Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

On God Advisory provides independent education advisory, application support and travel planning services to individuals and their sponsoring families. These terms apply to every service we provide, whether agreed by email, by WhatsApp, by phone or through this website, and they form the contract between you and us together with the written fee note for each phase of work.

“You” means the client. Where a parent, spouse, sponsor or employer pays for services provided to someone else, both the payer and the person receiving the service are bound by these terms, and we will confirm with the applicant what may be shared with the payer.

2. Our services

Depending on what we agree, our services may include:

• assessment of your academic profile, budget and timeline, and advice on realistic study destinations, institutions and programmes;
• preparation and refinement of CVs, cover letters, personal statements, statements of purpose and scholarship applications;
• preparation and submission of university applications, and review of any offers you receive;
• gathering and organising your certificates, offer letter, funding evidence and translations, and introducing you to a regulated immigration adviser who can then handle your visa application;
• preparation and review of Schengen and other non-UK short-stay visa applications;
• guidance on accommodation, travel booking and arrival planning; and
• travel planning within Ghana, including itineraries, accommodation options, transport and practical safety guidance.

The exact services in your engagement are those set out in the written fee note for each phase. Anything not listed there is not included.

3. Immigration advice: what we do not do

We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.

Schengen and other non-UK short-stay visas fall outside the United Kingdom regime and are not affected by the above.

Where your plans require that work, we introduce you to an IAA-registered adviser or a solicitor. You contract with them directly, they charge their own fees, and we receive no commission or other benefit for the introduction. If our position changes (for example if we become IAA-registered), this page and our website will say so, and the change will be dated.

We also do not act as a travel agent or tour operator. When we plan a trip, bookings are made in your own name directly with hotels, airlines and operators, and your contract for those services is with them, not with us.

4. No guarantee of outcome

Admission decisions are made by universities and colleges. Scholarship decisions are made by the awarding bodies. Visa decisions are made by immigration authorities. None of these decisions is within our control, and we cannot and do not guarantee any of them.

What we undertake is to exercise reasonable care and skill: to assess your position honestly, to prepare your application to a professional standard, to submit what is required, and to keep you informed. Any timelines, likelihoods or opinions we express are professional judgements, not promises.

5. How an engagement starts

The free eligibility check creates no contract and no obligation on either side. A paid engagement begins when we have sent you a written fee note for a phase, you have confirmed in writing (email or message) that you wish to proceed, and payment for that phase has been received.

6. Your responsibilities

• Give us complete and accurate information about your education, your results, your funding and your timeline, so that the advice we give you is sound.
• Give your immigration history (previous refusals, current status, dependants and anything similar) to your regulated immigration adviser, not to us. We are not permitted to act on it, and you should not rely on us to.
• Provide documents by the deadlines we agree. Applications and intakes have fixed closing dates that we cannot extend.
• Check every document we prepare before it is submitted, and tell us about anything that is inaccurate. You are responsible for the truth of the information in your own application.
• Keep your own copies of everything submitted, and keep us informed of changes to your contact details.
• Meet the costs charged by third parties (see section 9) on time.

Where a delay or failure is caused by information or documents not being provided on time, we are not responsible for the consequences, and fees already paid remain payable.

7. Honesty and lawful applications

We will not prepare, submit or assist with any application containing false, forged or misleading information, including invented work experience, fabricated bank statements, forged results, or a sponsor who does not exist. This is not a matter of preference: deception in an application can result in refusal, a long-term ban, and criminal liability for you.

If we discover that information you have given us is false, we may end the engagement immediately under section 17, and no refund will be due for work already carried out.

8. Fees and payment

Our professional fees are quoted per phase, in Ghana cedis unless otherwise agreed, and depend on the scope of work, for example the number of institutions applied to and which phases you take. You will always receive the fee for a phase in writing, together with what it includes and its refund terms, before you pay anything.

Fees are payable in advance of each phase, to the account named in the written fee note. We will never ask you to pay into an account that has not been confirmed to you in writing, and payment details will never be changed by message alone; see our Trust & Safety page.

Work on a phase begins once payment for that phase has been received.

9. Third-party costs

Our fees do not include, and you pay directly, costs charged by others. These typically include university application fees, tuition deposits, English-language test fees, credential evaluation fees, the fees of any regulated immigration adviser or solicitor you instruct, visa application fees, the UK Immigration Health Surcharge, biometric and courier fees, translation and notarisation fees, travel and accommodation costs. These amounts are set by the third parties concerned, can change without notice, and are not refundable by us. We do not hold or handle money on your behalf for these costs.

10. Cancellation and cooling-off

Where you are a consumer and the contract is made at a distance (by email, message or telephone) with a UK-based provider, you normally have a legal right to cancel within 14 days of the contract being made, without giving a reason.

