Terms Of Business – Passport Services

Visas, Immigration & Nationality

1.  Terms Of Business – Passport Services

Provision of Passport services are subject to our full terms and conditions as listed on our website. These terms override any other in relation to Passport applications not specifically covered by other Terms.

The primary services provided by IAM are to help you to get your passport as quick and . We describe documents and forms you generally need to provide and, where purchased, then submit these documents and forms duly completed by you or us, to the authorities or appropriate bodies. If we refer you to any other service provider, you take responsibility for reviewing any services and terms provided and that service provider’s terms and conditions will apply for their services. We do not accept any liability for third party services and these Terms will not apply to those services. This includes government departments, Embassies and consulates as well as Visa Application Centres.

Some Terms may refer to an issuing authority, which is the body being an embassy, consulate or other agency that issue or supply the documents requested by you.

Our order process allows you to check and amend any errors before submitting your order to us. After you place an order, you will receive an e-mail from us acknowledging that we have received your order and work will begin on your application from that point.

2.  Passport Requirements

We try our best to give you accurate information and to ensure  you get the passport in a timely manner. Nevertheless, please remember that requirements to obtain the Passport (documentation, fees, time frames, etc) are calculated on general criteria and may vary according to information provided by you or available at the time when processing begins. Please note governments and various authorities may change the requirements without prior notice or require additional information or documents from you. We will try to inform you of such changes or requirements.

3. Documents Submission

There are a list of requirements to be met in order to process your passport on our website. You will also be sent a confirmation email of these documents required. To ensure you know where your documents are at all times, you will be sent an e-mail confirming the receipt of your documents when it reaches our offices. The documents will only be used to process the passport application your requested on our site or via a service order request. We will not process any other passport that you may need unless they are part of the paid service order

These Terms are automatically deemed to be accepted by you once any service order is requested.

4. Obtaining the Passport

When we return your passport and documents to you, it is important that you confirm that all of the passports you need for your travel have been obtained and are valid for the purpose and nature of your requirement (eg. Identification, tourism, business, study, etc.). You must notify us immediately by email if you identify any discrepancy in your documentation.

The issue of a passport depends entirely on the issuing authority in each country, even when all of the stipulated requirements have been met. IAM does not guarantee that the issuing authority will issue the passport in a timely manner and within the specified time frame; therefore, IAM’s fees will be collected for work and procedures required for the issue of a passport. Non-refundable fares or reservations must not be purchased until all passports have been obtained. This statement of non-guarantee supersedes and applies even where a form of guarantee has been provided and cannot be rescinded.

5. Delivery

IAM will send completed applications by Royal Mail Special Delivery unless otherwise instructed. A delivery charge will be added to your order. All third party delivery companies are subject to the conditions set by those individual companies. IAM accepts no liability for loss or delays incurred when using third party delivery companies.

6. Additional services

IAM may offer to provide additional services in some jurisdictions. If so, the description and relevant terms for those additional services are available on the Website and are incorporated into these terms insofar as not to conflict with these terms. Where a conflict arises, these terms should take precedence for passport application services and those other terms will take precedence for their respective services.

7. Fees

In the UK, if you are a Consumer, you may have a right to cancel an order or contract under the Consumer Contracts Regulations during the cooling-off period of 14 days. This means that during the relevant period if a Consumer changes his/her mind or for any other reason they decide they do not want to proceed with an order, he/she can notify the supplier of that decision to cancel the order and receive a refund. A consumer can use any written notification of cancellation to IAM. However, because of the urgent nature of the orders placed with us, and to leave a margin of safety to avoid potentially major consequences in the event of delays, IAM starts working on your application on approval of payment and/or receipt of the full documentation, which may be before the expiry of the statutory cooling off period. The Consumer expressly authorises and accepts this. Therefore, the Consumer may not receive the benefit of the full cooling off period for orders placed with us and may be liable for part or all of the fees for services provided by IAM prior to receiving the Consumer’s cancellation notice. Moreover, passport applications are items prepared to the Consumer’s own specifications and as such the cooling off period and right of cancellation may not apply.

Regardless of the above, once we submit a passport request to an issuing authority on your behalf, our service fees are non-refundable. Prior to that point, you will be liable for our fee.

The fees for IAM’s services are those specified on our website, including any indirect taxes (if any) that are applicable to the fees ,and other charges and  fees charged by an issuing authority or any courier or delivery service, all of which must be paid by you.

Government fees and availability of services are subject to change without notice. Fees and services may differ between the time the order is placed and when the ordered is completed.

