What a sub-agent should expect from a master agent

Almost everything written about master agent arrangements is addressed to the institution. The agency on the other side of the arrangement gets far less attention, and carries a good deal of the risk. This is written for them.

What you are actually buying

Signing with a master agent should give you three things: access to institutions you could not reach directly, application handling that is faster than doing it yourself, and commission terms you can plan around. If an arrangement gives you only the first, you are a referral source, not a partner.

Six questions worth asking before you sign

• Which institutions, by name, and at what level? "A network of universities" is not an answer. Ask for the list and check which ones actually accept applications through that channel this intake.
• What is the commission split, and when does each part become payable? The rate matters less than the trigger. Ask what happens if a student defers, withdraws in week three, or is refused a visa.
• Who owns the student relationship? If the master agent contacts your student directly after enrolment, you need to know that now, not later.
• What is the turnaround on an application? Ask for a number in working days, and ask what happens when it is missed.
• What training do you get, and how often? You cannot sell a programme whose entry requirements you have to look up mid-conversation.
• What happens to files in progress if either side ends the arrangement? This is the clause nobody reads and everybody eventually needs.

The part that is easy to overlook

Personal data. When you pass a student's transcript, passport scan and financial documents up the chain, you are transferring personal data, and Vietnam's Decree 13/2023 on personal data protection applies to that transfer. The consent you collected needs to cover it, and it needs to be recorded. "The family agreed on the phone" is not a basis you can show anyone later.

A fair test of the relationship

After one intake, ask yourself two things: did the institution list actually open doors, and did commission arrive when the contract said it would? If either answer is no, the second intake is the time to renegotiate, not the time to hope.

How VNIS works with agency partners: Master Agent in Vietnam →