These Terms & Conditions govern the provision of all services provided by Gov Docs Made Simple in the processing of visa applications and other ancillary services for their clients. All orders made by Gov Docs Made Simple clients are subject to the terms and conditions set out herein.

1. Gov Docs Made Simple can assist with obtaining the following documentation from Home Affairs: 1.1. Unabridged/Abridged Birth Certificates; 1.2. Unabridged/Abridged Marriage Certificates; 1.3. Marriage/Birth Registrations; 1.4. Letter of Non-Impediment; 1.5. Divorce Decree; 1.6. Passports and ID’s.
2. Gov Docs Made Simple does not guarantee processing times for obtaining any documentation from Home Affairs. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible should Home Affairs or any other third party change their rules, regulations, or processing requirements if that change has a direct effect on the timeline for delivery.
3. Should applicants require translations to be done, these can be processed within 2 to 7 business days, however, this timeframe provided is dependent on which language it must be translated to.
4. Gov Docs Made Simple does not guarantee time guidelines for any service and/or visa application provided. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible should the immigration authorities or any other third party change their rules, regulations, or processing requirements, provided that change has a direct effect on the timeline for delivery of the service being rendered.
5. Visa processing times shown on promotional materials are standard/average processing times. Any processing times advised by Gov Docs Made Simple through its agents/3 rd parties should be used as a guide only.
6. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible for costs incurred due to a delay in the visa process for circumstances outside of our control.
7. Gov Docs Made Simple bears no responsibility for costs incurred by an applicant or any secondary applicants while waiting for a visa to be finalised by the immigration authorities. These costs may include but are not limited to cost of flights, rent of accommodation, loss of earnings or any other costs.
8. Gov Docs Made Simple is not liable for any costs arising from any action or inaction of any immigration authority, embassy or government body associated with the visa process or indeed for the non-provision of service from any third party associated with the visa process or visa delivery, which may result in a visa application or any part in the visa application process being delayed or refused as a result.
9. For short stay business and tourist visas, Gov Docs Made Simple may apply for a Double or Multiple entry visa on the client’s behalf, yet the embassy may decide to grant a Single-entry visa. The decision to grant a Single-entry visa remains solely with the embassy and Gov Docs Made Simple do not have control over this.
10. For any visa, in particular a tourist or business visa, the client should not book a flight ticket unless the embassy has specifically requested evidence of this as a requirement for the visa application. In this case, the option of a dummy flight can be used.
11. An embassy may decide to review an application in the destination country rather than at the local embassy. This decision is at the discretion of the embassy and it is not something that would be known in advance by Gov Docs Made Simple. It may take longer than the standard processing time for such applications to be processed and this is outside the control of Gov Docs Made Simple. Gov Docs Made Simple reminds you not to book flights until your visa is granted.
12. Gov Docs Made Simple advises its clients not to make any travel or hotel bookings, sell any property, or give notice of intent to leave any job until you have your visa. Should you decide to disregard this advice, Gov Docs Made Simple will not be liable for any associated costs of such action(s).
13. Gov Docs Made Simple will always lodge a visa application in the client’s best interest. Please note, visas are issued at the discretion of the issuing authority (The Consular). Should the visa or duration not be granted for any reason, Gov Docs Made Simple cannot be held liable for any losses incurred.
14. Gov Docs Made Simple cannot influence: any decision made by an immigration authority; any requests for additional information before finalising a visa; any delay by an immigration authority in the issuing of a visa; or a decision to refuse to grant a visa.
15. The immigration authority/officer has the sole decision on the term of a visa that they grant. This term may be less than the term expected or requested by the client. Similarly, the immigration authority/officer has the sole decision on the activation date that they place on a granted visa. This date may be prior to the date expected or requested by the client.
16. Gov Docs Made Simple is not responsible for the term of any visa issued or the activation date placed on a visa by an immigration authority even. Gov Docs Made Simple has no authority or control to change this term/date.
