Terms and Conditions of Service

These terms and conditions are applicable to any and all services (hereunder referred to as “Service” or “Services”) offered by TLScontact on behalf of the Embassy of Germany or on its own behalf to persons (hereunder referred to as “Applicant”, “Applicants”, “Customer”, or “you”, “your”) who wish to submit a visa application to the Embassy of Germany through TLScontact and to the eventual provision of information by TLScontact concerning such visa application.

These terms and conditions cover, without limitation and depending on the nature of your visa application:

• the registration by the Applicant on the TLScontact website for the purpose of creation of an account,
• the booking by the Applicant of an appointment for the purpose of submission of the visa application,
• the confirmation by TLScontact of the Applicant’s appointment,
• the attendance by the Applicant at the VAC to the appointment for the purpose of collection of the visa application by TLScontact,
• the collection of the biometric data required where applicable by the Embassy of Germany,
• the payment of the visa application related fees,
• the submission and transport by TLScontact (or any third party contracted by TLScontact) to the Embassy of Germany of the visa application including all the supporting documentation,
• the transfer of all such documentation from the Embassy of Germany to TLScontact for the purpose of returning the travel document and any other supporting documentation if applicable to the Applicant,
• the provision of any optional service by TLScontact in addition to the service of collection of your visa application (hereunder referred to also as “Additional Services”) for the convenient submission of your visa application.

These terms and conditions shall be the contract governing the provision of Services by TLScontact to the Applicant. You hereby accept and confirm that, prior to submitting your visa application, you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by, without limitation or qualification, these terms and conditions.

These terms and conditions may be accessed and viewed on the TLScontact website at any time. All changes, amendments, amplifications or withdrawals to or of these terms and conditions from time to time shall be published on the TLScontact website. These amended terms and conditions, as displayed on the TLScontact website, shall prevail over any previous version of these terms and conditions or over any other conflicting documents.

Save for clear proof to the contrary, the data recorded in the TLScontact information system shall constitute proof of all transactions the Customer has entered into with TLScontact.

These terms and conditions are not applicable to any and all services provided and/or decisions made concerning your visa application by the Embassy of Germany, including the payment of the visa fees by the Applicant. You hereby acknowledge and agree that TLScontact is an intermediary between you and the Embassy of Germany as its agent, and that no claims regarding the decisions made about your visa application or regarding a visa fee refund shall be addressed to TLScontact.

In order to procure any Service to be provided by TLScontact, the Applicant is required to complete the following actions via the TLScontact website:

• Register on TLScontact website and create an account,
• Log in and fill in the online application form where applicable,
• Book an appointment to submit the visa application at the Visa Application Centre.

Applicants may have the option, if available, to select Additional Services via the TLScontact website at the stage of booking an appointment, or book such Additional Services via the TLScontact call centre, or request such Additional Services directly whilst visiting the Visa Application Centre.

TLScontact may offer Additional Services related to the visa application process which require an additional fee to be paid at the Visa Application Centre or, if applicable, on the TLScontact website. The Additional Services are optional and do not guarantee that your visa will be granted or that your visa application will be processed in priority to other applications. A list of Additional Services offered by TLScontact is published on the TLScontact website. You may find it under the following link: Added Value Services.

TLScontact will only accept a booking and order of the Services if the Applicant has previously confirmed, in such manner as TLScontact may determine, to abide by these terms and conditions whilst registering. Such confirmation constitutes the proof of the contract for provision of Services to You. A booking of Services shall not be deemed final until TLScontact has acknowledged acceptance of the order and has received full payment of the price of the visa application related fees.

TLScontact reserves the right to cancel or refuse any Service order if there is an existing dispute with the Applicant regarding the payment for previous Service orders.

3.1 General conditions for all fees to be paid

Fees stated are only valid on the day that such fees are quoted. For visa applications on a later date, the fees may be subject to a change. The visa fee collected by TLScontact on behalf of the Embassy of Germany and the TLScontact service fees are fixed in Euros but payable in the currency of the country where the VAC is situated. The exchange rate between these currencies is decided by the Embassy of Germany and is subject to periodical variation, therefore the amount in local currency you are requested to pay may differ from the one quoted. All visa application related fees are firm, inclusive of value-added tax and displayed on TLScontact website and at the VAC. All costs of returning passports, supporting documents and visa decisions to you are included in the final total price based on information provided by you and the available delivery methods selected by you. All fees must be received in full under the available payment options as cleared funds for the application to be processed. Except where covered in our refund policy below, fees are non-refundable and non-transferable once the Service is completed or after the application is transferred to the Embassy of Germany and whether or not a visa is ultimately granted by the Embassy of Germany or whether or not you decide to withdraw your visa application.

