Terms and conditions

Agreement & scope

These Terms and Conditions govern orders and services provided by Universal Genetics, LLC and, where identified in your case documents, Advanced Genetics (Florida and New York) or Advanced Immigration Genetics (“Universal Genetics,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), including payment, cancellation, collection, testing, and reporting. The service provider for your case is identified in your accepted order or signed agreement. Review them before placing an order. By submitting an order and agreeing to these terms in the application or order process, you accept the terms that apply to that order. Merely viewing this website does not place an order.

Your accepted written quote or order, signed informed consent and chain-of-custody documentation, and applicable agency instructions form part of the requirements for your case. A case-specific written agreement controls over a conflicting general website provision to the extent permitted by law. These terms do not replace a participant’s required consent. If a mandatory legal requirement conflicts with a provision here, the legal requirement controls.

Payment terms

• Full payment before analysis: Full payment is required before laboratory analysis begins and before results are released, subject to any obligation imposed by applicable law. Any different payment arrangement must be confirmed by us in writing and remain consistent with applicable reporting obligations.
• Partial payments: We may accept a deposit or other partial payment to open a case and arrange services such as collection, kit preparation, shipping, coordination, and receipt or storage of samples. Accepting a partial payment does not waive the remaining balance or the requirement for full payment before analysis. Partial payments are nonrefundable under the cancellation rules below.
• Charges and balances: The accepted quote or order determines the case price and agreed charges. Payments, including retained deposits or partial payments, are credited when calculating any additional balance. Charges for completed work, dispatched kits, incurred expenses, and services committed under the accepted order remain payable if a case is paused or cancelled. Any balance due on cancellation will be determined from the accepted agreement and applicable law.
• Results do not determine the fee: Charges are for the ordered services and are not contingent on confirming a biological relationship or obtaining an immigration, legal, or administrative outcome.
• Payment method: Use the secure payment instructions we provide for your case. Do not send card details by email.

Cancellation, pauses & refunds

Partial payments, including deposits, are nonrefundable. This rule is stated in our relationship-testing informed consent and applies independently of the three-month refund cutoff. If you pay more than a stated minimum deposit but less than the total case fee, the entire partial payment remains nonrefundable. A nonrefundable deposit or partial payment does not become refundable when the remaining balance is paid. The refund provisions for fully paid orders apply only to amounts otherwise eligible for refund. A voluntary cancellation, pause, change of mind, or concern about the possible test outcome does not create a refund entitlement. A refund or other remedy required by applicable law remains available.

• Requesting a pause or cancellation: Contact us promptly in writing and identify your case. We will confirm the status, work already performed or committed, any amount due, and how the request affects services not yet performed. Services already provided and lawful disclosures already made cannot be reversed. For an agency-directed case, a confirmed withdrawal will be followed by a status notice to the original requesting agency that the laboratory case has been closed and we are no longer proceeding with the analysis under that order, subject to applicable law and any continuing reporting obligation. Other involved agencies receive a status notice only where needed for authorized case coordination or otherwise lawfully required. Questions about withdrawing an immigration or other government application must be addressed to the agency handling that application.
• Unpaid cases on hold: If a case is placed on hold for nonpayment, we will confirm the six-month hold period and payment deadline in writing. If full payment is not received by that deadline and no extension has been agreed in writing, we will treat the laboratory case as abandoned and close it administratively. For an agency-directed case, we will then notify the original requesting agency, and any other agency entitled to a necessary status update, that we are no longer proceeding with the analysis under that order. Closure does not shorten the minimum sample-retention period, remove a legal preservation duty, or recall a report already issued. Any request to reopen a closed case is subject to laboratory acceptance, sample suitability, valid consent, current agency requirements, and disclosed fees.
• Case processing: Processing can include opening and coordinating a case, preparing or dispatching kits, scheduling or conducting collections, receiving or storing samples, and laboratory work. Administrative processing, collection, and shipping are distinct from laboratory analysis and may incur agreed charges before analysis begins.
• Minimum retention after processing starts: For a fully paid order cancelled after case processing has begun, we retain a minimum of $100, together with applicable shipping and handling charges and other agreed charges for completed work, incurred expenses, or committed services, to the extent permitted by law. If the order was paid in installments, a larger nonrefundable partial payment remains nonrefundable; the $100 minimum is already included in that larger retained amount. The same work, expense, or payment will not be counted twice.
• Fully paid orders before processing: A fully paid order cancelled within two business days of being placed, before case processing begins, is eligible for a refund, subject to fees already incurred under the accepted order and applicable law. This provision does not make a partial payment refundable.
• Fully paid orders within three months: For other cancellations before three months have elapsed from starting the case, we review the payment against the nonrefundable amounts and applicable agreed charges described above. Any refund is limited to an otherwise refundable amount remaining for services not performed or committed, after those charges and incurred expenses. The review does not make an agreed nonrefundable payment refundable.
• Three-month cutoff: No discretionary refund of any kind will be issued after three months from starting a case with Universal Genetics. This cutoff applies separately from the nonrefundable partial-payment rule and does not limit a remedy required by law.
• Written exceptions and timing: Any discretionary exception, case credit, or transfer must be approved by management in writing. An approved refund is normally processed within 30 days, or sooner when applicable law requires. Your payment provider may need additional time to post the credit.

