Private by design.

Visa application workspaces

When you save a workspace, we store its journey details, circumstances, document progress, application stage and factual notes in your account. Questionnaire answers may include names, dates of birth, contact and address history, family, work, income, sponsors and travel information you choose to enter. Passport numbers, national identity or residence-document identifiers, partner and UK-family passport details, other-nationality document numbers, child guardian and accompanying-adult identifiers, child-care details, immigration-issue details and declaration answers are kept only in the open tab and excluded from account saves and sign-in drafts. Local downloads and copying include these fields when you choose to export them. Refreshing or closing the tab clears these unsaved fields. If you choose to keep document-review notes, we also store your explanations, page references, file names, finding labels and SHA-256 file fingerprints. Fingerprints let your browser compare reopened files with the files previously reviewed. You can remove these notes and save the updated workspace. Original files and extracted text in the local file checker are not saved with the workspace. Workspaces are private to your account and are removed when you delete your account. Do not put passport numbers, bank account numbers or passwords in these notes.

Whole-journey visa checks

If you choose Save journey check, up to three checks are stored in this browser: traveller labels, nationality, residence, region or postcode, passport expiry, under-18 status, permission conditions, visits and connections. Browser copies are separate from account saves. They are not sent by email. Reopening a saved check compares it with Visa Puffin’s current reviewed rule records. Remove saved copies using the journey checker or clear the site’s browser data. Do not enter document numbers.

Journey information

Your selected journey, budget and planning preferences are stored in your browser on your device so the planner can move between pages. If you choose Save to my account, the planning record is also stored privately in Visa Puffin’s database. Use the reset control or clear this site's browser data to remove it.

Optional accounts

Accounts store your email address, display name, account ID and creation time. If you create a password, we store a salted password hash, never the password itself. You can reset a forgotten password by verifying your email. Password changes sign out other sessions. Your email stays private; your display name appears beside published contributions. Microsoft 365 processes your address and sign-in email to deliver a single-use link. Links expire after 15 minutes. We store hashed sign-in tokens and use a secure, HttpOnly session cookie lasting up to 30 days to keep you signed in. This cookie is necessary for account access and is not used for advertising.

Saved trips include travel dates, places, itinerary notes and budget preferences. Structured passport fields and document-review files are excluded. Do not put sensitive document information in itinerary notes. Accounts and saved trips remain until you delete them. You can delete individual trips, contributions or your whole account from the account page; account deletion requires a recent sign-in. Signing out clears the current planning copy on this device. Account processing is necessary to provide the account features you request; security counters help prevent abuse.

Saved visa appointments

When you choose Save to my account, Visa Puffin stores the destination, nationality and passport type (not passport number), residence and postcode, travel date, application category, preparation ticks, appointment centre, date, time zone, booking reference and confirmation text or link you enter. These records are private to your account and remain until you delete the record or your account. This feature stores confirmation text and links, not uploaded files. Avoid including passwords, sign-in links, passport numbers or payment details in confirmation notes.

Calendar exports include the appointment time and centre, with reminder instructions for your calendar app; they omit your booking reference and confirmation notes. Calendar notifications depend on importing the file and your calendar settings. Directions links share your entered postcode and centre with Google Maps when opened. Visa Puffin does not send booking details to appointment providers or book or change appointments on your behalf.

Visa application and document review

The reviewer can read a visa application form and supporting PDF, JPG or PNG files in your browser. Text-based PDFs are read directly; scanned PDF pages and images are processed with on-device OCR. It looks for common fields, readable wording, possible blank-field markers and matches to the selected route's document list. It can also flag differing passport-number references, compare destination or travel-date wording with the journey entered, and suggest mechanical improvements such as making a genuine itinerary's dates, locations and transfers clearer. Its feedback is automated and can be wrong. It does not decide whether information is correct, genuine, sufficient or likely to be accepted, and it does not provide legal advice.

Selected files, extracted text and automated labels stay in temporary page memory on your device. They are not uploaded to Visa Puffin, written to browser storage, included in application logs, used to train a model or shared with a professional. Resetting the review, refreshing or closing the page clears its working references and results. If you save a visa application, it can retain file names, SHA-256 content fingerprints and your category assignments so unchanged originals can reconnect when you reopen them. It also saves the last answer viewed for copying. Original files, extracted text and copy-session counts are not included in those saved matching records. These private records are deleted with the saved application or your account. Avoid using the tool on a shared or public device.

The PDF reader, OCR worker, OCR engine and English language data are served from Visa Puffin's own site. The analyser does not send document contents to an external AI or OCR service.

Website delivery

Like most websites, the hosting and security infrastructure may process limited technical request information such as an IP address, device or browser information, request time and security events to deliver and protect the service. Third-party services on travel-planning pages may process technical information as described below.

