Effective date: 15 April 2025
1. Who We Are
USCIS Official Translation provides professional translation, certified translation, sworn translation, notarisation and related document services through uscisofficialtranslation.com.
For privacy and data protection purposes, USCIS Official Translation is responsible for the personal information collected through this website and in connection with our services.
USCIS Official Translation is an independent translation service. We are not part of, endorsed by or affiliated with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the United States government or any other government agency.
You can contact us regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information at:
Email: hello@uscisofficialtranslation.com
2. Scope of This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose and protect personal information when you:
- visit our website;
- request a quotation;
- upload documents;
- place or pay for an order;
- communicate with our team;
- receive translation, certification, notarisation, apostille or related services;
- subscribe to marketing communications; or
- otherwise interact with us.
It applies to customers, prospective customers, website visitors and individuals whose personal information appears in documents submitted to us.
3. Information We Collect
Information You Provide to Us
We may collect information such as:
- your name;
- email address;
- telephone number;
- billing or postal address;
- company or organisation name;
- language pair and service requested;
- intended use of the translation;
- requested turnaround time;
- delivery instructions;
- order history;
- payment and transaction information;
- correspondence, enquiries and customer-support messages; and
- any additional information you provide when requesting a quotation or placing an order.
Documents You Upload or Send to Us
To provide translation services, we may receive documents containing personal or sensitive information, including:
- passports and identity documents;
- birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates;
- immigration and visa documents;
- police certificates and court records;
- adoption and family documents;
- academic certificates, diplomas and transcripts;
- employment and business records;
- bank statements, tax records and financial documents;
- medical records and vaccination records;
- legal agreements, affidavits and court orders; and
- signatures, photographs, identification numbers, dates of birth and addresses.
Uploaded documents are not made publicly available through our website.
Please submit only the documents and information reasonably required for your requested service.
Information About Other People
Documents you submit may contain information about family members, children, employees, clients, witnesses or other individuals.
By submitting documents containing another person’s information, you confirm that you are authorised to provide that information to us or that another lawful basis permits you to do so.
Payment Information
Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers.
We may receive information such as the payment status, transaction reference, payment amount and limited billing information. We do not intentionally store complete payment card numbers, card security codes or full banking credentials when these are processed directly by a payment provider.
Technical and Website Information
When you use our website, we may automatically collect:
- IP address;
- browser type and version;
- device type and operating system;
- pages visited;
- referring website;
- date and time of visits;
- approximate location derived from your IP address;
- website interaction and performance information;
- cookie identifiers; and
- security and diagnostic logs.
We use this information to operate, secure, maintain and improve the website.
4. Sensitive Personal Information
Documents submitted for translation may contain sensitive personal information, including information relating to health, immigration status, nationality, legal proceedings, criminal allegations or convictions, financial circumstances or children.
We process this information only where reasonably necessary to provide the requested service, comply with legal obligations, protect legal rights or respond to your instructions.
Where applicable law requires an additional legal condition for processing sensitive information, we rely on your explicit consent or another legally permitted condition, such as processing necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
We do not use sensitive information contained in customer documents for behavioural advertising or to make decisions about your immigration eligibility.
5. How We Use Personal Information
We may use personal information to:
- provide quotations and respond to enquiries;
- review uploaded documents and determine the scope of work;
- create, manage and fulfil translation orders;
- assign work to suitable translators, editors and proofreaders;
- prepare translations, certificates and related documents;
- arrange notarisation, apostille, legalisation or physical delivery where requested;
- process payments and issue invoices or receipts;
- communicate about an order;
- deliver completed translations;
- process amendments, corrections or complaints;
- maintain records of completed services;
- prevent fraud, misuse and security incidents;
- protect our legal rights and enforce our terms;
- comply with tax, accounting and legal requirements;
- analyse and improve our website and services; and
- send service updates or marketing communications where permitted.
We do not use uploaded documents for purposes unrelated to providing the requested service.
