Visa Reciprocity fee to start December 20, 2009
 

The US Embassy has confirmed, that beginning December 20, 2009, US citizens entering Argentina only at EZE, will be charged a reciprocity/visa fee of US$131 upon entry. The visa will be good for multiple entries, and valid for 10 years. (Note the Argentine government is not calling this a "visa", merely a reciprocity fee).

This confirms the information that was posted on the web site of the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones today.

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

In addition, Canadian citizens will be charged US$70 for a single entry visa, and Australians US$100. Payment can be in Argentine pesos, US dollars, by credit card, or by traveller's check (at the current exchange rate if paying in other than with a US$-denominated instrument).

This is the culmination of a new law that was passed some time ago, but had not been implemented until now:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argen...ee-likely.html

Note, there is currently no ATM prior to immigration (although this may change), so travelers will need to have the appropriate form of payment handy.

John

The good news is that its valid for 10 years.....

Great move to boost tourism! (Sarcasm.)

I myself have shunned the rest of Latin America for these ridiculous fees. Sad that Argentina has jumped on their ship. So, fly to MVD first and then Buquebus-it across the river.

Valid for 10 years, or valid for up to 10 years if in the unlikely position of arriving into Argentina on the day a US passport is issued?

If this functions in the manner of Chile's visa reciprocity fee for US citizens, it will almost never be valid for 10 years.

This is the text of the email message from the US Embassy in BsAs:

Airport Entry Fee
December 11, 2009

This warden message is being issued to alert U.S. citizens that on December 20, 2009, the Government of Argentina will begin charging American Citizens visiting Argentina for business or tourism an entry fee of $131 U.S. dollars. The fee will be collected only at Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport. Once paid, the fee permits multiple entries into Argentina for ten years in accordance with United States visa reciprocity. Americans may pay in dollars, by credit card, or with travelers checks.

U.S. citizens may also call the Office of Overseas Citizens Services in the U.S. for the latest travel information. The Office of Overseas Citizens Services can be reached from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, M-F, at 1-888-407-4747, or if calling from outside the U.S., at (202)-501-4444. For any emergencies involving American citizens, please contact the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit of the U.S. Embassy’s Consular Section, located at 4300 Avenida Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires;
telephone+54-11-5777-4354; after hours emergency telephone +54-11-5777-4873; ACS unit fax +54-11-5777-4293; e-mail [email protected]; web page http://argentina.usembassy.gov.

Americans living or traveling in Argentina are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Argentina. Americans without internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

Airside transit at EZE is a possibility, but even then how likely is it that the combined cost of an EZE-MVD flight + ground transport costs to Buenos Aires is going to be much cheaper than simply paying the visa recirpocity fee + ground transport costs to the center of the city?

Given the cost in time and money of going via MVD instead of just to EZE, I just don't see this being a very good option.

This will too often be yet another collection of long lines to make a lousy impression upon visitors.

.......s. My passport expires in 2011, and I'll be there in 3 weeks.

Lucky to dodge this though my partner would have just used her other passport.

On our recent 2 week jaunt around Argentina, our casual and random observation was that outside of Buenos Aires, there appeared to be be scant few tourists from the affected countries anyway, and most of whom we saw were from the European Union and Switzerland. In Bs As, I would say most of the non-domestic tourists we saw were from latin countries of the Americas.

That's pretty much reflective of the destinations there. But on a per day expenditure basis, I would be surprised if the average US citizen visiting Argentina spends less money on a per day basis there than the average EU citizen visiting Argentina.

So speaking of the visa reciprocity fee and the validity of its duration:

Sorry to hear that in your case this may -- if it works out like Chile -- be valid for less than even 3 years.

Well, fortunately my Chile one is 8 years old and has gotten a lot of use, and will again in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, the timing is going to be an Argentina fee in a few weeks and then an Argentina and a Chile fee in 2011.

Even if your passport expires, why cant you use the still valid Argentina stamp and the new valid passport....???? The same does work with a US Visa in a no longer valid Argentina passport.

Let's see if it's actually implemented this time. When the fee was first announced a firm implementation date was set for January 1 2009 but it never happened. Christina does have problems with decision-making - she couldn't even decide whether the clocks were going forward an hour for summer until a couple of days before :D I guess it's more likely this time round though given the information on the migraciones and US Embassy websites.

Wow.... more than 100 hits to this thread in a few hours... this must be a record for this forum... :D ^

But this isn't a visa. If it works like Chile, it is a "life of the passport" receipt. So, anyone wanting to visit the A/B/C countries for the first time on the same trip will now encounter $393 per person in fees.

I understand the above point... still, I would like to hear reports of tourists trying to use a stamp in an expired Visa.... me thinks that if your cleavage is hot enough you will get by.....

:D

This upcoming change hasn't been listed on Timatic yet, so it's unclear what the validity will be (whether it will be up to 10 years/unexpired passport). The government has probably forgotten to inform the necessary authorities ... :rolleyes:

The migraciones web announcement gives even less information than the email from the US Embassy in BsAs. Although the Canadian fee is for a single entry, what is the validity for Australians? How much passport space does this "not a visa" require?

I presume also that traveler's checks will have to be denominated in USD (as opposed to CAD or AUD).

¡Qué quilombo!

John

Unless ... the female immigration agent is less endowed than the tourist (or do immigration agents have good "health" insurance? :p)

John

Or a gay guy...in which case, no amount of "hot" cleavage will make the slightest difference:D

Of course! It's the only way of doing things in Argentina :)

I wonder: does anyone in the governments imposing these "reciprocity fees" ever calculate whether more money is brought in through these fees or more money is lost through tourists deciding not to pay these high fees?

