Every Immersion Argentina participant is expected to conduct themselves in a mature and respectful manner while attending our Spanish school and as a guest in a host family, student residence, or apartment. Each student must take appropriate measures to understand and adapt to local laws, as well as rules, customs and respected practices within the school, accommodation, and community. Abuse or neglect of rules, both explicit and implied, within the school, accommodation and program components will be addressed immediately for the safety and well-being of the student and those around them. Continued and blatant disregard for such rules may result in expulsion from the accommodation or termination of the program without refund. Students are expected to understand and abide by the rules and customs practiced at their accommodation, as well as respect others sharing their living space. Additionally, students in a homestay will sign an agreement prior to program stating they will not bring alcohol home with them, or invite overnight guests. All students are expected to only use alcohol legally and responsibly, and abuses will be addressed for the safety and welfare of the student. For the safety and welfare of every student, the use or possession of illegal drugs, theft, vandalism, or involvement in any other criminal activity will not be tolerated, and will result in immediate termination of the program without refund. Additionally, any expenses incurred by the host family, school, or our organization as a result of blatant disobedience of rules or criminal activity is the responsibility of the student.
Liability:
Immersion Argentina’s liability is limited to all monies paid for the program. While we take every possible measure to ensure each participant’s well-being during their program, we cannot assume responsibility for risks inherent in all travel and international travel. Immersion Argentina does not assume liability for any risks the student may be exposed to during travel to, from, and within Argentina, or at any other time or location during your program. These risks may include, but are not limited to: personal injury, property damage, sickness, accidents, terrorism, and war. By submitting the registration form, student is assuming all risks and agreeing to indemnify and hold Immersion Argentina and its employees harmless of any and all liability that may arise in any Immersion Argentina programs. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, please call us. As outlined in this site, we are happy to provide recommendations for third party insurance companies which offer appropriate and customary travel and medical insurance.
Emergency phone numbers:
Getting the appropriate help for students in case of a local emergency, or locating a student in case of emergency at home is of the utmost concern to Immersion Argentina, and measures to conduct these actions swiftly and successfully are built into our program design. In case of emergency, each student is given an emergency cellular number in addition to the number of the school and their accommodation. This number is the direct and private line of the director of ELEbaires in Buenos Aires. Upon registering, the student agrees that use of this number will be limited to the student and their family in case of emergencies, and they will not share this information with any third party. Immersion Argentina provides this number as a good faith attempt to expedite the process of connecting the student with their family at home, or getting the appropriate assistance or information the student as quickly as possible. This service is provided to supplement police, fire, ambulance, or state emergency personnel, and the recommended embassy registration. In the unlikely event that the attempt to reach our director is unsuccessful, or our attempts to locate the student or connect with assistance are not successful, or are delayed for any reason, Immersion Argentina cannot be held liable for expenses as a direct or indirect result of the emergency, in the US or in Argentina.
Holidays:
Classes cancelled due to Argentina’s national holidays will be planned for in the assignments and no refund will be given for that day’s class hours.
Class hours:
Students taking intensive courses of four hours per day or more receive a scheduled 20 minute break between the second and third hour. Accounting for the break, each “class hour” is defined as 55 minutes.
Accepted forms of payment
Payment is due in full three weeks prior to the start of your program, and can be made by VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, Paypal, certified/cashier’s check or money order. We do not charge any additional fees for credit card payments. Registration fee is due with your application.
Any payments made after the three week prior deadline will be subject to a $35 late fee.
Cancellations and Refunds for Total Immersion Spanish Program, Spanish for Business and Hablar y Bailar programs:
*If program is cancelled before three weeks prior to program start date, 100% of program costis returned. Due to costs incurred at the time of registration, we regret that we cannot refund the $75 registration fee.
*If cancellation occurs after three weeks prior to program start, but before program begins, program fees are returned, minus 25% fee for charges we incurred in making advance payments for your accommodation. $75 registration fee cannot be refunded.
*After program begins, we continue to offer a return policy. If you need to cancel for any reason at all, we will issue a refund for all full weeks of unused Spanish courses, minus 25% fee for charges incurred in holding your reservation. We regret that we cannot refund accommodation or scheduled activity or excursion charges in the event you end your program early.
Cancellation and Refunds for special short-term immersion programs of less than one month duration:
*If program is cancelled before 3 weeks prior to start date, full program cost is returned, minus 5% administrative fee. Registration deposit cannot be returned.
*Last minute cancellations between 3 weeks prior and the day before program begins are refunded at 50%.
*We regret we cannot allow refunds after program begins. We r
Cancellation and Refunds for International Internship Program
*In the event that we are not able to accept the applicant into the internship program, nopayment is ever due, and the $100 registration fee is refunded in full.
*If cancellation occurs before three weeks prior to program start date, payment is returned in full, minus 5% fee. The registration fee is not refundable.
*If last minute cancellation occurs after three weeks prior to program start date, we will refund 50% of program costs. The registration fee is not refundable.
*Regretfully, because of the heavy percentage of costs incurred in this program prior to its start, we are unable to maintain a refund policy after the program start.
In all cases, we highly recommend considering trip cancellation or interruption insurance, which would cover the portion of costs we are unable to refund if you must cancel or end your program early due to an emergency or illness.
Application Deadlines:
Applications for all language programs are due three weeks prior to anticipated start. Late applications are processed if there is availability, but will be subject to a $35 fee. Applications for the International Internship program are due 6 weeks prior to anticipated start. Please inquire about late applications. Depending on your field of interest, we are sometimes able to rush the process. Late applications for the international internship program will be assessed a $75 rush fee.
Program changes or program cancellation on our behalf:
Immersion Argentina reserves the right to cancel or alter programs at any time. In the unlikely event this becomes necessary, student will be notified immediately of the reason and need for change or cancellation, and will be offered a substitution of equal or greater value. If this cannot be agreed upon, a full refund will be given for cancelled programs. In the case of an altered program, such as a change in scheduled excursion, accommodation, or number of class hours, a partial refund will be given should we not agree upon an equal or higher value substitution for the change.
Credit card information
All credit card transactions are processed using a secure site run by Paypal, our third party merchant vendor. This vendor has an excellent reputation for privacy and security of information. However minimal, there is always some inherent security risk with every credit card transaction, and user must asume that risk. Immersion Argentina may not be held liable for theft of credit card information or resulting damages which may or may not have occured during your transactions with us through Paypal.
Privacy policy regarding personal data:
We hate spam and unsolicited email advertisements as much as you do. Under no circumstances do we share any information collected on our site, or as a result of a phone call or email to us, to any third party marketers or vendors. We believe it is unethical to store and use information collected from a “caller ID” and will never do so. Phone numbers or addresses will only be stored in our database with your explicit consent, and then will only be used for Immersion Argentina to contact you regarding your interest in our services only. If you choose to pay online, all information is entered onto the secure site of Paypal, our third party merchant vendor, and is protected under their privacy policy.
