Privacy Policy
Last Updated: November 3, 2025
At Passports and Visas, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. As a trusted passport and visa expediting service authorized by the U.S. Department of State since 1992, we handle sensitive personal data with the highest level of care and compliance.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our services, visit our website at https://www.passportsandvisas.com, or interact with us through any channel.
Who We Are
Company Name: Passports and Visas
Website: https://www.passportsandvisas.com
Phone: (800) 860-8610
Authorization: U.S. Department of State authorized passport expediting service
We are a private passport and visa expediting company that has been serving customers since 1992. We act as your authorized representative to expedite passport and visa applications through government agencies.
Information We Collect
To process your passport and visa applications, we collect various types of information:
Personal Identification Information
Full legal name, date of birth, place of birth, Social Security number, citizenship status, gender, physical characteristics (height, eye color, hair color), and current photographs meeting government specifications.
Contact Information
Email address, phone numbers (mobile and home), mailing address, and emergency contact information.
Travel Documentation
Current and previous passport information, visa history, travel itineraries, flight details, accommodation information, and purpose of travel.
Financial Information
Payment card information, billing address, and transaction history (processed securely through our PCI-DSS compliant payment processors).
Supporting Documents
Birth certificates, citizenship certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, court orders, parental consent forms, and any other documents required for your application.
Website Usage Data
IP address, browser type and version, device information, pages visited, time spent on pages, referring websites, and other diagnostic data collected through cookies and similar technologies.
How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
Application Processing: To complete and submit your passport and visa applications to the appropriate government agencies.
Communication: To send you updates about your application status, respond to inquiries, provide customer support, and send important notifications via email, SMS, or phone.
Payment Processing: To process payments for our services and government fees.
Service Improvement: To analyze website usage, improve our services, develop new features, and enhance user experience.
Legal Compliance: To comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and protect against fraudulent or illegal activity.
Marketing Communications: With your consent, to send promotional emails about our services, special offers, and travel tips (you can opt-out at any time).
Who We Share Your Data With
We share your personal information only when necessary and with appropriate safeguards:
Government Agencies: We submit your information to the U.S. Department of State, foreign embassies, consulates, and other government agencies as required to process your passport and visa applications.
Service Providers: We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, and servicing you. These include:
- Payment processors (credit card processing)
- Courier services (FedEx, USPS, UPS for document delivery)
- Technology providers (web hosting, email services, CRM systems)
- Professional services (legal and accounting advisors)
All service providers are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information when required by law, subpoena, court order, or government request, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.
Business Transfers: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. You will be notified of any such change.
With Your Consent: We may share your information with other parties when you give us explicit consent to do so.
How We Protect Your Information
We implement comprehensive security measures to protect your personal information:
Technical Safeguards: SSL/TLS encryption for data transmission, secure servers with firewall protection, encrypted databases, regular security audits and penetration testing, and secure file transfer protocols.
Physical Safeguards: Restricted access to facilities where physical documents are stored, secure document storage and disposal procedures, and surveillance systems.
Administrative Safeguards: Employee background checks and confidentiality agreements, regular privacy and security training, access controls and authentication requirements, and incident response procedures.
Payment Security: We never store complete credit card information on our servers. All payment processing is handled by PCI-DSS compliant payment processors.
While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but continuously work to maintain the highest security standards.
How Long We Retain Your Data
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected:
Active Applications: Throughout the application process and until the passport or visa is delivered to you.
Completed Applications: For 7 years after completion to comply with legal, accounting, and regulatory requirements, and to assist with future applications.
Customer Account Information: As long as your account remains active. If you request account deletion, we will remove or anonymize your data, except where retention is required by law.
Marketing Communications: Until you unsubscribe or request removal from our mailing lists.
Website Usage Data: Typically retained for 24-36 months for analytics purposes.
After the retention period expires, we securely delete or anonymize your information in accordance with our data retention and disposal policies.
Your Privacy Rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal information:
Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Right to Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements and legitimate business needs).
Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we limit how we use your information.
Right to Data Portability: Request a copy of your information in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to Object: Object to our processing of your information for marketing purposes.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for processing activities that require consent.
Right to Lodge a Complaint: File a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your rights have been violated.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided below. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience on our website:
Essential Cookies: Required for basic website functionality, such as maintaining your login session and remembering your preferences. These cookies last for the duration of your browser session.
Performance Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting anonymous usage statistics. This data helps us improve our website performance and user experience.
Functionality Cookies: Remember your preferences and choices, such as language settings, to provide a more personalized experience. These cookies may last for up to one year.
Marketing Cookies: Track your browsing across websites to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertisements. If you opt out of marketing cookies, you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant.
Managing Cookies: Most browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can set your browser to refuse cookies or delete cookies that have already been set. However, blocking essential cookies may affect website functionality.
When you log in, we set up several cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded Content and Third-Party Services
Our website may include embedded content from third-party services (such as videos, images, articles, and social media feeds). Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you visited that website directly.
These third-party services may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with embedded content. This includes tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account with that service and are logged in.
Third-Party Services We Use:
- Google Analytics (website analytics)
- Google Maps (location services)
- YouTube (video content)
- Social media platforms (share buttons and feeds)
- Payment processors (secure payment processing)
- Live chat services (customer support)
We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of these third-party services to understand their data practices.
Comments and User-Generated Content
When you leave comments on our website, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This allows us to recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
Media and Images
If you upload images to our website (for example, passport photos or supporting documents), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
We recommend removing EXIF data from images before uploading them. All images uploaded for passport and visa applications are processed securely and transmitted directly to government agencies through encrypted channels.
International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country.
When we transfer your information internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws. This may include:
- Standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission
- Privacy Shield frameworks (where applicable)
- Other legally approved transfer mechanisms
For visa applications, we transmit your information to the embassy or consulate of the destination country, which may involve international data transfers necessary to process your application.
Children’s Privacy
Our services are available for individuals of all ages, including minors who need passports or visas. When processing applications for minors (under 16 for passports), we collect information with appropriate parental consent as required by law and government regulations.
We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 through our website without verifiable parental consent. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information.
Parents and guardians have the right to review, update, or delete their child’s information by contacting us.
California Privacy Rights (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
Right to Know: Request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Opt-Out: Opt-out of the sale of your personal information (we do not sell personal information).
Right to Non-Discrimination: Exercise your privacy rights without receiving discriminatory treatment.
Shine the Light: Request information about whether we have disclosed personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
To exercise these rights, please call us at (800) 860-8610 or email us at [email protected]. We will verify your identity before processing your request.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by:
- Posting the updated policy on our website with a new “Last Updated” date
- Sending an email notification to registered users
- Displaying a prominent notice on our website
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Your continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:
Passports and Visas
Phone: (800) 860-8610
Website: https://www.passportsandvisas.com
Track My Application
We will respond to your inquiry within 30 business days.
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