General terms and conditions

§ 1 Scope and provider

These general terms and conditions (GTC) apply to all contracts for the use of the application and processing service “Visaparo” between

Avesta Interactive
Owner: Amin Sepehri
Hauptstraße 208C
28816 Stuhr
Germany

VAT ID DE294421179 – hereinafter “provider” or “we” – and the customer. “Visaparo” is a brand under which the provider offers this service; the contracting party is exclusively the provider. A customer may be any natural or legal person who uses the service. A consumer is any person who concludes the contract for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession (Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Deviating terms of the customer do not apply unless we expressly agree to them.

Email: info@visaparo.com
Phone: +49 4206 4460745 (Mon–Fri 4–7 pm CET/CEST)

§ 2 Independent service provider – scope of services

(1) We are an independent, private service provider. We are not the US government, not the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and not U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and we are not affiliated with these bodies. Authorisation to travel under the Visa Waiver Program is granted exclusively by CBP. The customer can also submit the ESTA application without our help directly on the official website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta (where only the CBP fee of currently USD 40.62 is charged, but not our service fee; the user interface there is available in several languages). With the total price the customer pays for the services listed in paragraph 2 and for the CBP fee paid by us to CBP (§ 5(2)). The customer pays exclusively to us and not additionally to CBP.

(2) Depending on the package chosen, our service consists of the following processing steps:

• guided entry of the application data via our application assistant,
• review of the information and uploaded documents for completeness and obvious errors (formal plausibility check, no comparison with official registers); we carry out this review (“checked for completeness by Avesta Interactive”) – it is not legal advice and not a guarantee of CBP’s decision,
• preparation of the application and – after completion of the review – submission to CBP in the name and on behalf of the customer (the customer instructs us with this agency service and authorises us to do so for the respective application),
• provision of a customer account with status display, messaging function and order confirmation/invoice,
• support with queries in the ordering languages (§ 3(5)) via the customer account and by email (service hours Mon–Fri 4–7 pm CET/CEST),
• payment of the CBP fee due for the application to CBP in our own name and for our own account (included in the total price).

(3) We owe the careful performance of this service, not a specific result such as the granting of the authorisation or entry (service contract with the character of an agency agreement). We offer exclusively ESTA applications – no visas, no legal, immigration, travel or tax advice.

(4) We do not provide legal services within the meaning of the German Legal Services Act (Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz). We do not check whether the customer meets the requirements of the Visa Waiver Program and do not advise on admission, entry or stay in the USA. The eligibility questions are answered by the customer alone. In the application assistant, the eligibility questions are reproduced in the original English wording of the official CBP form; the version in the selected language shown next to it is a translation without any regulatory content of its own. The English CBP wording is always authoritative. For every question, “Yes” means that the circumstances described apply.

(5) CBP may change the form, procedure, requirements and fees at any time. We may adjust the procedure of our service accordingly, provided that the purpose of the contract is preserved and the adjustment is reasonable for the customer. We may use third parties (e.g. hosting and email providers) to provide the service. “ESTA” refers to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization of the US authorities; we use the term exclusively descriptively. All trade marks and designations of third parties belong to their respective owners.

§ 3 Conclusion of the contract

(1) The presentation of our packages on the website does not constitute a binding offer. The customer submits a binding offer by completing the application assistant in full, confirming the required declarations and clicking the button “Order with obligation to pay”. Before submitting, the customer can check the information in the review step and correct it via “Back”.

(2) The contract is concluded when we accept the order by means of the order confirmation in text form (provision in the customer account) or by starting the processing.

(3) The contract language is the language in which the customer places the order (German, English, French, Spanish, Italian or Dutch). The version of these General Terms and Conditions in the contract language shall be authoritative. These GTC, the information on the right of withdrawal and the privacy policy are available in full in each of these languages. The customer can retrieve, save and print the contract text (these GTC and the order data) on this website at any time; the order data and the order confirmation can be viewed in the customer account.

(4) An order concerns the ESTA application for exactly one traveller. The “Additional traveller” rate can only be ordered together with or after a main application (the “Standard” package, the priority check or the top-priority check) by the same customer for the same journey. It is a one-off service; no ongoing obligations or subscriptions arise. We do not charge any additional costs for the use of means of distance communication.

(5) You can order in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. The contract language is the language in which you place your order. We offer email support in these languages; messages may be machine-translated. You can reach us by phone in German, Monday to Friday from 4 to 7 pm CET/CEST, except on public holidays in Lower Saxony.

