Application and Service Terms

General

These application and service terms ("Terms") set out the terms on which VFS Services Australia Pty Ltd (trading as itself and/or as 'India Passport & Visa Services Centre' and/or 'VFS Global' and/or any other business name registered by VFS Services Australia Pty Ltd from time to time) ("VFS") provides one or more of the Services to you.

By submitting an application, you will be taken to have read, understood and accepted all of these Terms (which impose, among other things, obligations on you to make payments to VFS and to indemnify VFS and which limit your rights and VFS' liability in some cases). Accordingly, if you do not agree to any of these Terms, you must not submit your application for the Services.

Services

In these Terms, "Services" means any one or more of the following services provided by VFS:

• issuing or otherwise making available (whether in hard copy, soft copy or online) the applications forms ("Application Forms") specified by the High Commission of India / Consulate General of India (collectively referred to as "HCI") in respect of an Indian passport, Indian visa or Overseas Citizenship of India ("OCI")
  
• providing or otherwise making available (whether in hard copy, soft copy or online), information specified by the HCI in respect of applications for an Indian passport, Indian visa or OCI
  
• receiving completed Application Forms and supporting documents
  
• accepting the fees on behalf of the HCI which are payable to the HCI in respect of an application for an Indian passport, Indian visa or OCI
  
• forwarding completed Application Forms, supporting documents and application fees to the HCI (either directly or via a third party)
  
• if an application is determined by the HCI to be successful, sending the Indian passport, Indian visa or Overseas Citizenship of India documents, together with the supporting documents provided with the completed Application Form, to the applicant (either directly or via a third party) on behalf of the HCI or otherwise making those things available for collection by the applicant
  
• such other services as VFS may elect from time to time to provide.
  
  
  

Applications must be sent to the correct Indian Passport & Visa Services Centre ("Service Centre")

Your application, together with all supporting documents and all applicable fees, must be sent to the Service Centre which processes applications from the State or Territory in Australia where you are located. VFS shall not be required to provide any Services to you if you send your application to the incorrect Service Centre.

Variation of Terms

Except where it is stated in these Terms that VFS can vary a particular term by notice, these Terms cannot be varied unless the variation is in writing, signed by VFS.

Rights of the HCI

You acknowledge and agree that:

(a) the HCI has the sole and absolute discretion to either accept or refuse your application and that VFS has no involvement whatsoever in the HCI's decision. VFS acts solely as an outsourced service provider to the HCI in respect of your application and the Services;

(b) in addition to your application and supporting documents in respect of your application (including, without limitation, your passport) ("Documents"), the HCI may require you to provide such further documents, information or material ("Further Documents") to assess your application. VFS has no involvement whatsoever in any decision by the HCI to require you to provide Further Documents;

(c) the time taken by the HCI to make the decisions referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above, or any other decisions in connection with your application, are entirely outside the control of VFS.

Information provided by VFS

All material and information provided or otherwise made available to you by VFS ("VFS Information") is provided as general information only. The VFS Information is not intended to be professional advice and must not be relied upon as such. Prior to entering into a transaction or taking any particular course of action in connection with your application or the Services, you should make your own inquiries and seek independent advice tailored to your specific circumstances and objectives.


Accuracy and Usefulness of VFS Information

The VFS Information is provided to you in good faith and is believed to be accurate and current as at the date of publication. However, VFS provides no warranty or guarantee that the VFS Information (or any part of it) is accurate or complete.


Courier Service and Third Parties

VFS engages third party courier businesses ("Couriers") in respect of applications and the collection and delivery of your Documents and/or Further Documents. You specifically acknowledge and agree that VFS cannot control the acts, omissions, quality of service provided or care taken by any of the Couriers or any other third parties or any of their respective officers, agents, employees, representatives, contractors or sub-contractors.

If any third party provides any services to you in connection with your application and/or the Services (including, for example, photographic services in connection with your application), such services will be supplied to you on the terms and conditions specified by the relevant third party service provider.

VFS expressly disclaims any and all liability to you or anyone claiming through you for any loss or damage suffered in connection with your application and/or any of the Services provided to you by a third party where such loss or damage arises from, or is related to, any act, omission or negligence of a Courier or any other third party or any of their respective officers, agents, employees, representatives, contractors or sub-contractors.

Loss/Damage/Theft of your Documents or Further Documents

To the maximum extent permitted by law, VFS shall not be liable to you or anyone claiming though you for any loss or damage suffered in connection with your Documents and/or Further Documents (including, without limitation, any loss or damage suffered in connection with the loss or theft of, or damage to, your Documents and/of Further Documents, any misplacing of, or delay in returning, your Documents and/of Further Documents or any failure to return your Documents and/or Further Documents).

Without prejudice to the aforesaid or any other term in these Terms, and without any admission of liability whatsoever, if your passport is lost or damaged while it was in VFS' possession, VFS will reimburse you the standard fee charged by the applicable Government department for a replacement passport upon VFS receiving from you a certified copy of a receipt which evidences payment by you of that standard fee to the applicable Government department.

