Jaimito Cartero

This is not a good thing for Argentina. It wouldn't stop me from coming, but would move it down a notch.

biggestbopper

I think it is going to keep me from visiting Argentina again, at least for a while.

GUWonder

The European Union and India play this game of wanting to charge foreigners far more than local residents when it comes to visiting some government-funded tourism places. Argentina certainly is far from unique in the dual-pricing system.

Argentina has far more to offer than Uruguay, even as Uruguay has its own charms too. Amongst Uruguay's latest charms, there's the benefit of going to Uruguay and taking land transport over to Argentina to avoid Argentina's "visa reciprocity fee" while still managing to visit both countries and perhaps even save some money while at it.

Could the limited upside of this fee be that the airlines have to cut the airfare to/from EZE? I can only hope it plays out like the pre-departure visa requirement for Brazil has played out for airfares to/from GRU.

erik123

As they say "Uruguay's most successful export product is Kirchner".

ba739

Bottom line...Have they started to collect the Entry fee or not.

SoFlyOn

Not ... quite ... yet

britenbsas

The following information has now been added to the migraciones website:

Aplicable desde el 28/12/09
Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza

Applicable since 12/28/2009
Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza

http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/

So typically Argentine - first due to be implemented last year, delayed, announced for 20/12/09, newspapers here then quoting 01/01/10 and now 28/12/09

shah1md

The wife and I landed on 12-22 and saw the signs for the new entry fees. The flag representing the USA was covered up. We asked one of the employees when the fee will start and he mentioned 12-31-09 but didn´t seem confident in the date.

tcook052

Sad but this wouldn't change my mind to visit though some may stay away because of it and taking that risk in the middle of a downturn in travel is potentially asking for trouble for any location that relies on a strong tourism sector as BsAs does. The bad PR this new "fee" generates could be many times what it thing brings in, though I know there is the inevitable political angle to consider along with the financial side.

<shrug> Just MHO, of course.

heramato

It will start monday 28th.
Examples of the reciprocity fee:

Australians: u$s 100
Canadians: u$s 70
U.S. citizens: u$s 134

SoFlyOn

An article published in today's La Nacion, reiterates the government's intention to start collecting reciprocity fees at EZE starting next Monday, December 28: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?...64804&toi=6259 (Spanish only).

John

quegarcada

What makes this tax nastier than most is that it will be collected by surprise on arrival instead of in advance, as part of a visa process, allowing people to consider it in their plans. Moreover, those who purchased their tickets months ago could not have taken it into account when planning their trip. People like me, who are staying briefly (one night) in Buenos Aires on our way to Uruguay will simply skip Argentina in the future. Pity we can' do it this year as well...it is going to be a very costly stopover...

I guess it is going down the Argentine way...

maracle

Does anyone know which committees have oversight over US Immigration? I'd like to write to my Senator and Rep, and perhaps to any other Senators and Reps that have specific responsibilities for the departments that set these fees.

This isn't good for Argentina but I can understand why they feel they must retaliate with these fees. I also discovered that Bolivia has just started requiring US citizens to apply for a visa in advance and pay a fee for similar reasons (it was free and granted on arrival when I visited a couple of years ago). Add to that the fees in Chile, Brazil, and other places and I think it would be worth FTers weighing in.

I guess it's the judiciary committees?

britenbsas

Good luck with that. Looks like the fees being charged by the US are about to increase yet again to $140 for a non-immigrant tourist visa:

http://travel.state.gov/news/press/press_4603.html#

starlanet

I recall, when Canada requested a visa from Mexican citizens, it was from one day to another, and even worse, it wasn't about collecting a fee on arrival but following the all visa request procedures, which takes from days to weeks... Unfortunatelly it works this way. All governments are more or less this way...

On the other hand, these fees regulations were approved and announced in 2008, effective date for collecting the fee is being delayed for several months already. I understand your concern, I stayed briefly (4 days) in the US, and had to apply and pay for a visa $131 + $15 + mailing ($11)...It was a costly stopover as well. And had to apply for a new visa (the first one was valid for 6 months only) for an upcoming trip (which is actually a stopover too). So earlier this month, and four months after, I had to pay these nasty fees again. And I'm not against it, I have legitimate travel purposes, one would assume this helps in terms of security among other things, but it doesn't, some guy from Nigeria got a visa and now we have "new securities measures", I purchased my ticket already ...

Anyway, this fee will be valid for 10 years, so if you keep (save) your receipt, you won't have to pay for it again.

Happy Holidays ... and safe traveling!