Terms and Conditions

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this requirement and that all information you provide is accurate.

Nearvoya is a marketplace that connects language learners ("Guests") with people offering in-person immersion opportunities ("Hosts") — including homestays, shared meals, rides, paid work shifts, skill and hobby lessons, and companion outings.

Nearvoya facilitates the connection, booking, and payment between Guests and Hosts. We are not a party to the arrangement a Guest and Host make with each other, and we do not employ Hosts or supervise the in-person encounters that take place through the Service. Hosts are independent individuals, not Nearvoya employees, contractors, or agents.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized use of your account.

You agree to provide accurate information when creating your account and to keep it up to date.

Some listing categories — currently, Companion outings — may require the Guest to complete ID verification before booking, depending on current settings; hosting a Companion listing does not require this. Verification requests are reviewed by our team, and we may deny, revoke, or require re-verification at our discretion.

Completing verification is not a guarantee or certification of any individual's safety, character, or trustworthiness. You are responsible for exercising your own judgment when meeting anyone through the Service.

When you request a booking, we authorize a hold on your payment method for the listed price. No funds are captured (charged) until the Host accepts your request. If the Host declines, or does not respond within a reasonable time, the hold is released and you are not charged.

Once a Host accepts a request, the authorized amount is captured. For a Long Stay booking, your first month is charged at acceptance and subsequent months are billed automatically on the same schedule until the tenancy ends.

Nearvoya retains a service fee from each completed booking. The remainder is paid out to the Host after the booking's scheduled start time, through our payment processor, Stripe.

All prices are shown in the currency set on the listing. You are responsible for any fees your bank or card issuer charges for currency conversion.

Either party may cancel a booking that has not yet been completed. If the payment was only authorized and not yet captured, the hold is released in full. If the payment was already captured, cancellation results in a full refund to the Guest.

A Host may also refund a completed booking at their discretion. A reason is required for every Host-initiated refund and is recorded for our internal review; a pattern of frequent refunds may lead us to review a Host's account.

A booking request that is never completed — for example, because payment was never finished — is automatically released after a short holding period so the listing becomes available to others again.

We do not guarantee a refund in every circumstance and encourage Guests and Hosts to communicate directly through the Service to resolve disagreements about a specific booking.

If you host, you are responsible for the accuracy of your listing, for honoring bookings you accept, and for complying with any laws that apply to the activity you are offering — including, where applicable, licensing, tax, food-safety, and transportation requirements. You are solely responsible for reporting and paying any taxes owed on income you earn through the Service.

If you book, you are responsible for showing up as scheduled, treating your Host and their property with respect, and complying with any reasonable conditions the Host has disclosed in their listing.

You agree not to: use the Service for any unlawful purpose; harass, threaten, or discriminate against another user; circumvent the Service to arrange payment or booking outside the platform; misrepresent your identity, age, or verification status; scrape, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the operation of the Service; or use the Service to exploit or endanger a minor.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section, in addition to any other remedy available to us.

You are solely responsible for the content of any message, listing description, or review you post through the Service. We may remove content that violates these Terms.

To protect the integrity of the booking and payment process, we automatically strip phone numbers and email addresses from messages exchanged before a booking is confirmed.

Completed bookings may be logged as verified hours on a Guest's Immersion Ledger, based on confirmation from both parties. The Ledger reflects activity on the Service and is not an independent language-proficiency certification.

Reviews must reflect your own honest experience. We may remove reviews that violate these Terms or that we determine to be fraudulent.

The Service, including its design, text, graphics, and underlying software, is owned by Nearvoya or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, or distribute any part of the Service except as the Service itself permits (for example, downloading your own booking receipts).

You retain ownership of the content you submit (listing descriptions, photos, messages, reviews), but you grant Nearvoya a license to host, display, and distribute that content as needed to operate the Service.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

NEARVOYA DOES NOT CONTROL AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONDUCT OF ANY HOST OR GUEST, ON OR OFF THE SERVICE. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS AND FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY WHEN MEETING SOMEONE THROUGH THE SERVICE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEARVOYA WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEARVOYA'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO NEARVOYA IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS.

You agree to indemnify and hold Nearvoya harmless from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your interactions with another user.

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

You and Nearvoya agree to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service through binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies.

The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and will take place in, or be otherwise connected to, the State of New York.

YOU AND NEARVOYA EACH AGREE THAT ANY ARBITRATION WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular dispute, that dispute will proceed in court rather than in arbitration.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing Nearvoya Legal within 30 days of first agreeing to these Terms, stating clearly that you wish to opt out of arbitration.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, except where the Federal Arbitration Act applies to the arbitration agreement above.

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service if you violate these Terms, or for any other reason with reasonable notice, except where immediate action is necessary to protect the Service or its users.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Intellectual Property, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Dispute Resolution and Arbitration, and Governing Law — will survive.

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice through the Service before the changes take effect. Continuing to use the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Nearvoya regarding the Service.

Questions about these Terms can be sent to Nearvoya Legal.