Personal Information

VFS collects personal information about you (including health information where necessary) ("Personal Information") in order to provide the Services. If the Personal Information is not provided by you, VFS may not be able to provide the Services which are the subject of your application.

Before submitting an application to VFS, you should read our Privacy Statement. Our Privacy Statement is available at www.vfs-in-au.net/privacy.aspx and at our Service Centres.

The Privacy Statement describes how your personal information is collected, used and disclosed and your rights in relation to accessing and correcting that information. You agree to the collection, use and disclose of your personal information in accordance with Privacy Statement.

Disclaimer of Warranty and Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, VFS expressly disclaims all conditions and warranties, express or implied, in connection with your application and/or the Services other than any conditions or warranties expressly stated in these Terms. Where the law precludes such exclusion and implies certain terms, conditions and/or warranties into this agreement ("Implied Terms"), the liability of VFS for a breach of such Implied Term shall be limited, at the option of VFS, to any one or more of the following:

(a) the re-supply of the relevant services; or
(b) the cost of the re-supply of the relevant services; or
(c) any amount paid by you to VFS in respect of the relevant services.

You agree that in no circumstances whatsoever will VFS be liable to you or anyone claiming though you for any indirect, incidental, special and/or consequential losses or damages of whatever nature, or for loss or profits, loss of opportunity, loss of business or goodwill or interruption of business arising out of or in connection with your application and/or any of the Services, however arising or where so ever situated, whether or not relating to any act, error, omission or negligence by VFS or any officer, agent, related entity, subsidiary, joint venture partner, employee, representative, contractor or sub-contractor of VFS.

You further agree that VFS will not be liable to you or anyone claiming through you for any loss or damage whatsoever to the extent that it is caused by you, results from your failure to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimize your loss, or is caused by VFS failing to comply with its obligations due to events outside its reasonable control (such as a failure of equipment that is not owned or operated by VFS, an industrial strike, a natural disaster or an act of God).

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold VFS, its officers, agents, related entities, subsidiaries, joint venture partners, employees, representatives, contractors and sub-contractors harmless from any claim, loss, damage, proceeding or other action (including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees), made by any third party due to, or arising out of, a breach of these Terms by you, or a violation by you of any law of any country or of the rights of a third party.


Prices and Payments

Unless expressly stated to the contrary:

(a) all fees, charges or other amounts payable by you to VFS are quoted in Australian Dollars ("AUD") and are inclusive of any applicable goods and services tax ("GST");

(b) any payments which are received in a currency other than AUD will not be accepted; and

(c) all fees, charges or other amounts quoted on the website www.vfs-in-au.net are subject to change without notice. You should confirm the fee, charge or other amount before submitting your application.


Notices

Unless expressly stated otherwise, any notices in connection with your application and/or the Services must be given by registered post (or if posted to or from a place outside Australia, by registered airmail) and addressed as follows:

(a) if the notice is to VFS: VFS Services Australia Pty Ltd, Level 1, 64 Clarence Street, Sydney 2000 Australia; and

(b) if the notice is to you: the email address and/or physical address provided by you to VFS during the online registration process or at the time your application is lodged with VFS.

A letter or email is taken to be received:

(a) in the case of a posted letter, on the third (seventh, if posted to or from a place outside Australia) day after posting; and

(b) in the case of an email, 24 hours after the email was sent.


Severability

If any part of these Terms is held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part shall be severed and the remainder will continue to be valid and enforceable.

Waiver

The failure, delay, relaxation or indulgence on the part of VFS in exercising any power, right or remedy conferred upon VFS by these Terms shall not operate as a waiver of that power, right or remedy, nor shall the exercise or any single or partial exercise of any power, right or remedy preclude any other or further exercise of such power, right or remedy or the exercise of any other power, right or remedy in these terms.

Any waiver of a breach of these Terms must be in writing signed by VFS granting the waiver and shall be effective only to the extent specifically set out in that written waiver.

Governing Law and Submission to Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws in force from time to time in the State of Victoria, Australia and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Victoria, Australia and their respective courts of appeal ("Courts of Victoria"). You waive any right which you may have had to object to an action being brought in the Courts of Victoria including, but not limited to, claiming that the action has been brought in an inconvenient forum or that the Courts of Victoria do not have jurisdiction.

Reservation of Rights

Any rights not expressly granted to you herein are reserved by VFS.

Interpretation

In these Terms, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) words denoting the singular include the plural and vice versa;
(b) words denoting a natural person include a company, corporation, corporate body, government agency or authority or crown instrumentality and vice versa;
(c) headings are for convenience only and shall not affect interpretation of these Terms;
(d) a reference to a party includes its successors and permitted assigns;
(e) any term is not to be construed against VFS because it prepared that term.