3.2 TLScontact service fee for the submission of your visa application (“Service Fee”)

The Service Fee for the processing of your visa application is agreed between the Embassy of Germany and TLScontact. Any change to the Visa Application Service Fee shall be made in accordance with the agreement reached with the Embassy of Germany and shall be duly displayed on the TLScontact website or at the VAC. TLScontact shall issue Applicant with a receipt upon payment of the Service Fee.

3.3 Additional Service Fee (“Additional Service Fee”)

TLScontact Additional Service Fees are quoted either in the currency of the country where you submit your visa application or in Euro. TLScontact reserves the right to amend the Additional Service Fees and to charge such amended Additional Service Fees to Applicants after the effective date of such amendment. Applicant shall take this into account when planning to make an order on a future date. TLScontact shall issue Applicant with a receipt upon payment of the Additional Service Fee.

3.4 Visa Fee collected by TLScontact on behalf of the Embassy of Germany (“Visa Fee”)

TLScontact has no control over, and does not accept any liability whatsoever for increases or amendments to visa fees collected by TLScontact on behalf of the Embassy of Germany. TLScontact accepts no claims for refund of Visa Fee and such claims are not to be addressed to TLScontact.

The Service Fee and the Additional Service Fee (hereinafter together referred to as “TLScontact Fees”) may be payable in full either on the day you book an appointment to submit your visa application or at a later stage at the VAC when you arrive at the appointment, through the following methods, as specified on the TLScontact website:

• by cash,
• by credit/debit card and for distant payments (online, phone, etc.) by a secure payment method,
• by bank transfer or by any other means of payment accepted by TLScontact.

TLScontact will issue the Applicant with a receipt for the transaction upon receiving cleared payment of the TLScontact Fees and the Visa Fees. Applicant is liable for any charges and interest he or she may incur by using the available payment method. Payment data is encrypted before transfer using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. TLScontact shall not be required to provide any Services if the TLScontact Fees have not been paid in full. Payments shall not be deemed complete until TLScontact has duly received all visa application related fees in fully cleared and available funds.

TLScontact undertakes to use its reasonable endeavours to provide the Services to Applicants depending on the appointment date they have chosen. TLScontact will process all visa applications with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with all procedures prescribed by the Embassy of Germany.

However, whilst we use reasonable care to check your application form for obvious errors on the face of the form, we do not guarantee that all errors on your form will be detected, and we do not undertake to verify any information you provide. You are responsible for ensuring that all information and documentation you provide is accurate, true and up to date.

TLScontact accepts no liability howsoever arising for any delay in the provision of the Services caused by an event or by a third party, which is beyond the control of TLScontact.

Timeframes for any receipt of decisions on your visa application from the Embassy of Germany are estimates only, based on information and experience with the Embassy of Germany, which are outside of the influence of TLScontact and cannot be guaranteed. Making use of the urgent appointment service, if applicable, will not guarantee that your visa application will be expedited or processed by the Embassy of Germany more quickly. Applicants are recommended not to make bookings related to their travel prior to receiving a decision on their visa applications. In case Applicants are required to make such bookings in advance, they should consider a reasonable timeline for the processing of their visa applications prior to making such bookings.

Applicants bear the responsibility to carefully read and understand the requirements set out in visa application forms, complete them truthfully and with correct and accurate information, to provide the correct supporting documentation, to ensure that they have a valid passport (not damaged or expired) as well as to check the validity of the visa issued (including with regard to the period, number of entries, purpose etc.) on its receipt.

Applicants shall provide valid contact details to TLScontact in order for TLScontact to contact them in case any issue arises with the Applicants' visa application or if additional documentation is required. TLScontact accepts no responsibility for any losses arising from any inability to contact the Applicants resulting from lack of contact details provided, or in case the Applicant’s mobile phone is switched off, disconnected or not equipped with voice mail.

TLScontact shall not refund any payments of TLScontact Fees made to TLScontact by Applicants on grounds that the Embassy of Germany refuses to grant visas or on grounds that Applicant decide to withdraw the ongoing visa application once the procedure is underway and the Services are provided.

TLScontact Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable once TLScontact Service is completed or once the application is transferred to the Embassy of Germany.

If TLScontact has, however, committed an act of gross negligence or wilful misconduct in relation to a visa application submitted, resulting in the visa not being granted or in loss of Applicant’s passport with valid visas, then TLScontact will refund to the Applicant the amount of the Service Fee only, and the amount of the fees charged by the Applicant’s home country for the replacement of the lost or damaged passport or other document through their normal replacement procedure.

