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The Yamasa Institute
A dvisors' C atalog |
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The Yamasa Institute is a non-profit organization and endeavours to provide fair outcomes for all students. We recognize that circumstances and schedules can change suddenly, and try to provide a flexible approach. If your client needs to cancel or defer please do so in writing only (fax or email). Please read through the Deferral and Cancellation policies.
If your client is unable to take up his/her place in a program and wishes to defer, Yamasa is able to allocate all of their payments toward the tuition/housing cost of the new program (subject to availability). The only exception is if they require a student visa. While Yamasa is flexible, the Immigration Bureau is not. If their preferred course of studies will require a student visa, then they will need to reapply for a student visa and will need to pay the student visa application fee again.
If they have already paid for a program and before the commencement date you need to defer to a program that costs less, then Yamasa will remit the balance. There is no deferral charge but we require your client to bear the cost of the bank charges.
Section 1. If your client cancels before arriving in Okazaki:
If they are unable to take up their place in a program and wish to cancel, then Yamasa will remit a full refund.
The exceptions are:
a) If they applied for a student visa then we apologize for not being able to refund the student visa application fee of 21000 yen. This is due to the high cost of the processing required. The 21000 yen fee does not in itself cover the full cost of the application for the certificate of eligibility.
b) For accommodation, there is no cancellation charge if they have paid for accommodation in Yamasa owned student housing, but there is a 15,000 yen cancellation charge for a homestay if they cancel 7 days or less before the scheduled commencement of their course or program. This is because the homestay families go to considerable effort preparing for your arrival.
With the exception of a) and b), the refund is in full, however we require your client to bear the cost of the bank charges when we remit their refund.
Section 2. If your client cancels after arriving in Okazaki or after the program commencement date:
Then it becomes a little more complicated due to the problem of fixed costs. Yamasa is non-profit and programs are supplied "at cost price" - we don't have the margins/markups used by profit oriented schools. To do this however we need to be able to calculate our fixed costs. Please understand that teachers hired cannot be suddenly unhired, accommodation allocated to you cannot suddenly be reallocated etc. Most universities and schools in Japan (and many elsewhere) wouldn't issue a refund at all or would have strict cancellation charges, but we do understand that the circumstances behind a cancellation are not always within your control. As a non-profit institute in the public service, we try to be as flexible, fair and transparent as possible. For cancellations after your client arrives the following rules apply. We publish them here so that they are transparent and would recommend that you notify your client about these rules before they apply.
a) Cancelling a study program after commencement: If your client cancels during a program (definition = any day after commencement/placement testing), then you cannot be refunded for the weeks/days remaining in a quarter/module that you have already started. If they have a student visa - then a refund cannot be provided for the first 2 quarters (6 months) as we need to be able to calculate our fixed costs. If your client does not have a student visa, or is cancelling after completion of 2 quarters, please note that they will be refunded in full for all of the payments toward the quarters/modules that they have not yet started.
Examples:
AIJP/AJSP - If your client has paid for 4 quarters in advance and needs to cancel midway through the second
quarter, then they can only be refunded for the 3rd and 4th quarter. We cannot refund the
balance of the 2nd quarter.
SILAC Example 1 - If your client has paid for 4 weeks and needs to leave after 3 weeks, we cannot
refund the final week.
SILAC Example 2 - If your client has paid for 8 weeks and needs to cancel after 4.5 weeks then we can refund the last
3 weeks but not the remainder of week 5 that has already been started.
For Extension programs, each week starts at 9am on Fridays, or on the previous teaching day if the Friday of that week is a public holiday.
b) Cancelling pre-paid accommodation: Accommodation is paid for on a monthly basis for students with a student visa, and on a weekly and/or daily formula for all other students.
If you client has a student visa and needs to cancel, then the subsequent months will be refunded in full. If they cancel on or before the 15th day of the month then they will also be reimbursed for 1/2 a month provided they give Yamasa's housing office a minimum of 72 hours notice.
Example:
AIJP - If your client has paid for 6 months in advance and need sto cancel during the 1st week of
your 4th month, then we can refund 1/2 of the 4th month plus the 5th and 6th months.
We cannot make a refund for 5 days or 1 week etc.
If your client does not have a student visa and needs to cancel, then you will be refunded in full for the accommodation fees that correspond to the program/course modules you are being refunded your tuition for. However you will not be refunded for the accommodation fees that correspond to the module you have already commenced.
Examples:
SILAC - If your client has paid for 8 weeks accommodation in advance and needs to leave after 5 weeks,
then we can refund for weeks 7 and 8 but not for weeks 5 and 6 or for week 6 only. This
is because the room cannot be reallocated to another student that easily.
Please note that if the refund needs to be done by foreign bank transfer then we will require your client to bear the cost of the bank charges.
Section 3. Cancelling *the entire* Japan Discovery study tour component *after* your client commences the study component: The Japan Discovery tour is the most difficult program for Yamasa to refund because once the hotel or bus bookings have been made Yamasa usually has to pay cancellation charges. For the study component we are still able to issue our normal refunds, but please read the study tour component carefully.
Examples:
Japan Discovery Example 1 - Japan Discovery 10 weeks plus 5 day tour - If your client has paid for 10 weeks of study and
a 5 day tour and needs to cancel the last 4 weeks of their study program and the tour, then provided they contact Student
Services 56 days or more before the tour component they would be refunded in full. They would also receive a full refund
for the 4 weeks of study.
Japan Discovery Example 2 - Japan Discovery 10 weeks plus 5 day tour - If your client has paid for 10 weeks of study and a 5 day tour and need to cancel the last 2 weeks of your study program and the tour, but can not give more than 3 weeks notice (ie after they have been at Yamasa for 7 weeks) to Student Services before the tour component they would be refunded in full for the final 2 weeks of study (weeks 9 and 10), but there would be a 31500 yen cancellation fee for the tour component.
Please note that if the refund needs to be done by foreign bank transfer then we will require your client to bear the cost of the bank charges.
Section 4. Cancelling *a section* of the Japan Discovery study tour component *after* your client commences the study component (ie reducing the length of the tour from 10 to 8 days, or from 8 to 5 days etc): The Japan Discovery tour is the most difficult program for Yamasa to refund because once the hotel or other bookings have been made Yamasa usually has to pay cancellation charges. This is a particularly difficult problem in summer. Please read the following carefully.
Examples:
Japan Discovery Example 1 - Japan Discovery 10 weeks plus 10 day tour - If your client has paid for 6 weeks of study and
a 10 day tour and needs to shorten their tour to 8 days, then provided they contact Student Services 56
days or more before the tour component they would be refunded in full for the equivalent of 2 days of the tour.
Japan Discovery Example 2 - Japan Discovery 10 weeks plus 10 day tour - If you client has paid for 6 weeks of study and
a 10 day tour and needs to shorten their tour to 8 days, but can not give more than 3 weeks notice to Student Services
before the tour component they would be refunded for the equivalent of 2 days of the tour less a cancellation fee of 18,000 yen.
Please note that if the refund needs to be done by foreign bank transfer then we will require you to bear the cost of the bank charges.
Advisors' Catalog©1997-2006 The Yamasa Institute, 1-2-1 Hanehigashimachi, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan 444-0832
Tel: +81 (0)564 558111 Fax: +81 (0)564 558113