6. Legal Bases for Processing
Where UK, European Economic Area or similar data protection laws apply, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases:
Contract
We process information where necessary to provide a quotation, take steps at your request before entering into a contract, process your order or deliver the services you purchased.
Legitimate Interests
We may process information where necessary for legitimate business interests, including:
- operating and improving our services;
- managing customer relationships;
- maintaining service quality;
- preventing fraud;
- securing our systems;
- handling complaints; and
- establishing or defending legal claims.
We consider the potential impact on your privacy before relying on legitimate interests.
Legal Obligation
We may process and retain information where necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or law-enforcement requirements.
Consent
We may rely on consent for certain marketing communications, non-essential cookies or the processing of sensitive information where consent is legally required.
You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect processing that occurred before consent was withdrawn.
7. How We Share Personal Information
We disclose personal information only where reasonably necessary for our services, business operations or legal obligations.
Recipients may include:
Translators, Editors and Proofreaders
Documents may be shared with professional translators, editors, proofreaders and quality-assurance personnel who require access to complete the requested work.
These individuals are required to handle information confidentially and use it only for the assigned service.
Service Providers
We may use providers that support:
- website hosting;
- secure file storage;
- email and customer communications;
- order and customer management;
- payment processing;
- invoicing and accounting;
- website analytics;
- spam, fraud and security prevention;
- electronic signatures;
- document delivery; and
- technical support.
These providers may process information only to provide services to us, subject to their contractual and legal obligations.
Notaries, Apostille Providers and Couriers
Where you request notarisation, apostille, legalisation or physical delivery, we may share the documents and contact details necessary to provide those services with notaries, government offices, legalisation agents, postal services or couriers.
Professional Advisers
We may disclose information to lawyers, accountants, insurers, auditors or other professional advisers where reasonably necessary.
Legal and Regulatory Authorities
We may disclose information where required by law, court order, legal process or a valid request from a government, regulatory or law-enforcement authority.
We may also disclose information where reasonably necessary to protect our rights, users, staff, systems or the public.
Business Transfers
If our business is sold, merged, reorganised or transferred, personal information may be disclosed to relevant advisers and transferred to the new owner, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.
8. Sale and Advertising Use of Personal Information
We do not sell customer documents or personal information for monetary payment.
We do not disclose information contained in uploaded documents to third parties for their own advertising purposes.
Our website may use analytics or advertising technologies to understand website performance and measure marketing campaigns. Depending on the applicable privacy law, certain uses of advertising cookies may be considered “sharing” or a “sale” of online identifiers.
Where required, non-essential cookies will be used only after you have provided consent, and you may manage your choices through the website’s cookie controls.
9. Cookies and Similar Technologies
We may use cookies and similar technologies to:
- keep the website functioning;
- remember preferences;
- protect forms and uploads;
- prevent spam or fraud;
- understand how visitors use the website;
- improve website performance; and
- measure marketing effectiveness.
Cookies may include:
- Strictly necessary cookies, which are required for the website to operate;
- Preference cookies, which remember selected settings;
- Analytics cookies, which help us understand website traffic and performance; and
- Advertising cookies, which may be used to measure campaigns or display relevant advertising.
Where required by law, analytics and advertising cookies will not be activated until you provide consent.
You can manage cookies through the website’s cookie settings or your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.
Please refer to our separate Cookie Policy for further information.
10. International Data Transfers
We work with translators and service providers in different countries. Your information may therefore be accessed, processed or stored outside your state, country, the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area.
Where international data-transfer rules apply, we take reasonable steps to use appropriate safeguards. These may include:
- contractual data-protection clauses;
- confidentiality obligations;
- access restrictions;
- transfer-risk assessments;
- recognised adequacy decisions; or
- other safeguards permitted by applicable law.
11. How Long We Retain Information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet legal, accounting, security and contractual requirements.
