Terms of Service

iStudyMate helps prospective international students explore study options in China and arrange application and student support services. These Terms of Service cover use of www.istudymate.com and services that you specifically order from the operator identified below. They do not themselves enrol you at a university or appoint us as your unrestricted representative.

A written order or service agreement must identify the entity providing and invoicing your service. The iStudyMate brand is not a substitute for that legal identity. Institution, agent, referral and business-to-business arrangements require their own agreements; these student terms do not set partner commissions.

Before account registration, a paid order or an application submission, we present the relevant terms and ask for an affirmative confirmation where required. Merely browsing does not authorise an application, create a payment obligation, consent to advertising or authorise unrestricted use of your documents.

Your order becomes binding when you accept the identified service, total price and applicable terms and we issue written acceptance, unless the order specifies another lawful formation step. Payment before acceptance must be returned if we decline the order. You receive a record of the agreed scope, price, policy version and confirmation.

Mandatory law takes priority. Lawful individually negotiated terms prevail over conflicting standard terms. A specific accepted order and its service schedule govern that service, followed by the refund policy supplied with the order and these general terms. Ambiguous standard terms are interpreted as required by applicable law. A later webpage cannot silently remove an existing contractual or statutory right.

The Privacy Policy explains data processing. Reading or acknowledging it is distinct from giving consent; separate choices are required for processing that legally needs separate consent. We will draw significant fee, cancellation, liability and dispute provisions to your attention and explain them on request.

You must have the legal capacity required for the relevant transaction. A student under 18 must use the appropriate parent or lawful guardian approval process for paid services and application authority; any additional capacity requirements under applicable law still apply. A school, consultant, friend or person paying the bill is not automatically a guardian.

We do not offer self-service applications or document uploads to children under 14. Their cases require a separately arranged guardian-led process, a child-specific privacy notice and the legally required guardian consent before collecting their personal information. The under-14 privacy rule is different from the contractual safeguards for other minors.

An agent, parent or sponsor may act only within verified authority. For adult students, payment by another person does not give that person access to grades, health information, application decisions or account messages. Separate authorisation is needed.

Depending on the order, support may include course research, document readiness checks, an application plan, assistance with approved submissions, scholarship information, visa document guidance and arrangements for specified arrival or enrolment tasks. A catalogue description does not establish availability in every city, institution or intake.

We are not a university, an admissions authority, a scholarship awarding body, an embassy or an immigration authority. We cannot guarantee admission, funding, visa approval, entry, residence permission, accommodation availability, graduation or employment. Those decisions remain with the relevant institution or authority.

Guidance on visas, insurance, banking, medical examinations and housing is limited to the agreed administrative support. Professional medical, legal, tax, financial, insurance or regulated travel services must be provided by appropriately qualified providers when required. We do not act as a legal guardian, emergency service or custodian merely because we arrange arrival support.

Estimated timelines distinguish our work from university, government and supplier processing. Delays outside our control do not excuse our own missed commitments, negligence or failure to keep you informed. We will carry out the agreed work with the skill, care and diligence required by law.

Programme availability, teaching language, tuition, scholarships, tests, eligibility and deadlines can change. We should identify the source and relevant intake for material information used in your application. The institution's current official requirements and your formal offer determine institutional requirements, subject to your rights where we have misrepresented information or failed to perform our agreed checking service.

A university profile, logo or listing does not by itself mean that iStudyMate has an agency agreement, exclusive access, endorsement or authority to issue an offer. We identify a commercial partnership where it is relevant to your choice.

We may receive a referral or recruitment payment under a separately documented arrangement. Any relationship materially affecting a recommendation must be disclosed. A commission does not authorise an undisclosed student charge or a claim of guaranteed acceptance. Sponsored placement should be identified. You can ask for the basis of a recommendation and consider applying directly or elsewhere.

Before submitting on your behalf, we seek your confirmation of the named institution, programme, intake, application reference, final materials and applicable fees. Your authority is limited to the identified submission and agreed follow-up. We do not accept offers, change a programme, commit tuition, sign a lease or make other substantial commitments for you without further authority.