Orders cancelled prior to submission will be calculated at IAM’s full service fees. Once the application has been submitted to the appropriate government agency full fees will apply. Additional cancellation fees may be applied for early withdrawal of the application.

Where our passport application refund guarantee applies, you agree to ensure that all documents are passed through our office to ensure and maintain control that the relevant documents have been sent and returned.

IAM reserves the right to recharge debit cards/credit cards registered with us for the difference of fees, fines and penalties without prior approval from the customer. Notification will be provided of the amount charged to the applicant.

8. Warnings / Disclaimers

The issuing authority will make the final determination as to the type of passport, how quickly it will be issued and for what duration it will be issued. Prior to approval, the issuing authority may ask for additional documentation. The issuing authority may reject any passport or other travel document application for any reason and may not provide a reason to IAM for the rejection. IAM does not issue passports and cannot make any guarantee or assurances that any issuing authority will issue any document nor can IAM guarantee the time required for an issuing authority to grant or reject an application. Issuing authorities may choose to grant a different type of travel document than that which the applicant has requested which may impact the purpose, validity or number of entries. As a result, non-refundable tickets or reservations should not be purchased until all the required travel documents for your trip have been secured. IAM, in addition to the issuing authorities, reserve the right to prioritize processing according to the travel dates you provide. IAM’s service fees are assessed for taking reasonable actions to foster the issuance of a requested travel documents.

IAM will use its best endeavours to process applications for passports and/or documents at the client’s request. However, IAM shall not be held responsible for nor accept any liability for the actions of any consulate, embassy, or passport office in delaying or not issuing such applications for any reason whatsoever, nor shall IAM be held responsible for expense and/or delay arising from or in connection with: (a) incomplete application forms or (b) incorrectly or falsely completed application forms or (c) inaccurate or incomplete supporting documentation. Any expense or cost incurred by the client due to these delays or non-issuances shall not be the responsibility of, nor shall any charges be levied upon, IAM

IAM provide passport information in good faith on the express understanding that the said information is the interpretation of any or all information provided by respective embassies, consulates or passport offices at any or all times and IAM shall not accept responsibility or liability whatsoever for any errors and/or omissions in the information.

9. Limitation of liability

IAM accepts instructions only upon these terms and conditions. No servant or agent of IAM, immigration and migration or Gio Legal Services Ltd are permitted to vary these terms unless expressly authorised in writing to do so. However any servant or agent shall have the full benefit of these terms and conditions.

Should a passport, document or other item be lost, misplaced, damaged, delayed or destroyed, IAM shall only be liable if it is at fault and its liability shall be limited to the basic replacement cost of that item. IAM  is not responsible for items misplaced, damaged, delayed or destroyed by a delivery service or issuing authority. Passport covers and all documents such as original bank statements, educational and birth certificates etc not requested for submission per IAM instruction should be retained by the applicant. IAM accepts no responsibility for the loss or damage of such documents.

IAM accepts no liability for travellers electing to obtain fast track or same day services.  To the maximum extent permitted by law, IAM excludes or limits any direct, indirect or consequential loss and all statutory or implied conditions and warranties, including, without limitation, lost profits or travel or holiday costs or any loss arising from information obtained from the Website. Subject to the other provisions of this clause, our maximum liability for loss caused to you whether under contract, tort, or otherwise, shall be limited to for non-Consumers, the level of fees paid by you; for Consumers, the losses and damages up to a maximum of £250 for which IAM is directly responsible and which can be wholly attributable to incorrect provision of service by IAM.

Nothing in this agreement excludes or limits our liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (c) any other matter for which it would be illegal for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our liability.

10. Claims period

You have one month after completion of work by IAM from the date of delivery of the passport (or if not delivered, from the date of order) to inform IAM of any claim related to IAM services. Once the relevant deadline has passed, any rights for rectification or compensation shall expire.

11. General

These terms and conditions and any document expressly referred to in them constitute the whole agreement between us and supersede all previous discussions, correspondence, negotiations, previous arrangement, understanding or agreement between us relating to the subject matter of any contract. If any provision of these Terms does not comply with any law, then the provision must be read down so as to give it as much effect as possible. If it is not possible to give the provision any effect at all, then it must be treated as severable from the rest of the Terms. Where IAM is unable to carry out any obligation under the contract due to any circumstance, matter or thing beyond its reasonable control (“force majeure”) IAM shall be excused from such obligations to the extent of such prevention, restriction or interference so caused. IAM may sub-contract all or part of its obligations or assign all or part of its rights under this contract. This agreement does not create any right enforceable by a person who is not a party to it, except for any lawful successor or assignee. Any dispute arising under this agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.