17. Gov Docs Made Simple advises its clients on visa options and applies for visa applications on their behalf in good faith based on immigration information made available directly by immigration and embassy departments at the time of lodgement. In the event where immigration laws and/or regulations have been updated by an immigration department, but such updates have not made known to the public at the time of visa lodgement such conflicting information is outside the control of Gov Docs Made Simple. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be liable for any visa application being refused or any additional costs arising from such a refusal (including travel costs) should situations of outdated information arise.
18. Similarly, in the event where immigration advice provided by one immigration officer/consular official conflicts with that of a visa issuing immigration officer at the port of entry, such conflicting information is outside the control of Gov Docs Made Simple.
19. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be liable for any visa application being refused or any additional costs arising from such a refusal (including travel costs) should situations of conflicting information between immigration officers arise.
20. Gov Docs Made Simple will use and rely on information provided by the client in the provision of services to that client. Gov Docs Made Simple will not independently verify or assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information.
21. It is the client’s responsibility to provide Gov Docs Made Simple with all required information and documentation concerning an application. This may include but is not limited to documentation from third parties such as partners, family, employers, sponsors, assessment bodies, educational bodies, etc. If the required documentation does not meet with the requirements of Gov Docs Made Simple, Gov Docs Made Simple retain the right not to lodge that visa application until it has received all of the required information in order to do so.
22. Gov Docs Made Simple reserves the right to contact your sponsoring employer should further details be required from the authorities or for confirmation of your application.
23. If an immigration authority has incorporated a deadline for the submission of documents to an application, these documents must be provided at the earliest possible time but no later than 48 hours prior to the deadline date.
24. Gov Docs Made Simple cannot lodge a visa application until it has complete documentation as outlined in the registration pack and any subsequent documentation requested by Gov Docs Made Simple from the main applicant.
25. Gov Docs Made Simple cannot be held responsible for any expense and/or delay arising from incomplete application forms, inaccurate/false or incomplete information provided or inaccurate/false or incomplete supporting documentation.
26. Gov Docs Made Simple are not responsible for applications that have become ineligible because of changes in Immigration policy at any stage of the immigration process. Any application that is not lodged to the Immigration Authorities may also be affected by changes in Immigration policy.
27. Certain documentation required for a visa application may be valid for a certain period and become invalid thereafter (for example medicals, skills assessment results, police clearance reports). It is the client’s responsibility to ensure that the documentation provided to Gov Docs Made Simple at the time of submitting a visa application are valid and within date.
28. Gov Docs Made Simple endeavour to expedite police clearance certificates within 5 to 7 business days. To do so, Gov Docs Made Simple require all original fingerprints and a copy of the applicant’s identification.
29. Should the requirements not be met by the applicant, Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held liable for any delays caused as a result thereof.
30. Should the applicant receive their Police Clearance certificates from SAPS after already applying with Gov Docs Made Simple, then the applicant will not be able to cancel their applications with Gov Docs Made Simple and the applicant will not be entitled to a refund. However, if Gov Docs Made Simple haven’t started the process and have not submitted the applicant’s application, then they are entitled to request a refund subject to the costs incurred by Gov Docs Made Simple.
31. The applicant is made aware that all services and processing time frames are subject to the services of the third-party issuing authorities used by Gov Docs Made Simple, if they have delays it might increase the processing time of which Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held liable.
32. Gov Docs Made Simple can further assist with the removal of criminal records, provided that the record is over 10 years, this is done through the justice department and is subject to their timelines. The process is estimated between 10 (ten) to 12 (twelve) weeks, however, Gov Docs Made Simple does not guarantee processing times for the removal of the criminal record from the justice department as once the request has been submitted, it is subject to justice departments processing times. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible should the justice department or any other third party change their rules, regulations or processing requirements if that change has a direct effect on the timeline for delivery.
33. Should Apostilles and Attestations be needed, which is the process of authenticating and stamping a South African document to the required level so that countries all over the world will accept it as authentic. This is completed through DIRCO, the process takes an estimate of 8 to 10 weeks.