Google Maps and place search

Trip maps, activity searches and optional accommodation address searches load Google Maps services. Google receives technical request information and the destinations and search text, including hotel names or street addresses, needed to display results. Passport uploads are not sent to these services. See Google’s privacy policy. Place photos and ratings are loaded for the current visit; saved itinerary stops retain a place reference for future lookups.

To limit Maps usage, Visa Puffin keeps request counts by service category and UTC day or month. These counters contain no searches, locations, account identifiers or IP addresses and expire at the end of their window. Your browser also stores daily counts for these limits; it does not store Google photos or review content.

Flight lookup

When flight lookup is connected and you choose Find flight details, Visa Puffin sends the flight number and local departure date to AeroDataBox. Your booking reference, name and passport documents are not included. Flight details you confirm are saved with your trip and may be included in your exports. Lookup uses temporary, hashed network identifiers to limit requests. See AeroDataBox’s privacy policy.

Travelpayouts Drive

Visa Puffin loads Travelpayouts Drive on the homepage, guides and trip-planning pages to support affiliate links and travel offers. Loading this external script shares technical request information with its provider; the script can inspect page content and links and may use browser storage or cookies. It is not enabled on passport or visa-document review pages. See Travelpayouts’ privacy policy for its handling of information.

Traveller contributions

When you submit a blog or traveller tip, Visa Puffin stores its title, contribution type, your chosen display name, destination, visit month, contribution, submission time and review status in its website database. Private drafts are saved to your account as you write and can be deleted from Account. Blogs and tips are reviewed before publication. Approved tips display your chosen name, visit month and text to other visitors. Do not include contact details, identity documents or private information. You may upload blog photos. The editor resizes and re-encodes them before upload; photos are stored on our servers and become public only with an approved post. Unpublished photos are accessible to their owner and moderators. Uploaded photos are removed when you delete your account. Upvotes are linked to your account to prevent duplicate votes; your identity as a voter is not shown publicly. Published posts display vote totals and contributor stars. Deleting your account removes your votes.

To limit spam, we use a salted, hourly digest of the connection IP address and short-lived submission counters. Raw IP addresses are not saved in the contributions database. Reports flag a published contribution for review. Pending and rejected tips are visible to their author and moderators; approved contributions remain until removed. You can edit or delete your contributions from your account. You can also email hello@roamava.com for help.

Partner links and click measurement

Partner buttons are labelled before you open them. A contextual accommodation link can include the destination, check-in date, check-out date, guest count and room count in the provider URL so the provider can show matching results. Activity links include the activity and place. Opening a partner link sends its search details to that provider. Travelpayouts Drive can also inspect links on the planning pages where it is enabled.

Visa Puffin counts visible partner placements and outbound clicks using daily aggregates. Each row contains only the UTC day, an allowlisted partner and placement, an event name and a count. No account or session identifier, journey details, document contents, IP address or referrer is included in these counts. Collection uses no analytics cookies or third-party analytics service, and honours Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. Views are deduplicated in page memory. Counts expire after 90 days and reports are visible only to the site owner. Clicks do not confirm bookings; partner dashboards report actual sales.

Visa checker activity counts

Visa Puffin records aggregate counts when a destination is selected, the checker is opened, a result is displayed or a preparation workspace is opened. Each stored row contains only a UTC date, one of these four event names and a count. We do not include account or session identifiers, selected countries, journey details, answers, document contents, IP addresses or referrers in this count data. The counter uses no analytics cookies or browser storage and sends no data to a third-party analytics provider. Your browser’s Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal disables collection. Reports cover up to 90 days, with older counts removed when new activity is recorded. Counts are visible only to authorised moderators. These totals count actions rather than unique users.

Visa beta waitlist

If you join the visa beta waitlist, we save your chosen passport country, residence country and intended destination against your Visa Puffin account, together with your opt-in version, join/update dates and waitlist status. Your existing account email is used for account identification; this form does not collect documents or passport numbers. These choices are private to your account. Authorised moderators can see aggregate route counts, without names or email addresses, to plan coverage. You can update your choices or leave the waitlist. Leaving marks your entry as withdrawn; deleting your account removes it. Joining does not enable additional visa routes.

Messages and early access

If you email Visa Puffin, the message and contact details are received so the team can respond and manage the relationship. Do not email identity documents, financial records or visa application files. Messages are kept only while reasonably needed for the conversation, security, records and applicable legal obligations.

Purpose, lawful basis and sharing

Technical website information is handled where necessary for the legitimate interests of providing, securing and improving the service. Email information is handled to respond to your request, take requested pre-contract steps where relevant, and manage legitimate business communications. Visa Puffin does not sell personal information. Information may be handled by service providers only where needed to host, secure or operate the service, subject to appropriate arrangements.

Your choices and rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection rights may include access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability and objection. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office. Contact Visa Puffin first if you would like help with a request.

Age and other people's files

The document organiser is for adults aged 18 or over. Do not use another person's files unless you have their authority and a lawful reason to do so. Do not use the preview for a child's documents.