Our normal retention periods are:
- Quotation enquiries that do not become orders: up to 12 months;
- Uploaded source documents and working translation files: normally up to 90 days after the completed order is delivered;
- Completed translations and certificates: normally up to 90 days after delivery, unless a longer period is agreed or required;
- Order correspondence and customer-support records: up to two years after completion;
- Invoices, payment records and accounting information: for the period required by applicable tax and accounting laws, which may be up to seven years;
- Website security and technical logs: normally up to 12 months, unless required for an investigation;
- Marketing records: until you unsubscribe, withdraw consent or the information is no longer required.
Information may be retained for longer where:
- required by law;
- necessary to resolve a dispute;
- required to prevent fraud or misuse;
- necessary to establish or defend legal claims; or
- you ask us to retain it for an agreed purpose.
Backup copies may remain temporarily within secure backup systems after deletion from active systems. They will be removed or overwritten in accordance with our backup schedule.
You may request earlier deletion of project documents, although this may prevent us from completing an order, making corrections or reissuing a translation later.
12. How We Protect Information
We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
These measures may include:
- encrypted website connections using HTTPS/TLS;
- access controls;
- secure passwords and authentication;
- restricted access to project files;
- confidentiality obligations;
- secure storage systems;
- security monitoring;
- staff and contractor guidance;
- data minimisation; and
- procedures for responding to suspected security incidents.
No website, email system or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should use secure methods when sending sensitive documents and contact us promptly if you believe your information may have been compromised.
13. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the right to:
- request access to personal information we hold about you;
- request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
- request deletion of your information;
- request restriction of processing;
- object to certain processing;
- receive certain information in a portable format;
- withdraw consent;
- opt out of marketing communications;
- opt out of certain targeted advertising, sale or sharing activities;
- request information about categories of information collected and disclosed;
- limit certain uses of sensitive personal information;
- appeal a decision relating to a privacy request; and
- complain to an applicable privacy or data-protection authority.
These rights are subject to legal exceptions. For example, we may retain information required for accounting, fraud prevention, legal claims or compliance obligations.
To exercise a privacy right, contact:
hello@uscisofficialtranslation.com
Please include enough information for us to identify you and understand your request. We may ask for reasonable verification before disclosing or deleting information.
You may use an authorised representative where permitted by law. We may request evidence that the representative is authorised to act for you.
We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.
14. California and Other US State Privacy Disclosures
Where applicable state privacy laws apply, the categories of personal information we may collect include:
- identifiers and contact information;
- customer and billing records;
- commercial and transaction information;
- internet and website activity;
- professional or employment information;
- educational information;
- document content submitted for translation; and
- sensitive personal information contained in identity, immigration, financial, legal, medical or family documents.
We collect this information directly from you, your authorised representative, the documents you submit and your interaction with our website.
We use and disclose these categories for the business and commercial purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about individuals or for purposes unrelated to providing the requested service.
15. Marketing Communications
We may send marketing communications where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law.
You can unsubscribe at any time by:
- using the unsubscribe link in the message; or
- contacting hello@uscisofficialtranslation.com.
We may continue to send essential service communications relating to an active or completed order.
16. Children’s Privacy
Our website and services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 13.
We may process information about children when an adult, parent, guardian, lawyer or other authorised person submits a child’s document for translation. In such circumstances, we process the child’s information only as necessary to provide the requested service.
We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without appropriate authorisation. If you believe a child has submitted information directly to us, please contact us so that we can review and, where appropriate, delete it.
17. Third-Party Websites and Embedded Content
Our website may contain links to or embedded content from third-party websites, including videos, social media content, payment pages or other services.
Third parties operate under their own privacy policies and may collect information when you interact with their content. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of websites or services we do not control.
18. Security Incidents
If we become aware of a security incident involving personal information, we will investigate and take reasonable steps to contain and address the incident.
Where required by applicable law, we will notify affected individuals, regulators or other relevant authorities.
19. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our services, technology, legal obligations or data-handling practices.
The updated version will be published on this page with a revised effective date. Where changes are significant, we may provide an additional notice through the website or by email.
20. Contact Us
For questions, concerns or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal information, contact:
USCIS Official Translation
Email: hello@uscisofficialtranslation.com
Website: uscisofficialtranslation.com