    34. The processing time for attestations are largely dependent on which embassy the client needs stamping from and Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held liable for any delays or the consequences of the delay after the document has been submitted for attestation.

    35. Gov Docs Made Simple will provide the relevant medical forms to a client, should health examinations be required. Gov Docs Made Simple have no part in the process of carrying out these medicals or providing these medical results to the Immigration Authorities for further processing.

    36. Gov Docs Made Simple advises applicants not to complete any health examinations (such as Chest X-ray, Medicals, Blood tests, etc) until advised to do so by Gov Docs Made Simple. Gov Docs Made Simple does not cover the medical costs involved in this process.

    37. The results of health examinations are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. If the medical results provided to the Immigration Authorities have expired by the time an immigration officer reviews these results for the visa application, the client is responsible for providing up-to-date medicals and paying any associated costs.

    38. The results of character checks / police clearances are valid for 6 months from the date of issue, depending on which country you are using the certificate for. If the character checks / police clearances provided to the Immigration Authorities have expired by the time an immigration officer reviews these for the visa application, the client is responsible for providing up-to-date character checks / police clearances and paying any associated costs.

    39. The results for assessments and visa applications are valid for a limited period of time. The client is responsible for ensuring that the result for an assessment or visa application is provided to Gov Docs Made Simple, not less than 30 days prior to the date of expiry of that result.

    40. Gov Docs Made Simple will not provide any service (including the lodgement of a visa application) until payment has been made to Gov Docs Made Simple in full for that service. Gov Docs Made Simple is not responsible for any repercussions of not providing the service in question.

    41. Our prices may need to be changed without prior notice as our prices are governed by exchange rates and changes in immigration costs.

    42. As soon as the initial payment is received, the client is deemed to have engaged the service of Gov Docs Made Simple. Our service is our professional advice and expertise. Once the service has been engaged it cannot be returned, whether or not the client has changed his mind or no longer wishes to utilise it. If a client submits a refund request within 24 hours of payment, they may be entitled to a partial refund, if the service has not been provided to them and/or work has not commenced on their file.

    43. No refund is forthcoming of any fees paid to Gov Docs Made Simple where the visa application has been lodged to the Immigration Authorities regardless of the reason for withdrawal.

    44. If a client pays Gov Docs Made Simple to assess documentation / Pre-Check for a visa application or for any part of that application, this assessment will involve a review of documentation provided to prepare an application for lodging to the relevant organization. Document assessments / Pre-Check are non-refundable should the client decide for whatever reason not to proceed with the application once Gov Docs Made Simple has begun to assess the client’s documentation.

    45. If a client pays Gov Docs Made Simple to assess documents/ prepare a visa application or any other service for lodgement and change their mind, the fee is non-refundable. In some cases, a credit for the balance of the fee paid (after an assessment of costs for work carried out to date) may be put towards a future visa application for the client.

    46. If an application has become ineligible due to Immigration policy changes that have been introduced between when the application was accepted by Gov Docs Made Simple but before the application is lodged to the Immigration Authorities, no refund is forthcoming for the assessment of the client’s documentation where Gov Docs Made Simple has provided this service.

    47. If, after registering for the visa application with Gov Docs Made Simple you wish to withdraw the visa application and that application has not been submitted to the Immigration Authorities, assessment and/or administration fees apply.

    48. Please note that immigration fees may be partially refunded in cases where the visa application has not yet been submitted to the Immigration Authorities. This is at the discretion of Gov Docs Made Simple.

    49. Fees paid to Gov Docs Made Simple are non-refundable should you withdraw a visa application that you have kept on hold for a period longer than 6 months, even if that application might have never been submitted to the Immigration Authorities.

    50. Additional cancellation fees apply in cases where you wish to cancel a visa that has been approved.

    51. Gov Docs Made Simple reserves the right, at our discretion, to change our product providers or any other parties involved in providing any of our ancillary services/products as deemed appropriate by Gov Docs Made Simple.

    52. You must travel with the same passport you hold at time of completing your application.

    53. Gov Docs Made Simple operates a strict no refund policy for all ancillary services/ products.

    54. Gov Docs Made Simple reserves the right to return any passport without the requested visa if the passport or the documents provided do not comply with the immigration requirements or if there is insufficient time to process the visa.

    55. Any visa application request submitted to Gov Docs Made Simple by a partner or agent on behalf of their client (traveller) will be deemed to be an application submitted to Gov Docs Made Simple by the partner’s / agent’s client (traveller) directly to Gov Docs Made Simple. All terms and conditions listed herein apply to both the partner / agent and the partner’s / agent’s client (traveller) equally.

    56. If Gov Docs Made Simple acts as an agent or introduces/refers the customer to ancillary or related products of other businesses, then the customer is bound by the specific Terms and Conditions of that business which may be different to the Terms and Conditions of Gov Docs Made Simple.

