Privacy Policy

1. About us and this policy

Queenstown Immigration & HR Limited ("Queenstown Immigration", "we", "us", "our") provides New Zealand and Australian immigration advice and visa application services. Our adviser is Kate Dear, a New Zealand Licensed Immigration Adviser (Full Licence, #202000176) and an Australian Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2619263).

This policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose and protect your personal information when you visit queenstownimmigration.com, contact us, book a consultation or engage us as a client.

We handle personal information in line with:

the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles
the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
the confidentiality obligations in the Licensed Immigration Advisers Code of Conduct (New Zealand) and the Code of Conduct for Registered Migration Agents (Australia)

By using our website or services, you acknowledge that your information will be handled as described in this policy.

2. What personal information we collect

We only collect information that is reasonably necessary to advise you and prepare your applications. Depending on your situation, this may include:

Contact and identity details: name, email, phone, address, date of birth, nationality, passport and other identity documents
Immigration history: current and previous visas, travel history, previous applications and decisions
Family and relationship details: partner, children and other family members included in or supporting your application
Education and employment: qualifications, CVs, employment history, job offers, employer details and references
Financial information: income, assets, bank statements and evidence of funds, where required for an application
Payment details: information needed to process consultation and service fees (card details are processed by our payment provider, not stored by us)
Website and technical data: IP address, device and browser type, pages visited, and how you arrived at our site (for example, from a Google ad)

Sensitive information

Immigration applications often require sensitive information, such as health and medical information, police and character records, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, relationship history and biometric information. We only collect sensitive information with your consent and where it is needed for your matter.

Information about other people

If you give us information about someone else (for example, a partner, family member or employer), please make sure they know you are sharing it with us and where to find this policy.

Dealing with us anonymously

You can make a general enquiry without identifying yourself, or by using a pseudonym. However, we cannot provide tailored immigration advice or lodge applications unless you identify yourself.

3. How we collect your information

We collect most information directly from you, including when you:

complete an enquiry or contact form on our website
book and pay for a consultation online
email, phone or meet with us (in person or by video call)
send us documents for an assessment or application

With your authority, we may also collect information from third parties, such as Immigration New Zealand, the Australian Department of Home Affairs, employers, education providers, skills assessment bodies, medical practitioners, police authorities, and other advisers or lawyers acting for you. Where we collect information about you from someone else, we will take reasonable steps to let you know.

Cookies, analytics and advertising

Our website is hosted on Wix and uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, understand how visitors use it, and measure our advertising. We use:

Google Analytics to understand website traffic and usage
Google Ads, including conversion tracking and remarketing, to measure the effectiveness of our ads and show relevant ads to people who have visited our site

These tools may collect your IP address, device information and browsing activity on our site. Google may combine this with other information it holds under its own privacy policy. You can manage or opt out of personalised advertising through Google's Ad Settings, and block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect how parts of our website work.

4. How we use and share your information

We use your personal information to:

respond to your enquiries and manage consultation bookings
assess your eligibility and provide immigration advice
prepare, lodge and manage visa and related applications on your behalf
communicate with you and with government agencies about your matter
process payments, issue invoices and keep business records
meet our legal, professional and regulatory obligations
improve our website and services, and measure our advertising

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use sensitive information for marketing.

Who we may share it with

We only disclose your information for the purpose it was collected, with your consent, or where the law requires or permits it. This may include:

Immigration New Zealand and the Australian Department of Home Affairs, to lodge and progress your applications
other bodies involved in your application, such as employers, skills assessment authorities, education providers, panel physicians and police authorities
our regulators, the Immigration Advisers Authority (New Zealand) and the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (Australia), for example in a complaint, audit or file review
professionals acting for you or us, such as lawyers, accountants or translators, where needed for your matter
our trusted service providers, who help us run our business (see section 5)
courts, tribunals or law enforcement agencies, where required by law

5. Storage, security and overseas disclosure

We store information electronically using reputable cloud services. Our key service providers are:

Wix - Website hosting, enquiry forms and online bookings

Xero - Processing consultation and service payments

Google Workspace - Email, client files and document storage

Google Analytics and Google Ads - Website analytics and advertising measurement

AI tools (for example, Claude by Anthropic) - Assisting with research, drafting and document preparation

These providers may store or process information on servers outside New Zealand and Australia, including in the United States. Before disclosing information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it will be protected in a way that is comparable to the New Zealand Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, for example through the provider's contractual and security commitments.

Use of AI tools

We may use AI tools to help with research and drafting. We only use business-grade AI services whose terms do not permit your information to be used to train their models. All advice is reviewed and given by our licensed adviser, and AI tools are never used to make decisions about your matter.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorised access or disclosure. These include password-protected and multi-factor authenticated accounts, restricted access to client files, and secure document sharing.

If a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify you and the relevant privacy regulator as required by law.

6. Retention

We keep client files for the period required by our professional codes of conduct and other laws, which is currently at least seven years after your matter is completed. Enquiries that do not proceed to engagement are kept only as long as reasonably needed. When information is no longer required, we securely delete or destroy it.

7. Accessing and correcting your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading. Please contact our Privacy Officer (section 9). We may need to verify your identity first.

We will respond within 20 working days for requests under the New Zealand Privacy Act, and within 30 days for requests under the Australian Privacy Act. If we decline a request, we will explain why, as permitted by law. We do not charge for making a request.

8. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer first so we can try to resolve it. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact:

New Zealand: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, privacy.org.nz
Australia: the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, oaic.gov.au

Complaints about our immigration advice services (rather than privacy) can also be made to the Immigration Advisers Authority (New Zealand) or the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (Australia).

9. Contact us

Privacy Officer: Kate Dear

Queenstown Immigration & HR Limited

Email: kate@queenstownimmigration.com

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on our website, with the date it was last updated.

Last updated: 26 October 2026