1. General provisions

VHS Visa Handling Services GmbH (hereinafter – VHS) provides its services based on the General Business Conditions set forth below (the GBC). The following GBC shall apply to all contracts entered into by VHS as a service provider with customers. The customers’ GBC different from these GBC shall not be accepted.

Only these GBC shall apply, unless they have been amended by a separate agreement in writing. The GBC of VHS shall also be the basis for conclusion of any future agreement between VHS and the customers, even though they is no explicit reference thereto in a particular agreement.

2. Services

VHS provides the services of issuing visas for entry to various countries, including the Russian Federation. The services offered include the receipt and check of the submitted application documents for completeness and correctness in accordance with applicable laws of the country issuing visas, as well as transfer of documents to the appropriate visa service, receipt of the processed visa documents and their return/sending to the applicant/customer.

Since the decision on visa issue, its validity, as well as the application check is made at the sole discretion of consular offices of a relevant country, VHS declares that it shall not guarantee the visa issue. The duty of VHS is only to provide the services required to obtain a visa.

VHS shall also be entitled to delegate the contract performance (in full or in part) to the third parties, including to involve the postal or courier agencies, namely DHL, TNT, UPS, or similar organizations in order to provide the services.

3. Additional services

VHS offers additional services for a fee. The description of these additional services, their terms and conditions are available at www.vhs-austria.com, the List of Services.

4. Requirements for application documents

To apply for a visa, the required documents must be provided. The number and type of documents required shall be determined solely by the consular offices of a relevant country of entry.

For more detailed information on the required application documents, visit our website.

Note that the consulates of a relevant country reserve the right to request the applicant to provide additional documents and information in order to supplement the submitted set of documents with missing papers or check the applicant’s personal data. VHS shall immediately forward such requests to the applicant.

5. Document processing dates

We specify the tentative document processing time based on information of visa services and consulates of a relevant country; we do not assume any liability in this regard.

Also, please, note that the submission of incomplete documents or their absence could lead to a significant increase in the term of processing the visa application.

VHS assumes no responsibility for compliance with any term and does not guarantee that they will be met, since the processing of visa applications is entirely dependent on the operating mode and schedules of the consular office of a relevant country of entry.

6. Payment terms

VHS receives a compensation for their services. The amount of the compensation due, as well as the reimbursement for services of the outsourced organizations, such as payment of the visa fee, depends on the current tariffs. The amount of compensation is specified on VHS website (www.vhs-austria.com) in the Tariffs section. The above amounts cover the VHS compensation, including VAT, as well as consular and visa fees.

The amount of visa fees may vary at the initiative of the relevant consular offices and is beyond VHS.

The amount of fees charged by the third parties is beyond control of the VHS and may vary after order placement. VHS will promptly notify the applicant of the fee change. Thereafter, the applicant may waive the agreement in writing within 7 days. In this case, the compensation for services already provided by VHS shall not be refunded. The fees shall be refunded only in cases stipulated by rules of the consular offices.

Information about the changes in compensation shall be published on the website, Tariffs section. With regard to the orders received before the compensation change, the compensation valid at the time of the service use shall apply.

The fees paid shall not be refunded, if the visa application was not granted, or if the applicant withdraws the order accepted by VHS. The consular fee refund shall be determined by the rules of a relevant consular office.

7. Personal data protection

VHS places great value on the protection and security of your personal data. We strictly adhere to the data protection provisions applicable in Austria. Specific information about the use of your data, VHS efforts to protect them, as well as your rights is set forth in the data protection statement can be found at the VHS website (www.vhs-austria.com).

8. Disclaimer

1. VHS is not responsible for granting or rejection of visa applications by the consular offices of the relevant countries of entry, because the visa issue or rejection, as well as the terms of the relevant decisions are within the exclusive competence of the consular office. Given these circumstances, it is recommended to book any services related to travel only after obtaining of all permits required for entry into the country;
2. VHS does not guarantee the timely issue of visas in the event of a delay in the document processing by consular offices of the countries of entry or other visa services. In this case, the duty of performing VHS obligations as a service provider shall be limited to the timely transmission of applications and urgent notification of the customer about any delay;
3. VHS shall not be responsible for any action and decision of consular offices and other legal entities involved in the visa issue process (including for the requests of additional information by the consular offices from the applicant);
4. VHS shall not be responsible for the consequences of incorrect data specified in the issued visa; these data should be checked by the applicant upon passport receipt;
5. It should be noted that, despite the presence of a visa, entry into the country may be denied. In this case, VHS cannot be held liable for an entry permit by a relevant immigration office;
6. VHS shall not be responsible for any delay, loss or damage to the visa applications, international passports or other documents through the fault of the third parties, i.e. postal or courier services, acting on behalf of VHS on the customer’s instruction. The customer shall be entitled to claim damages only when the damage is caused by malicious acts or gross negligence of VHS or its trustees. The liability for slight negligence, except for physical damage, is excluded. The liability, with the exception of liability for physical damage, shall be limited to the typical damage actually incurred by the customer (for example, the cost of restoring the documents or placement of the loss announcement). The liability for pure property damage, moral damage, loss of profits or consequential damages is also excluded. The liability to the service consumers shall be excluded only in the event of the property damage or damage due to slight negligence caused by VHS.

9. Written form and severability

The agreements and additional arrangements amending these Conditions shall be valid only if made in writing; this requirement shall also apply to the waiver of the written form. Additional verbal agreements shall not be legally binding.

Should one or more provisions of these GBC be or become invalid or void, this shall be without prejudice to the validity or effect of all GBC. An invalid or void provision shall be replaced with a provision economically corresponding to an invalid or void position as much as possible. For the service consumers, the invalidity of one or more GBC provision shall be without prejudice to its remaining provisions.

10. Place of performance, jurisdiction and applicable law

1. All disputes, which may arise out of the present agreement or in relation hereto, including the issues of its entry into force, as well as in connection with previous and subsequent actions shall be settled exclusively by the Commercial Court of district No. 1 in Vienna.
2. Service consumers shall be entitled to lodge complaints against VHS to the Court at their place residence, place of permanent stay or place of work. If the customer is a consumer of services with no general place of jurisdiction (domicile or habitual residence) in Austria or in another EU member state, or is not engaged in any business in Austria, the exclusive jurisdiction for all disputes, which may arise out of the present agreement, shall be VHS office in Vienna.
3. The place of performance shall be Vienna.
4. This agreement, including the issue of its entry into force and its consequences, shall be governed exclusively by the Austrian laws, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the conflict of laws rules of the private international law.