    57. Where a visa pack or an ancillary pack is sold to a client via an agent, the agent is responsible for taking the initial information and payment. Information received by Gov Docs Made Simple from the agent is understood to be true and complete. Should the client provide conflicting information at a later date to a Gov Docs Made Simple case officer, Gov Docs Made Simple will not be responsible for the result of the application. The client will be liable for additional fees to Gov Docs Made Simple where the service needs to be provided again in whole or part.

    58. Gov Docs Made Simple does not carry any liability to the client once the contracted service is completed with the client. This limitation on duty of care and/or liability includes but is not limited to information, advice or opinion provided by Gov Docs Made Simple to the client after the contracted service is complete. This limitation on duty of care and/or liability also includes but is not limited to any accident, injury or loss suffered by the client or any third party as a result of a service or product provided by Gov Docs Made Simple to that client.

    59. Gov Docs Made Simple is entitled to include additional Terms & Conditions should the need arise.

    60. The submission of an application to Gov Docs Made Simple by web, post, fax, email, constitutes agreement to these Terms & Conditions, including amendments thereto, by the customer.

    61. The provision of visa services from Gov Docs Made Simple to a client ends as soon as a decision is reached by an authorized immigration officer on a visa application.

    62. No further work or services will be provided or included from Gov Docs Made Simple to the client as part of the visa service provision unless already included in the original contract.

    63. Correspondence between Immigration and Gov Docs Made Simple with regards to any visa application is strictly confidential and is not subject to further distribution to third parties (including main applicants).

    64. It is the client’s own responsibility to ensure that he familiarizes himself with his visa activation date and that the client enters the country to activate his visa before the visa activation date passes. The client’s visa is liable to be cancelled once the visa expiration date passes if the client has not entered before this date. The client bear’s all responsibility and liability in such situations.

    65. Gov Docs Made Simple bears no responsibility or liability for you breaking any existing visa terms and conditions (including overstaying) that you hold or previously held which results in you subsequently becoming illegal in another country. It is your responsibility to ensure that you remain legal at all times while you are in another country.

    66. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by an embassy/consulate issuing an incorrect visa or incorrect details on a visa as this is out of our control.

    67. Gov Docs Made Simple shall not be held responsible under any circumstance to compensate you for any loss, damage or delay of passports or travel documents by any third-party courier/delivery company.

    68. If you want to apply for another visa for a country that you are currently in, and the Immigration Authorities require you to be outside of the country at the time of lodgement you need to contact us as soon as you leave the country. Please note that we will process your required visa only once we receive your written confirmation that you are outside of the country. Failure to do so and should you re-enter that country without our team providing you with your visa grant letter/number, may result in additional travel expense which will be your responsibility to cover and not the responsibility of Gov Docs Made Simple.

    69. It is the client’s responsibility to make sure he reads the Visa Grant Notification letter. It is very important that he understands and abides by the visa conditions. If he fails to abide by these conditions, the visa may be cancelled, and he may be required to leave that country. Gov Docs Made Simple will not be held responsible for costs incurred as a result of the client not abiding by these conditions.

    70. Gov Docs Made Simple cannot be held responsible for incorrect details on a visa as it is the client’s responsibility to check the received Visa Grant Notification letter and make sure that the passport details on the visa letter appear exactly as they appear on the passport. Please note that failure to do so may result in significant delays/missed flights/additional travel expenses/not being allowed to enter. Gov Docs Made Simple should not be held responsible for costs incurred because of not following the above obligation.

    71. As our client it is your responsibility to declare any facts which may adversely affect your case via an email prior to engaging our services. This may include but is not limited to serious medical conditions and serious criminal convictions. Non-disclosure of such pertinent facts may result in the visa application being delayed or refused.

    72. A visa may be cancelled at any point in time after the visa grant letter is issued if it is discovered that the information provided to Gov Docs Made Simple and in turn to the immigration authorities for the purposes of the visa application is deemed to be false and / or misleading information. In the event of a visa being cancelled on such grounds.

    73. Regardless of the type of service provided by Gov Docs Made Simple, once applications are submitted, applicants cannot request to cancel their applications within Gov Docs Made Simple standard processing times.

    74. Gov Docs Made Simple will bear no responsibility for any costs, grievances, liabilities, or any other outcomes suffered by the clients that results from the cancellation of a visa application arranged through Gov Docs Made Simple.