The Embassy of Germany gives no competence and powers whatsoever to TLScontact with regard to the assessment of visa applications or to make decisions regarding visa applications. As a result, TLScontact accepts no liability howsoever arising regarding the decisions made by the Embassy of Germany with respect to your visa application and regarding any delay by the Embassy of Germany in the assessing, granting or rejecting your visa application or for the requesting of further information with respect to your visa application.

TLScontact accepts no liability for loss, delay or non-issuance of any visa application or visa arising from or in connection with (including but not limited to) incomplete application forms, incorrectly or falsely completed application forms, and inaccurate, incomplete or false information or supporting documentation.

TLScontact accepts no liability to any Applicant or any other person relying on or benefiting from any visa application for any costs or expenses incurred in reliance on or in anticipation of receiving such visa, whether within a particular timeframe or at all, including but not limited to any travel and/or accommodation arrangements made.

TLScontact accepts no liability for any loss of profit, business interruption, loss of business or business opportunity, wasted expenditure, or any other loss or damage suffered or incurred by any person howsoever arising as a result of any delay, misplacement, loss or damage of visa applications, passports or other documents, or due to negligence or breach of contract in connection with any visa application or any advice or information given in relation to any visa application.

TLScontact accepts no liability to any Applicant or any other person relying on or benefiting from any visa application for any indirect, punitive, incidental, special, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever due to any delay, misplacement, loss or damage of visa applications, passports and other documents, or due to negligence or breach of contract in connection with any visa application or any advice or information given in relation to any visa application.

TLScontact shall not be considered to be in breach of contract and liable in any way for any delay, loss, damage to any passport or any other document or the visa application due to an event outside of the control of TLScontact including but not limited to any accident, theft, natural calamities, general electricity and telecommunications outages, strikes, riots, protests not arising out of a wilful misconduct of TLScontact.

TLScontact shall not be liable for any loss, delays, damages to any visa application, passport or any other documents caused by any third party and outside of the control of TLScontact.

TLScontact shall bear no liability for any delays, loss or damage to any visa application, any passport or any other documents, caused by, or occurring whilst in the possession of any third party courier service, including transportation of visa applications, passports or any other documents between TLScontact and the Embassy of Germany or when being returned to the Applicant.

In the exceptional case where an Applicant’s submitted passport or other document is lost or seriously damaged which leads to the passport or other document being unusable due to a gross negligence act committed by TLScontact, TLScontact will refund to the Applicant only the Service Fee and the fees charged by the government of the Applicant’s home country for the replacement of the lost or damaged passport or other document through their normal replacement procedure. Applicant shall submit an original payment receipt in order to claim a refund.

TLScontact shall not pay to the Applicant any other costs incurred by the Applicant to obtain the replacement, including without limitation travel charges, accommodation charges, losses due to lost time.

TLScontact website content is the intellectual property of TLScontact group and is protected by applicable intellectual property and antitrust laws.

Copying or placement of the information in whole or in part on other websites without the link to the TLScontact website is strictly forbidden and constitutes an act of infringement.

Furthermore, TLScontact shall retain all intellectual property rights in the photographs, presentations, studies, designs, models, prototypes, etc. created (including at the Applicant’s request) for the purposes of providing the Services. The Applicant therefore agrees not to reproduce or to use said studies, designs, models, prototypes, etc. without the express prior written authorization of TLScontact, for which TLScontact shall be entitled to request financial compensation.

These terms and conditions and the transactions contemplated herein shall be governed by the laws applicable in the country of the Visa Application Centre where the Applicant have submitted its Service order.

All disputes arising from provision of services or related transactions entered into pursuant to these terms and conditions regarding their validity, interpretation, performance, termination, consequences and implications, that cannot be resolved amicably between TLScontact and the Applicants, shall be referred to the courts with jurisdiction in terms of the laws applicable in the country of the Visa Application Centre where the Applicant has submitted their Service order.

TLScontact, in its sole discretion, may change, amend, cancel or withdraw any or all of these terms and conditions at any time without any prior notice in accordance with clause 1 of these terms and conditions. Any such change shall be displayed on the TLScontact website.

Clause headings are for ease only and are not used to interpret these terms and conditions.

TLScontact gives no warranties, and makes no representations which are not contained in these terms and conditions.

Any extension of time or indulgence which TLScontact may grant an Applicant is not a waiver of any of the rights of TLScontact, who may exercise any rights against the Applicant which may have arisen in the past or which might arise in the future.

All provisions of these terms and conditions are severable from each other, despite the way they have been grouped together or linked grammatically.