1. Definitions
“Applicant” shall mean the person or agency or entity for which services are performed.
“VPU” and/or “the Company” means “Visas Unlimited and Passports cc” (Ref no: 2004/056222/23).
“Documents” shall mean the passport, application and any supporting documentation provided by the Applicant to VPU.
“Services” shall mean the carriage and/or service performed or arranged by VPU pursuant to, or ancillary to, this contract with the Applicant, which includes visa facilitation services and transportation of documents, including but not limited to scheduling of appointments and bookings as arranged by VPU in connection with, or incidental to this agreement with the Applicant.
“Service Fee” means the amounts charged by VPU to provide the Services including but not limited to administrative support and coordination related to the visa application process.
“Issuing Authority” means the duly authorised consulate, embassy, or competent governmental entity possessing the exclusive jurisdiction and discretion to adjudicate visa applications, including the authority to grant or deny such application upon examination and verification of the supporting documentation submitted by or on behalf of the Applicant.
Words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa and words importing any gender include all genders and words importing a person include company and corporation where appropriate.
The parties agree that the rule of construction that these Terms and Conditions shall be interpreted against the party responsible for drafting of same shall not apply to the interpretation of these Terms and Conditions.
The applicant in consideration of the service payable to the Company AGREES to the following terms and conditions:
2. Warranties and Acknowledgements by the Applicant
2.1 The Company reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions in its sole and absolute discretion at any time without the necessity of providing notification to the Applicant.
2.2 The rule of construction that these terms and conditions will be interpreted against the party who drafted same shall not apply.
2.3 By accepting a quotation or engaging the Company for any services, the Applicant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
2.4 The Applicant warrants that any person delivering the documents and/or requesting the Services of the Company is duly authorized to instruct the Company to act on the Applicants behalf.
2.5 The request of the Applicant for performance of any Service shall not be in breach of any law.
2.6 The decision to grant or deny a visa application is a decision of the embassy or consulate to which the application is submitted, and such decision is entirely outside the control of VPU. By engaging the Company’s service, the Applicant hereby authorises and appoints the Company to act as a visa facilitation agent for the purposes of assisting with the preparation and submission of the visa application. The Company acts solely in an administrative capacity and does not and cannot influence or guarantee the outcome of any visa application. The Applicant acknowledges and agrees that the issuance or refusal of a visa is at the sole discretion of the Issuing Authority, and the Company shall not be held liable for any decision made by the embassy or consulate, nor for any delay, denial, or other outcome of the visa application process.
2.7 The responsibility of the accuracy in respect of details and information contained in the visa applications is solely the Applicants responsibility and the Applicant shall have no claim whatsoever, no matter how so arising against the Company should the details and information in the visa application and/or visa be incorrect.
2.8 Service and shipping fees shall be deemed earned and payable upon commencement of the visa processing procedure, irrespective of the outcome of the application. This includes instances where the visa application is denied by the Issuing Authority or withdrawn by the Applicant. Furthermore, once any payment has been made by the Company on behalf of the Applicant, whether to the relevant visa authority, lodgement centres, or for services rendered, all such fees shall be strictly non-refundable under any circumstances.
2.9 Visa information requirements, visa fees and visa issuing times are subject to change by foreign governments without notice thereof and the Company does not assume responsibility of the accuracy of any information provided by the Company in this regard.
2.10 Charges including any additional charges, are the responsibility of the Applicant or their representative, are due and payable immediately to the Company, may be collected without notice, and may not be refunded. In the case of a cancellation by the Applicant subsequent to the visa application being lodge, the service fee will be charged by the Company, and such service fee is not refundable whatsoever. In the case of cancelation prior to the visa application being lodged with the relevant embassy or consulate then in such event the Applicant shall be liable to the Company for a cancelation fee of R450.00 excluding value added tax, as well as any amount charged by the embassy or consulate in respect of consultation fees which will be, or have been charged to, or paid by the Company. The Company does not assume any liability for delayed, lost or stolen visas and or passports.