Because applications are usually time-critical, many clients ask us to begin work immediately (that is, within the 14-day period). If you ask us to start during that period, you agree that:

• we may begin before the cancellation period ends; and
• if you then cancel within the period, you must pay for the services actually provided up to the point you told us you were cancelling, in proportion to the whole phase; and
• once the phase has been fully performed at your request within the period, the right to cancel that phase is lost.

To cancel, tell us in writing at info@ongodadvisory.com. You may use any clear statement; no form is required. This section does not affect any right to cancel available under the law of your own country, where that law applies to you.

11. Refunds

Subject to section 10, our standard refund position by phase is:

• Phase 1 (eligibility & strategy): non-refundable once delivered. It consists of assessment, research and strategy work performed at the start of the engagement.
• Phase 2 (applications & offers): partially refundable where applications do not result in a workable offer. The refundable proportion is stated in the fee note for that phase.
• Phase 3 (arrival & settlement): refundable in full where the work has not been delivered, for example because you do not take up a place. Where part of it has been delivered, the unused proportion is refunded.

Because we neither provide nor charge for immigration advice, we cannot offer a refund tied to a visa decision, and any fee you pay to a regulated adviser is governed by that adviser's own terms, not ours.

Refunds are made by the same method as payment wherever possible, within 14 days of the refund being agreed. Third-party costs under section 9 are never refundable by us.

12. Loyalty and referral benefits

Clients who complete all three phases with us may choose one loyalty benefit: additional university applications at no extra professional fee, or a reduction on total professional fees. Referring someone who becomes a paying client earns a further reduction. The exact value of each benefit is confirmed in writing at the time and cannot be exchanged for cash.

13. Travel planning services

For Ghana travel planning we prepare itineraries, recommend accommodation and providers, and give practical guidance. We do not hold client money for travel, and we are not responsible for the acts, omissions, pricing, availability, cancellation policies or safety standards of hotels, drivers, airlines, tour operators or attractions. Safety and security guidance is given in good faith based on current understanding; conditions change, and you remain responsible for your own decisions, insurance and compliance with local law.

14. Communication and timescales

We normally reply to messages within three working days. Working hours are Monday to Friday; we are not a 24-hour service, and urgent deadlines should be raised as early as possible rather than at the last moment. Communication is by WhatsApp, email and scheduled calls, unless we agree otherwise.

15. Confidentiality and data protection

We treat everything you tell us as confidential, and we share your information with universities, scholarship bodies, regulated advisers and other third parties only as necessary to deliver the service you have engaged us for, or where the law requires it. How we collect, use, store and delete personal data, and your rights over it, are set out in our Privacy & Cookies notice, which forms part of these terms.

16. Intellectual property

Documents we prepare for you (your CV, statement of purpose, motivation letter and similar) are yours to use for your own applications once the relevant phase has been paid for. Our templates, frameworks, checklists, research material and the content of this website remain our property, and may not be copied, resold or used to provide services to others.

17. Ending the engagement

You may end the engagement at any time by telling us in writing; fees for phases already delivered remain payable, and section 11 governs any refund. We may end the engagement if you ask us to act dishonestly, if you ask us to provide services we are not permitted to provide, if you fail to provide essential information or payment after a written reminder, if you behave abusively towards us, or if continuing would place us in breach of law or professional obligation. Where we end an engagement for any other reason, we will refund fees paid for work not yet delivered.

18. Our liability

We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach of these terms or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for losses that are not foreseeable, for decisions made by universities, scholarship bodies or immigration authorities, for the acts or omissions of any adviser or third party you instruct, or for loss caused by inaccurate or incomplete information you provided.

Except as stated below, our total liability arising out of or in connection with an engagement is limited to the total professional fees you have paid us for that engagement.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded. If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

19. Complaints

If something goes wrong, tell us first. Most problems are solved quickly once they are named. Write to info@ongodadvisory.com with “Complaint” in the subject line, describing what happened and what you would like us to do.

• We acknowledge complaints within 3 working days.
• We give a full written response within 14 working days, or explain why we need longer.
• If you remain dissatisfied, you may ask for the matter to be reviewed once more, and we will respond in writing with our final position.

Complaints about how we handle personal data can also be made to the UK Information Commissioner's Office; see our Privacy & Cookies notice. Complaints about a regulated immigration adviser you were introduced to should be made to that adviser and, if unresolved, to the Immigration Advice Authority.

20. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your engagement is the version in force on the date your engagement, or your current phase, began, and we will tell you if a change affects work already agreed. The current version and its effective date are shown at the top of this page.

21. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction. If you live in Ghana or elsewhere, you keep the benefit of any mandatory consumer protections available to you under the law of your own country, and you may also bring proceedings there.

This document sets out our contractual terms. It is not legal advice to you. Before registering a company or relying on these terms in a dispute, we recommend having them reviewed by a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.