Refund review: We assess refund requests under the agreement accepted for the order, the signed informed consent, payment records, completed work, incurred or committed charges, and applicable law. A review does not guarantee a refund. You may request a written breakdown of the amounts retained and any refundable balance. Any refund required by law remains available regardless of the restrictions above.

A request to withdraw consent or revoke an authorization is reviewed under the signed consent and applicable law, as explained in our Privacy Policy. Financial obligations, permission to perform further testing, and authority to retain or disclose records are reviewed separately according to the rules that apply to each.

Shipping & handling

Once a kit has been dispatched, shipping and handling charges already incurred are ordinarily non-refundable, subject to applicable law. Charges may vary with destination, service level, required documentation, and courier costs. We will explain the applicable amount in your case quote or payment instructions.

For agency-directed cases, kit routing follows the requesting authority’s procedures. Do not send or handle a kit contrary to those instructions.

Sample collection & handling

• Collection and identification: Follow the instructions for your test and provide accurate participant and consent information. When chain of custody is required, participants and collectors must complete the identity, specimen-labeling, collection, and signature attestations accurately. A person consenting for a minor or a person unable to give consent must have the legal authority required for that case.
• Authorized testing and possible outcomes: We perform the authorized relationship test and analytical checks needed for that test. A test may confirm or exclude a biological relationship, or may be inconclusive. No particular outcome or probability is guaranteed.
• Additional samples and quality procedures: If a sample is insufficient, contaminated, or otherwise unsuitable, we may require additional samples or recollection. Laboratory directors may require additional analyses or other laboratory procedures to satisfy the quality guidelines and standards applicable to the authorized test. We will explain any additional customer charges before additional chargeable services are ordered.
• Timing and technical limitations: Quality review, additional procedures, recollection, missing information, or agency coordination may delay the final report. Stated turnaround times are estimates unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing. To the extent permitted by law, the laboratory is not responsible for an inability to produce a result because of the insufficiency or nature of a specimen, or for delays resulting from necessary quality procedures or circumstances outside its reasonable control. A cancellation or refund request is evaluated under the payment and cancellation provisions above.
• Retention and later testing: Under our relationship-testing informed consent, samples are kept for at least six months to allow re-testing. Contact us for the retention dates applicable to your samples. A pause or cancellation does not guarantee indefinite storage or a future test without new collection, authorization, or fees. Later testing depends on sample availability and suitability, valid consent, and applicable agency requirements. See our Privacy Policy for retention and destruction procedures.

Testing, agency reporting & copies

We review and validate results under the procedures appropriate to the ordered test. Any preliminary information is subject to final review and may change before a signed report is issued. A DNA report does not guarantee any legal, immigration, or administrative outcome.