You must review the final application and correct errors you reasonably identify. We remain responsible for our agreed checking work and for errors we introduce. No party may fabricate results, references, certificates or personal statements. Editorial support must preserve your truthful experience and comply with institution rules.

You can revoke prospective submission authority by contacting us. We will explain any steps already taken and what can still be stopped. Withdrawal from an institution's process, withdrawal of privacy consent, closing an account and cancellation of a paid service are separate requests with different effects; we will help clarify which you intend.

Once submitted, the recipient's procedures govern amendments and withdrawal. We retain a submission record and share relevant status information with you through the agreed channel.

Provide accurate, lawful and up-to-date information; disclose material changes to eligibility, deadlines, identity documents and contact details; and obtain permission where you provide another person's information. Do not send unnecessary medical or financial records before we identify why they are required.

Protect your account and notify us promptly of suspected unauthorised access. You are responsible for your own actions and failures to take reasonable care, but you do not automatically bear every loss from account misuse or a security failure attributable to us.

Your order should set the dates by which documents, approvals and payments are required. If something is late or incomplete, we will explain the impact and reasonable options. We do not promise to recover an expired deadline. A request to correct information or exercise a privacy right will not itself be treated as misconduct.

Before a paid commitment, your written quote must identify each service, deliverable, included application count, milestones, exclusions, currency, taxes, any exchange-rate basis or conversion charge, payment schedule and quote expiry. Optional extras require your express choice. No price is set by this page.

If we are authorised to remit a third-party fee, the order must identify that arrangement and we provide appropriate payment evidence and an account of any unspent balance. Do not pay a personal or substituted bank account without independently verifying the instruction through our published contact channel.

We provide a receipt and any invoice required by law. A future tuition payment, housing deposit or government charge is not included unless expressly itemised. A failed, duplicated or misdirected payment is investigated and reconciled; it does not authorise an extra charge.

You may request cancellation by writing to service@istudymate.com with your order reference, the service concerned and a short explanation. Do not include complete bank card details or identity documents in an initial email. We will stop avoidable future work and commitments once cancellation can reasonably be acted on.

Where a lawful stage-based calculation applies, we explain the price of work actually and properly delivered plus separately authorised, evidenced, genuinely non-recoverable third-party costs. We do not charge twice for the same work or cost. Starting work does not automatically make the whole service fee non-refundable. An internal label of 'completed' does not defeat a claim for defective or undelivered work.

Before work begins, unused service fees are refundable subject to lawful, disclosed deductions and any stronger applicable cancellation right. After partial performance, the calculation must reflect the lawful agreed scope and evidence. A rejected admission, scholarship or visa application does not alone prove poor service, but neither does it remove remedies for our breach or misrepresentation.

Third-party fees depend on the recipient's lawful terms and applicable law. We cannot promise that a fee already remitted will be returned, but we will help with an agreed recovery request and account for any recovered amount. We remain responsible for unauthorised payments or errors attributable to us.

For duplicate charges, non-delivery or a material failure attributable to us, remedies may include correction, repeat performance, a price reduction, refund or compensation as required by law. Where the applicable Chinese prepaid-consumption rules cover your contract, a seven-day refund right may be available, subject to the statutory conditions and exceptions. Other mandatory cooling-off and prepaid-service rights also apply where their legal conditions are met. Staff sales commissions are not passed to you as cancellation costs where prohibited by law. No blanket 'no refund' statement overrides them.

The separately published Refund Policy should be supplied with your order and aligned with these terms. This review draft does not amend an existing purchase. The current public Refund Policy states the following handling targets, retained here for alignment and operational verification: acknowledge a complete request within 2 business days, provide an assessment within 10 business days, and initiate an approved refund within a further 10 business days. A shorter mandatory deadline prevails; banking time and any justified delay must be explained.

For airport collection, accommodation assistance, enrolment or other in-person support, the order must identify the city, date, service window, meeting arrangements, included waiting time, change or no-show charges and the actual provider. Availability is confirmed per booking.

Tell us promptly about flight changes or access needs that are relevant to delivery. A provider's own lawful booking terms should be made available before you commit. We explain whether we provide the service ourselves, subcontract delivery or only introduce an independent provider.

