operating standard, because equivalent obligations bind us under the Code of Conduct regardless of turnover, and because the statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy (in force since 10 June 2025) applies to any person or entity, not only APP entities.

2. Who we are

We provide registered migration agent services, including visa applications, sponsorship and nomination matters, skills assessments, expressions of interest, and representation before the Department of Home Affairs and the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). Immigration assistance is provided by Sunil Uprety, Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2318234).

Privacy contact: Sunil Uprety, Principal – Room 2727, Level 27, 44 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000 | 0481 275 364 | sunil@migrationdoctors.com.au

3. What personal information we collect

What we collect depends on the services you engage us for, and is limited to what is reasonably necessary for that purpose. It may include:

• identity information – name, date of birth, passport and national identity documents, photographs;
• contact details – address, phone number, email;
• immigration history – visa and travel history, previous applications, ImmiAccount correspondence;
• relationship and family information – for partner, family and dependent visa matters;
• financial, employment and education information – income, qualifications, employment history, sponsorship capacity;
• sensitive information – including health information (for example, from visa medical examinations), criminal history where relevant to character requirements, and, in some matters, information about family circumstances or vulnerability; and
• your instructions and our correspondence with you.

We do not collect sensitive information beyond what your specific matter reasonably requires.

4. How we collect personal information

We generally collect personal information directly from you:

• in consultations (in person, by phone or video);
• by email, phone and through our service agreement and intake processes;
• through the contact and enquiry forms on our website;
• through our online Visa Health Check questionnaire, if you choose to complete it;
• through our secure Client Portal, where we invite you to provide information and documents for your matter;
• through the client questionnaires we ask you to complete – whether sent through our practice management system (Migration Manager) or using our own questionnaire forms; and
• through our practice management lead form, when you first register your details with us.

With your consent or written authority, we may also collect information from your authorised representatives, sponsors, employers or family members involved in your matter, and interpreters. Where your matter requires it, we may also collect information about you from the Department of Home Affairs (including visa status checks through VEVO), skills assessing authorities, the Administrative Review Tribunal, and state or territory nominating agencies. We may verify information against publicly available sources where appropriate.

Information about family members and others. In many matters you will give us personal information about other people – for example your partner, children or other dependants, including people under 18. If you do, you should only provide it if you are authorised to do so, and please make each of them (or their parent or guardian) aware of our Privacy Collection Notice and this policy.

For general enquiries that do not require us to know who you are, you may deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym. This is no longer possible once we are asked to provide advice or lodge an application in your name.

5. Why we collect, hold, use and disclose your information

We collect and use your personal information to:

• assess your circumstances and eligibility for visa and migration pathways;
• prepare, lodge and manage visa, sponsorship, nomination, skills assessment and review matters;
• represent you before the Department of Home Affairs, the ART and other relevant bodies;
• advise you and keep you informed about your matter;
• administer our engagement with you, including invoicing; and
• meet our professional and legal obligations, including under the Migration Agents Code of Conduct.

We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose – including marketing – unless you have consented, you would reasonably expect that use, or the use or disclosure is required or authorised by law.

6. Who we may disclose your information to

Your instructions control disclosure. Under section 35 of the Code of Conduct we must not disclose your personal information to any third person without your written consent, except as required by law. This applies even where another person – such as a sponsoring employer or a family member – pays our fees. A fee-payer has no automatic right to your file.

Depending on your matter, and only to the extent necessary, we may disclose information to:

• the Department of Home Affairs, the ART or other government bodies, to progress your application or review;
• skills assessing authorities, and state or territory nominating agencies, where your pathway requires an assessment or nomination;
• panel physicians and clinics, for visa health examinations, and the Australian Federal Police, for character checks, where your matter requires them;
• translators and interpreters engaged with your consent, who are bound by confidentiality obligations;
• education providers, where your matter involves an education pathway (for example, obtaining or varying enrolment for a student visa);
• your sponsor, employer or family members – only as you have specifically authorised in writing;
• our professional advisers and professional indemnity insurer, where necessary; and
• our software and IT service providers – the providers of the systems the practice runs on, including our email and document storage environment (Microsoft 365, including OneDrive and Exchange), our practice management system (Migration Manager), our document production tools (Microsoft Office, Adobe), and the operating systems and devices we use. These providers process information only as service providers to us, under commercial terms that govern their handling of our data; they do not acquire the right to use client information for their own purposes. The specific providers we use may change from time to time – a current list is available on request.

The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) has statutory power to require access to client files (Code of Conduct, subsection 56(9)) and to require information and documents (section 32). These powers override our duty of confidentiality, and we must comply. Where legally permitted, we will tell you if this occurs. We may also be required to disclose information in response to a court order, subpoena or other lawful requirement, in which case we disclose only the minimum required.

