Privacy Policy
Last updated: 1 October 2026
1. Who This Policy Covers
This Privacy Policy explains how Al Tareeq Al Lamea ("we", "us"), a Dubai-based visa and travel documentation consultancy licensed under DET Trade License No. 1454717, collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you visit our website or use our Services. It should be read together with our Terms & Conditions.
2. What Personal Data We Collect
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identity documents | Passport copy, national ID, photos, visa/travel history |
| Contact details | Name, phone number, WhatsApp number, email address |
| Application details | Travel dates, destination, purpose of travel, supporting documents (bank statements, employment letters, invitation letters, etc., as required by the destination's embassy or visa application centre) |
| Payment information | Proof of payment for our service fee and any third-party fees. We do not store full card numbers ourselves, payments are made by bank transfer or via an online payment link, depending on the client |
| Communications | Your messages to us via WhatsApp, email, or our website |
| Website usage data | Pages you view and actions you take on our website (for example, completing our eligibility quiz, including the destination and travel purpose you select, or clicking the WhatsApp button), IP address, device and browser information, collected through Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel (see Sections 8 and 9) |
3. Why We Collect It
We collect personal data to provide the Services you've asked for, and for the limited advertising purposes described in Sections 9 and 10:
- To assess your eligibility and advise you accurately
- To prepare and review your visa or travel documentation application, which you then submit and present in person yourself
- To reserve appointment slots with visa application centres or embassies
- To communicate with you about your application's progress
- To follow up on your enquiry and, from time to time, to send you information or offers about our Services. You can ask us to stop at any time, for example by replying "STOP" on WhatsApp
- To process payment for our Services
- To meet legal or regulatory obligations (for example, record-keeping requirements under UAE law)
- To measure and improve the performance of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram (Section 9)
- To show our advertising on Meta's platforms to relevant audiences, including people with profiles similar to our clients (Section 10)
The legal basis for processing your data is your consent (given when you engage our Services and share your documents) and the necessity of processing to perform the contract between us. For the advertising uses described in Sections 9 and 10, we rely on your consent. You can refuse or withdraw it at any time, without any effect on the Services you receive from us (see Section 11).
4. How We Collect It
Directly from you: through WhatsApp, a secure upload link we send you, email, forms on our website, or forms in our ads on Facebook or Instagram. If another client refers you to us under our referral program, we receive your name and contact details from them; we ask them to share your details only with your agreement, and we use them only to contact you about our Services. We also collect limited website usage data automatically, through the analytics and advertising tools described in Sections 8 and 9. We do not buy personal data from third parties or scrape it from public sources.
5. How We Store & Protect It
Your documents and data are stored using Zoho CRM and Zoho Books, and in the email and messaging tools we use to communicate with you (such as WhatsApp and email). Depending on the Zoho data region of our account, this data may be hosted in data centres located in the UAE or outside the UAE. Access is limited to the people at Al Tareeq Al Lamea who need it to work on your application. We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. If a data breach is likely to affect your rights, we will inform you and the competent UAE authority, as required by law.
We keep each type of data only as long as we need it:
- Client data (including your documents, contact details and service history): for up to 7 years after your last Service with us. We keep it first to meet our legal obligations under UAE law (for example, accounting and tax records), and also to keep a history of our work with you, so we can answer later questions, better assist you with future applications and, where applicable, for the advertising purposes described in Section 10
- Enquiries that do not lead to an application: for up to 2 years from our last contact
After these periods, data is deleted or anonymised, unless UAE law requires us to keep it longer.
You can ask us at any time to stop using your data for advertising (Section 10). You can also ask us at any time to delete your data, unless UAE law requires us to keep it (Section 11).
6. Who We Share It With
We share your data only where necessary to deliver the Service you asked for, for the limited advertising purposes described in Sections 9 and 10, or where required by law:
- The relevant embassy, consulate, or visa application centre (e.g. VFS Global) handling your application
- Zoho Corporation, our CRM and accounting software provider, which stores and processes data on our behalf, bound by confidentiality
- Other software and service providers we use to run our business, for example email, messaging, file storage, online payment and AI-assisted productivity tools, which process data on our behalf, under their own terms and confidentiality safeguards
- Meta Platforms, the company that operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for the advertising purposes described in Sections 9 and 10, and to deliver our messages when you communicate with us on WhatsApp
- UAE authorities, where required by law or a valid legal request
We never sell your personal data. We never share your passport, identity documents, application documents or bank statements for advertising purposes. Apart from our own messages about our Services (Section 3) and the limited uses described in Sections 9 and 10, we do not use your data for advertising, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
7. International Transfers
Depending on the destination of your application, some information may need to be shared with an embassy, consulate, or visa application centre located outside the UAE, as a necessary part of reserving your appointment slot and preparing your application. Our CRM and accounting data (Zoho CRM and Zoho Books) may be hosted in data centres located outside the UAE, depending on the Zoho data region of our account, under Zoho's own terms and safeguards. Meta (including WhatsApp), Google and our other service providers (Section 6) may also process data on servers outside the UAE, under their own safeguards.