Using a subcontractor does not remove our responsibility for the work we promised. An independent provider remains responsible for its own service, while we remain responsible for our representations, selection or coordination duties where applicable. We do not disclaim all responsibility simply because a third party is involved.

For an immediate emergency, contact the appropriate local emergency services and your institution. Ordinary advisor messages are not monitored as an emergency channel. Accommodation support does not itself create a tenancy, guarantee residence approval or appoint us as a student's guardian.

You retain your rights in your documents and original materials. You grant only the permissions reasonably necessary to provide the agreed service, such as storing an authorised copy, preparing an approved application and transmitting it to the identified recipient. These permissions are limited by the Privacy Policy, your authorisations and applicable law.

Supplying an admission letter, testimonial, photo or video for a private case does not authorise public marketing. Publishing a case study or offer image requires separate permission where legally required and appropriate removal of identifying information; a cropped name alone may not anonymise a document.

Website text, design and software are protected by their respective rights holders. You may use and download information for your own study planning and as permitted by law. Do not republish protected content commercially, impersonate the brand or misuse university marks. Reasonable use of your own application records is not restricted by this clause.

Do not submit forged records, misuse another person's identity, harass staff or users, distribute malware, collect other users' personal information without authority, interfere with security or use the service unlawfully. Any automated access must respect lawful access restrictions and other people's rights.

We may proportionately restrict an account to address a credible security threat, serious misuse or a legal requirement. Where lawful and safe, we explain the reason, give an opportunity to correct the problem and provide a route to challenge the decision. Immediate action may be necessary to protect people or data.

Suspension does not automatically forfeit all paid fees or erase your access to records and legal remedies. We assess unfinished work, necessary refunds and permitted data retention separately. You may request account closure through the published contact channel.

We are responsible for performing our contractual and legal duties. A no-guarantee statement does not cancel a binding promise or lawful advertising or sales commitment already made to you, nor excuse misleading publicity. Any remedy or liability is assessed under the applicable law and the facts, including causation, foreseeability and reasonable steps to reduce loss where relevant.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where doing so is unlawful, including liability for personal injury covered by mandatory law, fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence causing property loss, or non-waivable consumer and personal information rights. We do not impose a blanket liability cap equal to fees paid or an unrestricted indemnity requiring students to cover every claim.

A university's independent decision and circumstances outside our reasonable control may affect the outcome. This does not excuse an inaccurate representation, unauthorised submission, data handling failure or service breach attributable to us. Information disclaimers do not replace the reasonable care required in a paid advisory service.

If an event legally qualifying as force majeure prevents performance, we will give timely notice, provide appropriate evidence and take reasonable steps to limit its effects. Relief is limited to what the law permits. The parties should address rescheduling, termination and any unperformed balance fairly.

We may update website terms prospectively and display a new version and effective date. Material changes are brought to your attention through an appropriate channel before they apply where required. We seek fresh agreement where the law or the change requires it.

Existing paid orders keep the agreed terms unless you validly accept a change or a mandatory legal rule requires otherwise. We do not treat continued browsing as consent to a new fee, an expanded document authorisation or a new personal information purpose.

If we discontinue a service, we give appropriate notice where practicable, explain how to obtain your records and deal lawfully with outstanding services and refunds. Commercial inconvenience alone does not remove existing obligations.

This English review text is intended for international students. Any translated version and the controlling-language arrangement must be confirmed before release; neither language can remove mandatory protections. Previous operative versions should remain retrievable.

Send a service complaint to service@istudymate.com with the order reference, relevant dates, the issue and your requested outcome. We will acknowledge it, review available records and provide a reasoned response. You may ask for the matter to be reviewed by the person responsible for the service. No particular named officer or round-the-clock response is promised by this draft.

The proposed governing law is the laws applicable in mainland China, subject to applicable conflict-of-laws rules and any mandatory protections that cannot lawfully be excluded, including those available to a consumer in another relevant jurisdiction.

The parties may try to resolve a dispute through discussion or available mediation. This does not prevent timely complaints to competent authorities, applications for urgent relief or a claim before a court with lawful jurisdiction. These terms do not impose mandatory arbitration, a class-action waiver or an unverified exclusive court location.