2.11 The Applicant acknowledges that is their responsibility to be aware of the standard visa processing times as set by the relevant Issuing Authorities. The Company shall not be held liable for any delays where the visa is not processed within these standard timeframes. Furthermore, the Company accepts no responsibility if the Applicant fails to allow sufficient time for visa processing prior to their intended travel date.
2.12 The Applicant will make themselves aware of the standard processing times required by Consulates/Embassies/High Commissions and those of Visa Lodgement Centres.
2.13 The Applicant acknowledges that the Company provides a visa facilitation service. It is the Applicants responsibility to instruct the Company to apply for the correct visa/s for the relevant country/ies the Applicant intends to travel to and it is the Applicants sole and absolute responsibility to instruct the Company to apply for the necessary transit visa/s, if same are required, which request shall be made timeously by the Applicant to the Company. The Applicant acknowledges that the Company does not provide advise as to which visa/s are necessary for travel and it is the Applicants sole responsibility to ensure that he/she/it instructs the Company to apply for all visa/s that the Applicants requires for the Applicants intended travel.
2.14 Should the Company make use of a third party courier service and in the event of such documentation being lost, damaged or destroyed while in such third party courier services possession and control the Applicant shall have no claim whatsoever against the Company for such loss or damage and the Applicant hereby indemnifies the Company for any loss and/or damages.
2.15 It is the Applicants sole responsibility to bring all relevant supporting documents to the embassy or consulate appointments. In the event of the Applicant not having all necessary documentation available at such embassy or consulate appointments then in such event the Applicant shall pay such amounts for printing directly to the embassy or consulate and in the event of the Company being charged for such printing by the embassy or consulate, the Applicant shall make payment immidiatley upon being invoiced by the Company and shall make payment of such amounts for printing documents to the Company.
2.16 The Applicant acknowledges that he/she/it is solely responsible to make their own arrangements to secure travel insurance. Certain insurance may cover against visa refusal, and it is the Applicants sole and absolute responsibility should the applicant wish to procure such insurance form a third-party provider to do so. The Applicant acknowledges that the outcome of visa applications are not in the control of the Company and it is the Applicants responsibility to take all steps to procure insurance in the event of visa denial.
3. Limitation and Exclusion of Liability
3.1 The Company shall not be responsible for any loss or damage whatsoever arising to any documents nor for delays in issuance of replacement visas due to circumstances or causes beyond the Company’s control.
3.2 The Company does not assume any responsibility whatsoever for injury, damage, loss, accident or delay to any person or property which may arise due to causes beyond its control and not occasioned by its fault nor due to any act of negligence of any party, war, strike, civil turmoil, riots, fire, acts of any government agency thereof, failure of transportation, communication, or acts of God.
3.3 The Company has used its best efforts in collecting and preparing the data included within the Company’s website but cannot warrant that the information contained within its website is complete or accurate and does not assume and hereby disclaims liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the Company’s website whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.
3.4 Save as otherwise provided herein, the Company shall under no circumstances whatsoever be liable for direct or indirect or consequential loss or damage. The defences and limits provided for in this contract shall apply in any action against the Company for loss or damage or delay whether the action founded in contract, tort, or otherwise.
3.5 The Company disclaims any liability for losses, damages, forfeitures of deposit or expenses, damages of any kind whatsoever incurred by the Applicant in the event the Visa applied for is denied or not obtained within a stated time period.
3.6 It is hereby agreed between the Applicant and the Company that the Applicants rights to compensation (if any) for any claim for loss or damage will only be maintained provided the following is strictly adhered to: any claim for damage to Documents must be lodged in writing within seven days of the date of change; any right to damages against the Company shall be extinguished unless action is brought within 30days from the date of Service completion or Documents delivered, or the date the Services should have been completed or the documents should have been delivered, which ever date occurs first; and in all cases where liability has not been excluded or limited by this contract or by mandatorily applicable statute, convention or law, the liability of the Company is limited to the lesser of ZAR5000.00 or the value of the Documents subject of the contract at the time the Documents were received by the Company.
