Warning: My experience with Bureaucracy.es (Refused refund for completely unrendered services).
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my recent experience with the immigration agency Bureaucracy.es to warn anyone who might be considering them for their Spanish DNV/NLV applications.
My husband and I engaged them for our family application. Their payment structure is divided into three installments. We paid the 1st installment for the initial profile setup and consultations. I have no issues with this part — work was done, and we respect that this is non-refundable.
However, we also paid the 2nd installment of €700. On their own dashboard, this payment is explicitly labeled as a requirement "before documents are sent for translation." It is strictly an advance payment for the next stage.
Due to external factors beyond anyone's control (a Schengen visa refusal that we applied for independently), our family’s immigration process had to be completely stopped before the translation stage even began.
Bureaucracy.es did not translate a single document.
They incurred zero third-party costs for this stage.
They provided absolutely no service connected to this €700 payment.
When we kindly requested a refund for this specific advance payment, they flatly refused. They hid behind a blanket "non-refundable" clause in their Terms & Conditions, claiming the installment structure reflects "overall case management."
Under EU Consumer Law, a company cannot retain advance payments for services that were never provided — this is unjust enrichment. We have now initiated a formal chargeback process through our bank to recover the funds, and our bank is processing it under the "Services Not Provided" code.
TL;DR: If you decide to use Bureaucracy.es, be extremely cautious with their advance payments. They will aggressively enforce their non-refundable policy, even if they haven't lifted a finger to do the work you paid for. Protect your money and know your consumer rights!