I was planning on taking my son down to Argentina in May. As an airline employee, we only pay a ZED fare which is about $150 including taxes, so this will about double our cost. If we still decide to go, we'll have the same budget, so we'll spend that much less money to the small restaurant's, shops etc. I think many will do the same which means Argentina won't really come out ahead on this.

If I remember correctly, after 9-11, the USA required background checks to all who entered the country and that is the reason for the $131.00. Is Argentina going to spend this money the same way and conduct extensive background and security checks, or is it just a tax?

It's merely a way to raise revenue. It's basically an entry tax payable on arrival - nothing to do with security.

John

This poster has it right.

A small fee generates revenue. A large fee means they get nothing at all and the small B&Bs, guides, etc. are punished because the budget traveler has gone elsewhere. Greed Kills.

You don't remember correctly.

The money is an application fee so that a 23 year-old consular employee can decide whether an individual is worthy enough of being eligible to enter the US. Thankfully the US gov't doesn't have ANY jurisdiction to go snooping around in non-USers' backgrounds. The applicant needs to supply his/her own documents.

:D

This assumes that something drives more visitors from the rest of the world to visit. Something has to motivate them. A reduction in US tourists will have no effect by itself, it will be lower prices that result from lower demand.

In effect, what you are implying is that Argentina will get less tourism revenue. Whether the reduction in tourist spending is balanced out by the $131 fee is another question, though one could assume that the number of tourists driven away from Argentina by a $131 cost increase would be similar to those attracted by a $131 cost decrease (very hand-wavy and assuming that US and European tourism numbers are similar).

This, implemented as a $131 tax on ex-US one-ways and round trips, would be a better idea in some ways. While it might initially reduce tourism numbers, it wouldn't create the bad vibe on arrival that a $131 fee does. Such a fee, if not well advertised, would poison the memories of a lot of travelers. This is a good way to reduce your long term tourism numbers; unhappy travelers are great negative advertisements. If the fee is well advertised, it would be no different from a $131 increase in ticket-price.

Of course a $131 fee tacked on to tickets would not be targeted at US citizens; it would hit all travel originating in the US (round-trips originating in Argentina could be excluded).

The US doesn't need jurisdiction when other countries provide security information reciprocally (e.g. Canada).

According to the US State Department, the adjusted visa refusal rate in 2007 for argentine visa applicants was only 4%.

John

What does 'adjusted' mean?

I think the problem with the State Department's $131 visa fee is that they're being rather heavy handed. Does it really cost $131 to process a typical visa? It certainly seems like it should not.

I feel the same way when I have to pay about $30 extra to renew my kids' passports at the Post Office because there's a requirement to show up in person (they're afraid of parental child abduction). You can argue this is for a good cause, but does it really cost $30 extra to have a postal worker examine my and my wife's drivers' licenses and send the application on its way? It's, at most, a 5 minute process.

I guess there is no natural constituency to keep State Department fees down -- especially for foreigners. It's the same reason that rental-car taxes are so high in the United States -- you soak the people who can't object.

This doesn't make it right however, and when it comes to international relations, it seems to make it 100% wrong.

I would imagine it discounts "multiple rejects" (i.e., the same person reapplying and re-rejected, at the cost of $131 each time).

I am arriving in EZE on 12/29 this year and departing on 1/8. If I understand correctly, I will not have to the pay fee since I am arriving prior to the new regulation requiring the fee. Will I be asked to pay retroactively as I leave (in addition to the 54 pesos fee or whatever it is now)?

The adjusted refusal rate is calculated by first subtracting from the number of visas that were initially refused (referred to as "refusals"), the number of visas that were subsequently issued after further administrative consideration (referred to as "overcomes")--or, in short, refusals minus overcomes.

http://www.gao.gov/htext/d08967.html

John

You will not have to pay the fee (assuming the government does not change the date of implementation, which I would regard as unlikely. If anything it might take effect later if the infrastructure is not in place in time).

The exit tax is US$18 for international departures (or whatever that corresponds to in pesos or euros).

John

Which they're not.

As tabulated by INDEC, the Argentine institute responsible for statistics, people arriving from the US and Canada represented 17% of arrivals at EZE for Q1 08, well behind Europe with 28%.

But with the tumble in the value of the Euro, look for European visitation to be down next year. US visitation will also fall, though, as there are many more places that Americans can now affordably visit.

And all visitation may be down if the stock markets and global economy keep getting clobbered every day!