In today's times, with competition for tourist dollars so intense, from destinations around the world, was this really a smart thing to do by the K. administration? Its as if they are operating in a bubble, thinking "what more can we mess up?"

I figured (awhile ago) that when they don't need too many people anymore for departure tax booths they will open up the reciprocity fee booths.

smart thing done and K Regime....... hmmm, why does the word oxymoron come to mind....?

I know what you mean but I do see some justice in there being reciprocity.
If it's too much the complain to your government about it ..

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/10.2.012; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1; en-us) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) WicKed/7.1.12344)

reciprocity is justice 100%.... now if this is properly timed.... hmmmmm.....

I don't disagree. I have a friend who has probably spent near $1000 for US visa applications and other than one short-term permitted visit (where she didn't overstay, and returned as planned) has been denied every other time.

Muy mal! :mad:

I've spent and I've spent in Argentina, while virtually ignoring a perfectly good Chilean visa in my passport.

I guess it's time to return to Chile, as Argentina is unappreciative of my efforts, regardless of reciprocity. :td:

Gaucho, you know there's almost no place I'd rather be, but this is a really, really poor decision on the part of the Argentine government (and you also know how much I hate the visa processes of my own country! :mad: :mad: )

I guess it's time to get some mileage out of that Chilean visa I already paid for. :(

Edited to add: I recently started in on the delicious Baron B from our last tasting. I hope to enjoy it again someday as it is a fantastic sparkling white at a terrific price point.

I guess I'm in a bit of luck since my next entry will be into USH, so no fee there.

In general I agree with the concept of the reciprocity fees, but this has to be cutting into tourism rates at a time when any country in the world would want to do what it could to increase tourism.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Information is your friend...

Amen to that. Why do USers always believe that they make up the vast majority of a country's tourists? Especially one that is far far away from the US?

So true reciprocity should figure in the (US) rate of denial - in which case the fee would be (and should be) higher... plus the lost earnings from spending the day at a US consulate... plus the cost of making the appointment...

In other words, $131 is a bargain.

Don't forget ticket cancellation fees. Don;t you have to have a confirmed ticket when applying for a U.S. visa?

It is indeed a bargain as $131 represents a much smaller percentage of the average US salary than it does as a % of the average Argentine salary. Relatively, the fee is much more expensive for an Argentine and "true" reciprocity would take this into account

Not sure if that's a requirement in some countries but my SO (successfully) applied for his US visa here in Buenos Aires before we had purchased any tickets

Gee, this sucks. We specifically chose to visit Argentina over the holidays because of the lack of a visa fee. We arrive on Dec 27, 6 days after the fee is supposed to start.

Here's the story:

We've never been to South America. United was running reduced mileage awards to S. America -- 40k miles RT, which is a great deal, especially when we get our domestic stopover for Christmas to visit the family in the midwest. Our choices were to fly to Brazil or Argentina, as that's the only places UA flies in SA. When we realize that Brazil charges $130 visa fee, the choice was clear -- we'll go to Argentina!

Now do you think we are completely alone in this course of thinking among the American populace? I doubt it. I think there are plenty of Americans who have never been to South America, and just want to go ANYWHERE on the continent. Argentina was the logical choice. This will probably sound crazy, but when redeeming FF miles for flights, and hotel points for stays, the damn Visa fee becomes a very non-trivial expense. Especially for families.

Yes, yes, I know the arguments. The US hits Argentines with the same fee. And it's small, in real cost of living dollars, compared to what they pay. But guess what? That's all irrelevant. If Argentina wants to be the premier Latin American destination, they ought to recognize that this is a very real impediment to tourism. Next time, I'll take my dollars elsewhere. FWIW, I know 4 different groups of people headed to BA over the holidays this year -- guess how many I know going to Rio? NONE. Bet that changes in the future.

I'll certainly advise my folks, who are also booked on refundable miles tickets next spring.

Already is, arguably. From my past few visits, I've noted lots of tourists from Europe and Latin America. Not so many from Anglo N. America. In some small-scale lodgings in obscure places, I've even been noting the presence of independent travelers from mainland China. Don't kid yourself that a visa fee boycott by tourists from Anglo countries is going to have that much of an effect.

I'm not disputing that ARG is already the premier destination -- I'm saying that it might not be in the future though. Nothing stays the same forever.

I'm also not saying that there will be an active boycott of the visa fee. It's more along the lines of a passive decision -- if all else is equal between going to Brazil and Argentina, but Brazil was going to cost a family $500 more due to Visa fees, Argentina would win. But what if it's equal, as it soon will be?

If I were a merchant or involved with the tourism sector in BA, I'd be pretty upset about this. They just lost some of their competitive advantage, just so the gov't can claim an 'act of justice'.

Like most here, I had been aware that this might be coming since it was first mentioned about a year ago. Still, this is unfortunate. I have trip to EZE schedule in March 2010 that will require me to pay this fee. This will likely mean I won't be able to afford the side-trip to Salta that I was hoping to make, which is a big bummer. :(

There were a bunch of booths being built next to the passport control line up last week. I am guessing those would be the fee collecting booths.

$70US per single entry for Canadians. Wow.

Dont Canadians have the option to use the stamp for 10 years like the US passport holders..???

Kind of interesting that the decision makers who are planning the trips are saying that the fee will impact their decesion of where to travel. Those not spending the $$'s on where to travel are saying that it will have no effect??

Wonder who I should put my money on? ....guess time will tell

X

Per the Migraciones web site, evidently not. Maybe Canada only issues one-use visas while the U.S. issues 10 year ones? Canadian do get off lightly as Chile charges USD 125 for the reciprocity fee.

The Argentinean embassy in Canada helpfully (being facetious) doesn't have the reciprocity fee info posted.