§ 4 Obligations of the customer

(1) The customer is solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all information and documents, in particular for name, dates of birth, passport data and truthful answers to the eligibility questions. Incorrect or incomplete information may lead to refusal or revocation of the authorisation by CBP, to entry problems and to further consequences under US law.

(2) The customer must carefully compare the information in the summary with their passport before placing the order and expressly confirms its accuracy and completeness in the ordering process (declaration of accuracy). Our review pursuant to § 2(2) does not replace this obligation; it is not a check of substantive accuracy.

(3) After submission to CBP, core data (e.g. name, date of birth, passport number) can generally no longer be changed; a new application is then required, for which a new fee is charged. This does not apply where the error is due to circumstances for which we are responsible (§ 7(3) then applies).

(4) If the customer orders for other persons (e.g. family members, minors), the customer warrants that they are entitled to do so (e.g. as a person with parental responsibility or with a power of attorney), that they have informed the travellers about the application, the processing of their data by us and the transfer to CBP and – where necessary – obtained their consent. The customer indemnifies us against third-party claims based on the customer culpably breaching these obligations or culpably providing incorrect information.

(5) The customer is personally responsible for meeting the requirements for entry under the Visa Waiver Program (e.g. nationality, valid electronic passport, purpose of travel, length of stay) and for ensuring that the authorisation is sufficient for their journey.

(6) The customer provides an email address at which they can be reached and checks their mailbox (including the spam folder) and the customer account regularly. Access data for the customer account must be kept secret. Queries and requests for correction must be answered promptly; we may defer processing until the necessary cooperation has been provided.

(7) After the authorisation has been granted, the customer must check the name, passport number and validity on the authorisation without delay and inform us of any discrepancies.

(8) If the customer breaches these obligations, their contributory fault must be taken into account (Section 254 BGB); our liability is excluded or reduced accordingly, insofar as we are not responsible for the consequences (in particular in the case of transmission or review errors on our side).

§ 5 Total price (incl. CBP fee), payment

(1) The prices displayed on the website and in the ordering process at the time of the order apply. All prices are total prices in euros including statutory VAT (gross prices) and include the CBP fee.

Standard (processing target for internal review: 3 working days): €125.00 incl. VAT and CBP fee
Priority check (processing target for internal review: 48 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays)): €145.00 incl. VAT and CBP fee
Top-priority check (processing target for internal review: 24 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays)): €175.00 incl. VAT and CBP fee
Additional traveller (processing target for internal review: as main application): €105.00 incl. VAT and CBP fee

(2) The CBP fee is included in the total price. The CBP fee is currently USD 40.62; it is included in the fixed price. There is no separate claim. We pay this fee to CBP ourselves as part of the application; the customer pays only the total price to us and makes no separate payment to CBP. The fee is set by CBP and adjusted regularly. For applications already ordered, the total price displayed at the time of the order remains unchanged (fixed price).

(3) Payment is made by prepayment via bank transfer. After placing the order, the customer receives our bank details and the case number, which the customer states as the payment reference.

(4) The total price is due upon conclusion of the contract. If payment is not received within 7 days of the order, we will remind the customer once by email; if it has still not been received 7 days after the reminder, we are entitled to rescind the contract.

(5) We only begin checking and submitting the application after receipt of payment. The customer's right of withdrawal remains unaffected.

§ 6 Processing targets and time limits

(1) Processing times are calculated from the time at which your application is complete and your payment has been received. Hours are counted around the clock, but only on working days: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in Lower Saxony (Germany) are not counted. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding these public holidays. While we are waiting for your answers to our queries or the official ESTA system is unavailable, the period is suspended.

a) Standard: We aim to check and submit within 3 working days.

b) Priority check: We aim to check and submit within 48 hours.

c) Top-priority check: We aim to check and submit within 24 hours.

The processing times are targets, not binding commitments. If we exceed the targeted time for b) or c), we will refund you the surcharge compared with the “Standard” package once per order (b: €20.00, c: €50.00), regardless of the number of travellers. Your statutory rights remain unaffected. We have no influence on the processing time or the decision of the US authority CBP.

(2) The duration of CBP’s decision is outside our control; it can take from a few minutes to several days. CBP recommends submitting the application at least 72 hours before departure. We recommend submitting it much earlier (ideally one to two weeks before the start of the journey) and, even with the prioritised packages, allowing time for CBP, possible queries and any new application. We do not promise that the authorisation will be available by a particular travel date.

§ 7 No guarantee of authorisation; refund of the total price

(1) Whether and when CBP grants a travel authorisation is decided solely by CBP at its own discretion and in accordance with US law. We guarantee neither the authorisation nor entry into the USA nor a specific decision time. The decision on entry at the border is made by the US border officer. CBP’s decision – including a refusal (“Travel Not Authorized”) – does not in itself constitute a defect in our service.