7. Overseas access to personal information

Our administrative contractor is located in Nepal and provides remote administrative support to the practice. In the course of that support, the contractor accesses client information held in our Australian-controlled Microsoft 365 environment.

That access is:

• browser-based only – client information is viewed in our cloud environment and is not stored on any device or system in Nepal;
• protected by multi-factor authentication and secured remote-access channels; and
• subject to confidentiality obligations owed to the practice.

Apart from this remote access from Nepal, we do not disclose personal information to overseas recipients. We remain accountable for how your information is handled in the course of this arrangement, and we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

8. How we hold and protect your information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. As at the date of this policy:

• client files are held digitally in our business Microsoft 365 environment and in our practice management system on Perth-based devices;
• access to our Microsoft 365 environment is protected by multi-factor authentication;
• remote access to practice systems occurs only through secured, encrypted channels;
• we do not hold paper client files – original documents are returned to you, and working copies are digitised and the paper securely shredded; and
• everyone who works in or with the practice is subject to confidentiality obligations.

Artificial intelligence tools. AI features are increasingly embedded in mainstream business software, and our practice systems are no exception. We manage this in two ways:

• Embedded AI in our practice systems. Our Microsoft 365 environment includes Microsoft’s Copilot AI features within Word, Outlook and related applications, and our document tools include vendor AI features (for example, Adobe). Where these features operate, they do so within our business tenancy, under the vendors’ commercial terms for business customers – which include commitments that our data is not used to train their AI models – and your information does not leave our controlled environment.
• Standalone AI tools. We do not enter your personal information into any standalone or consumer AI platform unless we have first explained to you how the tool will be used and obtained your written consent. This reflects OMARA’s guidance to the profession on the use of AI.

9. How long we keep your information

We keep your client file for 7 years after the last action on your file, as subsection 56(5) of the Code of Conduct requires. After that period, your file is securely destroyed or de-identified. This does not affect your right to the return of your own documents under section 54 (see section 12 below). If you ask for copies from a file that has been archived, an archive retrieval fee may apply as set out in our service agreement.

10. Online questionnaires and automated tools

Our website Visa Health Check is an optional questionnaire that provides general, indicative information only. It does not provide immigration assistance, does not assess your eligibility for any visa, and no decision affecting you is made by the tool. Any advice about your circumstances is given only by our Registered Migration Agent. Information you submit through the questionnaire is handled in accordance with this policy, and we may contact you about it using the details you provide.

The detailed client questionnaires we send through Migration Manager are different: they form part of your client file and are used by your Registered Migration Agent to prepare and manage your matter. They are handled with the same confidentiality and security as the rest of your file.

11. Data breaches

If we become aware of a data breach involving your personal information that is likely to result in serious harm, we will act promptly to contain and assess it and, where required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and affected individuals as soon as practicable. Regardless of whether that scheme strictly applies to our practice, we will treat any suspected breach seriously and notify affected clients where appropriate.

12. Access, correction and return of your documents

You may ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading. We will respond within a reasonable time (generally within 30 days). We may charge a reasonable fee for providing access – including, for archived files, the archive retrieval fee set out in our service agreement – but never for making a correction request. In the limited circumstances where we may decline a request, we will explain why.

Separately, under section 54 of the Code of Conduct, you are entitled to the return of documents belonging to you within 14 days of a written request, and on completion of your matter.

13. Marketing, testimonials and client stories

We do not use your contact details for marketing without your consent, and you can opt out at any time. We never publish client testimonials, images or other client material unless you have signed our separate, optional Testimonial & Media Consent form – and declining it has no effect whatsoever on the service you receive.

14. Making a complaint

If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first – Sunil Uprety, sunil@migrationdoctors.com.au or 0481 275 364. We will investigate and respond, generally within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact:

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) – 1300 363 992 | oaic.gov.au
• Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) – mara.gov.au

15. Changes to this policy

We review all published content, including this policy, against current law every six months (January and July). We may also update this policy when our practices or legal obligations change. The current version is always available at migrationdoctors.com.au and free of charge on request.

Change note (v1.1, August 2026). This version supersedes the v1.0 issue of August 2026. Changes: Client Portal and practice questionnaires added as collection channels; collection from the Department of Home Affairs (including VEVO), assessing authorities, the ART and nominating agencies stated; family-members information clause added; disclosee categories completed (assessing authorities, nominating agencies, panel physicians, AFP, translators, education providers); retention section added (7 years per Code s 56(5)); access-charge wording aligned to the service agreement.