Privacy Policy | Barnoq Immigration Solutions

1. About this policy

Barnoq Immigration Solutions (“Barnoq”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

It applies to barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com (this website) and to the immigration advisory and education recruitment services we provide to individuals, families, students, and UK employers.

2. Who we are (the data controller)

For the purposes of UK GDPR, the data controller is Barnoq Immigration Solutions, with offices in Croydon, United Kingdom and Kumasi, Ghana.

We are regulated by the UK Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) (transitioning to the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA)) to provide immigration advice and services. Our registration details can be confirmed on request.

We are also registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller.

If you have questions about this policy or about how we handle your data, contact us at:

Email: privacy@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com
General enquiries: info@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com
Post: Barnoq Immigration Solutions, Croydon, United Kingdom (full office address available on request).

3. What personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal information:

3.1 Information you give us directly

Identity and contact details — full name, date of birth, nationality, gender, address, telephone number, email address.
Immigration history — current and previous visa status, previous applications, refusals, travel history, and any adverse immigration or criminal history relevant to your case.
Family and dependant information — names, dates of birth, and immigration status of spouses, children, parents, or other dependants whose details are relevant to your application.
Education and employment details — qualifications, academic transcripts, English language test results, employer details, salary, job title, employment history.
Financial information — bank statements, proof of maintenance funds, sponsor income details (where required for an application).
Identity documents — passport, biometric residence permit (BRP), national identity card, where you provide copies for casework.
Correspondence and case notes — emails, letters, meeting notes, and instructions you give to our caseworkers.
Payment details — billing address, transaction history. We do not store full card numbers; card payments are processed by Stripe (see Section 6).

3.2 Information we collect automatically

Device and usage data — IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, date and time of access, and approximate location (country/city level).
Cookies and similar technologies — see our Cookie Policy for full detail.

3.3 Information we receive from third parties

Educational institutions — offer letters, Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) numbers, and enrolment information relating to student placements.
Sponsors and referees — supporting letters, sponsor declarations, financial guarantees provided on your behalf.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) / Home Office — application status updates, requests for further information, decisions on your application.
Payment processors — confirmation that a payment has been received or refunded.

3.4 Special category data

Some of the information we handle is “special category” data under UK GDPR — for example, information about your health, religious or political beliefs, or details of any criminal record where these are relevant to your immigration application. We only process this data where we have a lawful basis to do so (typically your explicit consent or because processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims).

3.5 Information about children

In family and dependant cases we may collect personal information about children. We only do so with the consent of a parent or legal guardian and we treat that information with the same protections that apply to adult data.

4. Why we use your information and our lawful bases

We only process your personal information where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. The lawful bases we rely on are:

Performance of a contract — to provide the immigration advisory or education recruitment service you have engaged us for, including assessing your eligibility, preparing and submitting applications, and corresponding with you.
Legitimate interests — to operate and improve our website, respond to enquiries, manage our internal records, prevent fraud, and where you are a UK employer client, to provide ongoing sponsor licence compliance support. We have carried out a legitimate interests assessment and consider that our interests do not override your rights.
Legal obligation — to comply with our regulatory duties under OISC/IAA rules, our anti-money-laundering obligations, and our duty to retain client files for the periods required by law.
Consent — for marketing emails (our newsletter), for non-essential cookies, and for the processing of special category data. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Vital interests — in rare cases where processing is necessary to protect someone's life (for example, in an emergency).

5. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies on this website. Some are strictly necessary to make the site work; others (analytics, functionality) only run with your consent.

Full detail of the cookies we use, why we use them, and how to manage your preferences is set out in our Cookie Policy.

6. Who we share your information with

We will never sell your personal information. We share it only with the parties below, and only to the extent necessary:

6.1 UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and other authorities

Where you instruct us to submit an application on your behalf, we share the personal information that the application requires with UKVI and, where relevant, with overseas immigration authorities (e.g. Schengen embassies, US Department of State, IRCC Canada).

6.2 Educational institutions and exam boards

For student placements we share your academic and personal details with the universities, colleges, and English-language test providers you have asked us to apply to.

6.3 Our processors and service providers

We use trusted third-party suppliers to run our business. Each is under a written data-processing agreement and only handles your data on our instructions:

Vercel Inc. — hosting of this website (servers located in the EU and US, with appropriate safeguards).
Supabase — secure database for contact form submissions, newsletter signups, and booking records.
Brevo (Sendinblue SAS) — transactional and marketing email delivery.
Stripe Payments Europe Ltd — processing of consultation fees and any other card payments. Stripe is a separate data controller for its own fraud-prevention purposes; see stripe.com/privacy.
Cal.com Inc. — scheduling of consultations and callbacks.
Google LLC — Google Analytics 4 (analytics, only where you have consented).
Sentry — error monitoring (anonymised technical data only).

6.4 Professional advisers

Where necessary we may share information with our accountants, auditors, insurers, or external solicitors and barristers instructed on your case. They are bound by professional confidentiality.

6.5 Other disclosures required by law

We may share information where we are legally required to do so — for example, in response to a court order, a request from a regulator (OISC/IAA or ICO), or where we are required to make a report under anti-money-laundering legislation.

7. International transfers

Some of our service providers are based outside the United Kingdom, including in the European Economic Area and the United States. Where we transfer your personal data outside the UK we rely on one of the following safeguards:

The country has received an “adequacy decision” from the UK Government;
The UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK Addendum) are in place; or
Another lawful transfer mechanism applies (e.g. your explicit consent).

You can request a copy of the safeguards in place by emailing privacy@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com.

8. How long we keep your information

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

Immigration casework files — for a minimum of six (6) years from the date the matter closes, in line with the OISC Code of Standards and our professional indemnity insurance requirements.
Education recruitment files — for six (6) years from the date the placement is completed or withdrawn.
Contact-form enquiries — for up to twenty-four (24) months if no engagement follows.
Newsletter records — until you unsubscribe, after which we keep a minimal suppression record so we do not contact you again.
Financial and tax records — for six (6) years following the end of the relevant tax year, as required by HMRC.
Website analytics — up to fourteen (14) months in identifiable form.

After these periods, we securely delete or anonymise the information.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right to be informed — to know how we use your data (this policy).
Right of access — to ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification — to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure — to ask us to delete your data, subject to our regulatory retention duties.
Right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object — to processing carried out under our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
Rights related to automated decision-making — we do not use automated decision-making or profiling in a way that produces legal effects on you.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com. We will respond within one month and may ask you to verify your identity.

10. Marketing communications

We only send marketing emails where you have asked us to (typically by subscribing to our newsletter or by ticking a marketing-opt-in box). Every marketing email contains an unsubscribe link. You can also email privacy@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com to opt out at any time.

11. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These include encrypted data transfer (HTTPS), access controls, role-based permissions, regular security reviews, and staff training on confidentiality.

No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and, where required, inform you directly.

12. Third-party links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites (for example, partner universities, the GOV.UK visa pages, or our social media profiles). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. Please review their privacy policies before sharing personal information.

13. Complaints

If you believe we have not handled your personal data properly, please contact us first at privacy@barnoqimmigrationsolutions.com so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office:

Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The version in force is always the one published on this page, with the “last updated” date at the top. Where changes are material we will notify you by email (if we hold your contact details) or by a prominent notice on the website before they take effect.