Privacy notice

How VisaHelm handles your data

Last updated 4 November 2026

Who we are

VisaHelm helps residents of the United Arab Emirates prepare and manage applications for Portugal's D7 (passive income) and D8 (remote work) visas and the residence permit that follows. We prepare and manage applications; we do not give legal advice. Portugal-side services (tax number, bank account and fiscal representation) are arranged by VisaHelm through its Portugal partner.
Data controller: VisaHelm, Abu Dhabi (licence pending).
VisaHelm – hello@visahelm.com
Data protection contact: privacy@visahelm.com

Identity and contact data: name, date of birth, nationality, phone, email, scans of your passport, Emirates ID and UAE residence visa.
Financial and employment data: bank statements, proof of income and salary, employment or client contracts, employer letters.
Sensitive data the application requires: police clearance certificate, your photograph, details of accompanying family members, health insurance policy.
Usage data: your eligibility calculator result if you used it, messages exchanged with us, and call bookings. We do not take card payments yet; when we do, the payment processor handles card numbers and we never store them.

To assess your eligibility, build your application file and check documents, including an automated AI check of document type, dates and consistency with your file, reviewed by a person.
To book appointments and deal with the embassy, visa centre, Portuguese authorities and partners on your behalf.
To contact you and remind you of documents and appointments by email or WhatsApp.
To invoice and meet accounting and legal duties.
Legal basis: your explicit consent, the service agreement between you and VisaHelm, and our legal obligations.

The Portuguese embassy and consulate, visa centres (such as VFS) and the Portuguese immigration agency (AIMA).
Delivery partners when your file needs them: our Portugal partner for the tax number, bank account and fiscal representation, insurers and sworn translators.
Technical providers under data processing agreements: our case-management system and its hosting (Vercel for the application and file storage, Neon for the database), Clerk (sign-in), Resend (email), Dropbox Sign (e-signature), Anthropic through Vercel AI Gateway (document checks). Your data sits in a separate office within the case-management system and is visible only to the VisaHelm team and the system administrators.
We never sell your data or use it for advertising.

Data is stored on servers in the European Union and the United States and sent to authorities and partners in Portugal. This happens with your explicit consent and under data processing agreements with our providers, in line with UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data.

Documents are kept for the life of the application and 12 months after the case closes, then deleted automatically. You are told two weeks before and can download what you need.
If you do not become a client, we delete your enquiry 12 months after our last contact.
Invoices and the service agreement are kept as long as the law requires.

Storage is encrypted, access is limited to the team handling your file and protected by two-step verification, every uploaded file is scanned before processing, and every access and change is logged.

Access and a copy of your data, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, and withdrawal of consent at any time by writing to us. Withdrawing consent stops work on your application and does not affect what was done before.
Contact: privacy@visahelm.com. You may also complain to the UAE Data Office.

Version 2026-11-04. If the notice changes materially we ask for your consent again.