(2) No refund in the event of refusal by CBP: if we have submitted the application to CBP completely and without errors, i.e. in accordance with the customer’s information and documents and without any error for which we are responsible, and CBP nevertheless refuses the application, we have performed our service in full. The total price is a fixed price for our service and the CBP fee borne by us and is not refunded in this case; nor in the event of a mere delay of CBP’s decision. For transparency: according to CBP’s publications, only the cost-recovery portion of the fee is charged in the event of a refusal (currently USD 10.62); the total price remains unaffected by this because it also remunerates our services (data entry, review, submission, customer account, support).

(3) A full refund of the total price (including the portion attributable to the CBP fee) is made if

• we were unable to submit the application to CBP for technical or other reasons not within the customer’s sphere, or
• an error for which we are responsible (e.g. transmission or review error, failure in submission) causes an error in the application or in the procedure which results in the application being refused, not being submitted or not being submitted properly, or in the authorisation being incorrect.

We will then refund the total price without delay, at the latest within fourteen days after the reason for the refund has been established, via the payment method originally used. Further statutory claims of the customer (e.g. for damages in accordance with § 9) remain unaffected.

(4) CBP fee: the CBP fee is part of the total price that the customer pays to us; we pay it to CBP. CBP does not separately refund the CBP fee to the customer. Insofar as we refund the total price pursuant to paragraph 3, we bear the fee already paid to CBP; any refund claim against CBP is due to us. The fee charged by CBP in the event of a refusal is set out in paragraph 2.

(5) The customer’s statutory rights, in particular the right of withdrawal (see § 8), rights in the event of breach of duty and the right to terminate for good cause, remain unaffected.

§ 8 Right of withdrawal for consumers

Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal for distance contracts. Details, the model withdrawal form and information on the early expiry of the right of withdrawal upon full performance of the service can be found in our information on the right of withdrawal.

§ 9 Liability

(1) We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) and insofar as we have given a guarantee or fraudulently concealed a defect.

(2) In the event of a slightly negligent breach of material contractual obligations (obligations whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the customer may regularly rely), liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded.

(3) Vis-à-vis entrepreneurs (Section 14 BGB), liability for slightly negligent breach of material contractual obligations is additionally limited to EUR 1,000 per claim.

(4) We are not liable for decisions, delays or failures of CBP’s systems or for the decision on entry at the border, as we have no influence on them. The consequences of incorrect or incomplete information provided by the customer are borne by the customer, insofar as we are not responsible for them. Otherwise – including for travel and entry costs (e.g. flight, accommodation) incurred in connection with an authorisation that is not granted or granted too late – our liability is governed by paragraphs 1 to 3 and requires a breach of duty on our part that caused the damage.

(5) We recommend submitting the application in good time before the start of the journey (§ 6(2)) and booking or paying for travel services that cannot be cancelled or can only be cancelled at high cost (e.g. flight, accommodation) only once the authorisation has been granted, or ensuring sufficient cancellation options. If the customer fails to do so, this must be taken into account as contributory fault when calculating damages (Section 254 BGB).

(6) We strive for high availability of the website, application assistant and customer account, but do not owe uninterrupted availability; maintenance work and disruptions (including at third parties) are possible. Paragraphs 1 to 3 apply to any resulting damage.

(7) The customer’s claims for damages become time-barred one year after the statutory start of the limitation period. This does not apply to claims under paragraph 1 or to claims arising from injury to life, body or health or from gross fault.

(8) The limitations of liability also apply in favour of our employees and vicarious agents.

§ 10 Data protection

Information on the processing of personal data, including the transfer to CBP in the USA, can be found in our privacy policy.

§ 11 Dispute resolution

We are neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (see legal notice).

§ 12 Final provisions

(1) German law shall apply, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG); for consumers, this choice of law shall apply only insofar as it does not deprive the consumer of the protection afforded by the mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which the consumer has his or her habitual residence (Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I)).

(2) If the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of performance and exclusive place of jurisdiction is the provider’s registered office (Stuhr). For consumers, the statutory places of jurisdiction apply. If a consumer was domiciled in Germany at the time the contract was concluded and subsequently moves their domicile abroad, or if their domicile is unknown, the place of jurisdiction is the provider’s registered office.

(3) We send communications in connection with the contract (confirmations, status messages, queries) in text form to the email address provided by the customer or in the customer account.

(4) Should any provision of these GTC be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected; the statutory provisions apply.