3.7 In all cases, where liability cannot be excluded or limited by this contract, the liability for breach for any condition or warranty in relation to the Documents or the Services is limited to any one or more of the following as determined by the Company at its absolute discretion: in the cases of Services, the supply of Services again or the payment of the reasonable costs of having the Services supplied again; in the case of Documents, the replacement of the Documents, the payment of the reasonable costs of having the Documents replaced, the replacement of the Documents or supply of equivalent Documents, or the payment of the reasonable costs of replacing the Documents or acquiring equivalent Documents.
3.8 It is specifically agreed that all rights, immunities and limitations of liability granted to the Company by the provisions set forth in this contract shall continue to have full force and effect in all circumstances and not withstanding any breach of the condition hereof by the Company.
4. Insurance
The liability of the Company is defined and limited to any amount stated for specified loss and damage. The Applicant is therefore advised to seek its own insurance cover generally. NO insurance will be affected by the Company.
5. Subcontracting
Subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions and instructions contained in this contract, the Company agrees and the Applicant hereby employs and authorizes the Company, as agent for the Applicant to contract either in its own name as principal or as agent with any Subcontractors for the performance of any Service to be performed or arranged by the Company pursuant to or ancillary to, this contract. Any such contract may be made on any terms of contract whatsoever used by the Subcontractor with whom the Company may contract for such Service and may be upon any terms and subject to any conditions of any special contract which the Subcontractor may in any particular case require including in every case terms which may limit or exclude liability in respect of the Service and any term that the Subcontractor may employ any person, form or company for performance of the Service.
6. Delivery
6.1 The Company is authorized to deliver the documents to the consignee or his agent at the address nominated to the Company by either the Applicant, the Company, the consignee or their agents and it is expressly agreed that in such cases the Company shall be deemed to have delivered the Documents in accordance with this contract.
6.2 If the Nominated place of delivery shall be unattended or if delivery cannot be affected, the Company in its sole discretion may at its discretion either deposit the Documents at the nominated place or store the Documents at the risk and expense of the Applicant, both of which will be deemed to be delivery of the Documents under this contract.
6.3 Dates specified for completion of the Service are estimates ONLY and the Company shall not be liable to complete the Service on such date or dates.
6.4 Delivery of the Documents within a radius of fifty (50) kilometres from the Company’s offices shall be included in the Company’s standard service fee. In the event that delivery is required beyond the said fifty (50) kilometre radius, the Company reserves the right to levy additional charges as may reasonably be determined by the Company.
6.5 The Company shall further be entitled, at its sole and absolute discretion, to appoint or make use of a third-party service provider or courier to effect delivery outside of the aforesaid fifty (50) kilometre radius. Any such delivery undertaken by a third party shall be at the sole risk of the Applicant, and the Company shall not be liable for any loss, damage, delay, or non-delivery arising from the acts or omissions of such third party.
7. Laws and Jurisdiction
Any dispute arising under this contract shall be governed by the Laws of the Republic of South Africa.
8. Trade Practices
Any relief from liability contained in this contract is to be read subject to any restrictions or contracting out of liability provided in any legislation binding the Company so that the provisions for relief contained in this contract are limited or rendered ineffective only to the extent required to give effect to that legislation but are otherwise fully effected and all the provisions hereof are severable and effective independently of any provisions which are null and void or ineffective by reason of any legislation.
9. Force Majeure
9.1 Where the Company is unable to carry out any obligation under the contract due to any circumstances, matter or thing beyond its reasonable control (“force majeure”) the Company shall be excused from such obligations to the extent of such prevention, restriction or interference so caused.
9.2 The Company shall use all possible diligence and reasonable endeavours to remove the force majeure.