Privacy Policy

This policy sets out how SA Associates collects, uses, shares, retains and protects personal information.

Information We Collect

The information we collect depends on the service you engage us for. In the course of preparing an application we ordinarily collect identity information, including your full name, date of birth, nationality, passport details, photographs, residential address, telephone number and email address; academic information, including transcripts, certificates, English language test results and academic references; financial information, including bank statements, income and tax documents, proof of assets, loan sanction letters and the identity and financial documents of any sponsor; immigration information, including previous visas, refusals, cancellations and travel history; and, where they form part of the application, details of your spouse and children.

When you visit this website, we also collect limited technical information through analytics tools, including the pages you view, the approximate geographic region you are browsing from, the type of device and browser you use, and the site that referred you. This information is aggregated and is not used to identify you personally.

Some of the information we collect concerns people other than you, such as a sponsor, parent or spouse. By providing that information to us, you confirm that you have their permission to do so and that you have made them aware of this policy.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information you provide for the purpose of delivering the services you have engaged us for and for no other purpose. Specifically, we use it to assess your eligibility and shortlist suitable institutions and destinations; to prepare, check and submit applications to universities and colleges; to prepare and submit visa applications and supporting documentation to embassies, high commissions and visa application centres; to correspond with you about your file; to arrange appointments, tests and biometrics; and to comply with any legal or regulatory obligation to which we are subject.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers, data brokers or marketing companies. We do not use client file information to build advertising audiences.

Publication of Successful Applications

Where your application succeeds, we may publish an account of it on our website and social media channels. This may include your name, your photograph, a photograph or short video recorded with you, the institution to which you were admitted, the destination country, the visa category granted and your test score. Consent for this is given when you engage our services and is recorded in our Terms and Conditions.

Before anything is published, approval letters and visa documents are edited to remove passport numbers, visa numbers, dates of birth, addresses and any other detail that could be misused. We do not publish bank statements, sponsor documents, financial figures or family details in any form.

Who We Share Your Information With

We share your information only where it is necessary to progress your application, and only the portion that is necessary. The recipients are ordinarily the universities and colleges to which you are applying; the embassy, high commission or immigration authority of the destination country; visa application centres such as VFS Global; application platforms and partner bodies through which applications are submitted; banks or blocked account providers where evidence of funds forms part of the application; medical panels, attestation offices, translators and couriers engaged in connection with your file; and government authorities where disclosure is required by law.

Because you are applying to study abroad, your information will necessarily be transferred outside Bangladesh to the country in which you are applying. This transfer is unavoidable: an application cannot be assessed without it. Once your information is held by a foreign institution or authority, it is held under that organisation's own privacy rules and under the law of that country, and not under this policy.

How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain your file for as long as we are acting for you, and for a period afterwards during which it may reasonably be needed. A refusal may lead to a reapplication or an appeal; a successful applicant may return years later for an extension, a dependant visa or a permanent residence application; and we may be required to produce records for audit or legal purposes. In each of those situations the earlier file is necessary.

Where a document is no longer required, it is destroyed or deleted. Original documents lent to us by you are returned to you, and we advise you to collect them once your application is complete.

How We Protect Your Information

Physical files are held in locked storage at our offices, and electronic files are held on access-controlled systems. Access is limited to the members of staff working on your case and to management. Staff are instructed not to discuss client files outside the office and not to transfer client documents through personal accounts.

We ask that you send documents to us only through the channels agreed with you, and that you do not send passport scans, bank statements or other sensitive documents to a personal number or personal email address claiming to represent us. No method of transmission over the internet is entirely secure, and while we take reasonable measures to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Rights

You may ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, to correct information that is inaccurate or out of date, to delete information that we no longer need to retain, or to stop acting for you and cease processing your information for that purpose.

There are limits to what we can do. Once a document has been submitted to a university, an embassy or a visa application centre, it is held by that organisation under its own rules and we cannot recall or delete it. We may also be required to retain certain records for a period notwithstanding a request for deletion. Where we cannot meet a request in full, we will explain why.

Requests should be sent to [email protected], and we will respond in writing.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

This website uses cookies, which are small text files placed on your device by your browser. We use necessary cookies, which are required for pages to load and function correctly; analytics cookies, which allow us to count visits and understand which pages are useful, in aggregate and without identifying you; and cookies set by third parties such as Facebook and Google where their tools are present on a page. Those third-party cookies are governed by the privacy policies of the companies concerned, and not by this policy.

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings, and you can set your browser to notify you when a cookie is placed. Blocking necessary cookies may prevent parts of this website from working correctly. We do not rely on cookies to identify you as a client; that identification takes place in our office, not on this website.

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" setting. There is at present no uniform industry standard for responding to such signals, and we do not currently respond to them.

Children

Where an applicant is under eighteen years of age, we deal with a parent or legal guardian and collect the applicant's information with that person's consent. We do not knowingly collect information from a child except in the context of an application made on their behalf by a parent or guardian.

Links to Other Websites

This website contains links to university websites, government portals, visa application centres and other external sites. We provide these links for convenience and have no control over the content or privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any external site you visit.

Changes to This Policy

We review this policy periodically and update it to reflect changes in our practice or in applicable law. The date shown at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. Where a change is significant, we will bring it to the attention of current clients.

How to Contact Us

If you have a question about this policy, about the information we hold, or about how your file is being handled, please write to [email protected], or speak to the office handling your file. We will respond in writing.

SA Associates · Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh · [email protected]
Where anything in this document conflicts with the written agreement signed between you and us, that agreement takes precedence.