Immigration reporting: Under the signed informed consent, completed immigration test results will be released directly to the government agency that originally requested the test, such as a U.S. Embassy, Consulate, or USCIS, in accordance with the authorization, applicable agency instructions, and law. Other legal or agency-directed reports are delivered to the recipient authorized for that case. Required or validly authorized agency reporting is handled according to those obligations, including when a client asks to pause or cancel a case or has an outstanding balance.

Where authorized or otherwise permitted or required by law, we may communicate relevant administrative status to an agency involved in the case, including that a case is pending, paused, cancelled, or closed, and an unpaid balance where necessary to explain the status. Disclosures are limited to the applicable authorization or other lawful basis, as described in our Privacy Policy. We review requests to withdraw consent or revoke an authorization before further activity as required by law.

Legal appearances & expert services

The standard DNA testing price does not include legal consultations, deposition or testimony preparation, court appearances, conferences, travel, or other expert or staff time required because of the case. Where you request these services or have accepted responsibility for them in the signed informed consent or another agreement, you are responsible for the applicable professional fees and expenses to the extent permitted by law.

Current hourly rates, anticipated time, travel costs, and any required advance payment will be confirmed in writing. A fee schedule accepted for your case controls where applicable. A historical rate printed as a dated reference on a form is not a promise of the current rate. Where permitted by law, payment may be required before the applicable consultation, deposition, appearance, or travel.

A subpoena does not by itself make expert services or associated expenses free of charge. We comply with valid legal process and any controlling law or court order concerning attendance, records, compensation, and payment timing. Any contractual payment requirement remains subject to those obligations.

Confidentiality & data security

We restrict access to personal, sample, and test information to authorized personnel and release records under the case’s instructions and applicable law. We use administrative, physical, and technical safeguards intended to protect information, but no security measure can guarantee absolute protection. Our Privacy Policy explains our data practices in more detail.

Limitations of service & liability

Testing depends on sample quality, available participants, laboratory methods, and the information supplied for the case. Although our procedures are intended to produce accurate results, testing carries a possibility of error, omission, or an inconclusive result. We cannot promise a particular biological relationship, probability, decision by an agency or court, or completion date when necessary quality procedures or factors outside our control intervene.

Participants and persons arranging testing are responsible for their authority to submit samples, the accuracy of information they provide, and their decisions or actions concerning the test results. To the extent permitted by law, the releases and assumptions of responsibility accepted in the signed informed consent apply to Universal Genetics and the authorized collection agents or facilities involved in the case. This includes the consent’s provisions concerning authorized collection and testing, specimen limitations, necessary testing delays, and consequences of the test outcome.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, our aggregate liability for all claims arising from or relating to a test or service will not exceed the amount actually paid to us for that test or service. These provisions do not exclude liability or remedies that cannot legally be limited, including any non-waivable consumer rights. Mandatory legal requirements control over any broader wording in a consent, quote, or these Terms.

Dispute resolution

Updates to these terms

We may update these Terms and post a new effective date on this page. The version accepted for an existing order remains the version applicable to that order unless the parties agree otherwise or a change is required by law. Updated terms apply to new orders accepted after the revised version is published and provided for acceptance during the order process. Publication alone does not amend an existing order or signed informed consent.

Legal authority & compliance

Each participant or legally authorized representative must provide the consent and documentation required for the case. A person arranging testing for a minor or a person unable to consent confirms that they have the required legal authority. By providing case information, you confirm that it is accurate and true to the best of your knowledge. You must follow the applicable identity-verification, specimen-labeling, collection, shipping, and agency instructions. Do not collect, submit, or transfer someone else’s sample without lawful authority.

We may decline, pause, require correction or recollection, or close a case when required payment, consent, identification, suitable samples, documentation, or agency instructions are missing; the information or chain of custody is unreliable; or proceeding would conflict with applicable law or laboratory requirements. We will explain the requirements relevant to your case and any additional services or charges before they are ordered. Financial consequences are determined under the accepted agreement, the cancellation rules, and applicable law.

Additional provisions & contact

Service-specific terms, prices, and deadlines may be provided in your written quote or order instructions. Please contact us before ordering if a term is unclear or you need a particular reporting format or agency procedure confirmed.

Universal Genetics, LLC
info@universalgenetics.com
1-888-362-5228