8. Cookies & Website Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site, for example which pages are viewed and how visitors found us, so we can improve it. This tool uses cookies to collect information such as your IP address, device and browser type, and browsing behaviour on our site. This data is used in aggregate, to understand visitor trends, not to identify you individually, and is processed by Google on our behalf.
You can block this kind of tracking at any time by adjusting your browser's cookie settings, or by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
The site also loads fonts from Google Fonts, which may involve a standard connection to Google's servers to deliver font files.
Our website also uses the Meta Pixel, described separately in Section 9.
9. Meta Pixel
The Meta Pixel, a tool provided by Meta Platforms (the company behind Facebook and Instagram), is used on the public pages of our website. It is not used on our application forms, or on our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy pages.
What it collects. The pages you view and certain actions you take, for example completing our eligibility quiz (including the destination and travel purpose you select) or clicking the WhatsApp button, together with your IP address and information about your browser and device. If you are logged in to Facebook or Instagram on the same browser, Meta may link this activity to your account.
What it does not collect. We never send your passport, your documents or the content of your application through the Meta Pixel. If you enter your email address in a form on our website (for example, to receive your quiz result), the Meta Pixel may send it to Meta as a hashed value, to help Meta link your visit to an account.
Why we use it. To measure which of our ads lead to enquiries, to improve our advertising, and to show our ads to people who have already visited our website.
Who receives it. Meta Platforms, which processes this data in line with its own Privacy Policy and Business Tools Terms.
How to opt out. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, use a browser or extension that blocks tracking, or adjust your ad preferences in Facebook or Instagram. You can also contact us at any time (Section 11).
10. Use of Customer Contact Details for Meta Advertising
If you have purchased one of our Services, we may use limited customer information to create a customer list within Meta's advertising platform.
Data used. Your telephone number, email address, first and last name, the country code associated with your contact details, the type of Service you purchased (for example, the visa destination), and the total amount you have paid for our Services. We do not use your passport, identity documents, application documents, travel history or banking documents for this purpose.
How it works. Before sending, we convert your contact details into an unreadable code (a "hash", using SHA-256), so Meta never receives them in readable form. Meta uses this code to find matching accounts. We may also send the total amount you have paid, as a number, and we may create separate lists by type of Service (for example, by visa destination).
Purposes. To create customer and similar audiences, to improve the relevance and measurement of our advertising, and to exclude existing customers from selected campaigns.
Recipient. Meta Platforms, which processes this information according to its applicable Custom Audiences Terms, Business Tools Terms and Privacy Policy.
Your choice. You can ask us at any time to stop using your contact details in our customer-list advertising, by email at info@altrq.com or on WhatsApp at +971 50 662 8419, with the message "Remove me from advertising". We will remove your details from our customer lists used for Meta advertising and add them to our internal suppression list within a maximum of 7 working days. This will not affect the Services we provide to you. You may still see some of our ads if Meta selects you independently through other advertising criteria.
11. Your Rights
Under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law, you have the right to:
- Ask us what personal data we hold about you
- Ask us to correct inaccurate data
- Ask us to delete your data, subject to any legal retention requirements (Section 5)
- Withdraw consent for us to process your data, though this may mean we can no longer provide the Service
- Object at any time to the use of your data for advertising (Sections 9 and 10), without any effect on the Services you receive
- Lodge a complaint with the competent UAE data protection authority (the UAE Data Office) if you believe your data has been mishandled
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@altrq.com or via WhatsApp. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe. For data that Meta holds about you as a Facebook or Instagram user, you can also use the privacy tools provided by Meta.
12. Children's Data
Our Services sometimes involve documents for minors travelling with family (e.g. a child's passport, as part of a family's application). This data is provided and controlled by the minor's parent or legal guardian, and is used solely for the family's application, under the same protections as the rest of this policy. Children's data is never used for advertising.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example to reflect a new tool we use or a change in the law. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.
14. Contact Us
Al Tareeq Al Lamea
DET Trade License No. 1454717, Dubai, UAE
info@altrq.com · WhatsApp +971 50 662 8419