Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, Britain, Ireland and other Western European nations do not
need a visa for tourist trips of up to ninety days - which can be
extended by a further sixty days - at the time of going to press,
but always verify this in advance with your local consulate, as the
situation can change.
You will need a valid passport and will have to fill in a
landing card on arrival and you will be given a stamp for
stays of thirty, sixty or ninety days. Staple your duplicate of the
landing card into your passport, next to your entrance stamp, as
you'll need it to leave the country and police may check it. If you
do lose it, it's rarely a serious problem, but you'll have to fill
in a new form at the border control. On entering the country, you
will also be given a customs declaration form . Duty is not
charged on used personal effects, books, and other articles for
non-commercial purposes, up to the value of $300. Make sure you
declare any valuable electronic items such as laptop computers, as
customs officers can be suspicious that you may be bringing them
into the country to sell.
You can extend your stay for a further sixty days by
presenting your passport to the main immigration department:
Dirección de Migraciones , at Av. Antártida Argentina 1350,
Retiro, in Buenos Aires (tel 011/4312 3288 or 4311 4118).
Alternatively, you could try leaving the country (best to do so
for at least 24 hours, perhaps by making the short hop to Colonia
del Sacramento) and returning to get a fresh stamp. This usually
works, but is frowned upon if done repeatedly, and the provision of
an extra stamp is totally at the discretion of the border guards.
Some people manage to stay for a year on tourist visas alone, by
using a combination of these brief trips abroad and extensions (
prórrogas ).
When leaving the country, you must obtain an exit stamp .
At certain controls (particularly in the north of the country,
where there is a lot of cross-border Mercosur traffic), it is often
up to you to ensure that the bus driver stops and waits while you
get this - otherwise drivers may not stop, assuming that all
passengers are Mercosur nationals, who don't need stamps. Not
getting your proper stamps will leave you facing fines and
considerable hassle later on in your trip. Be aware that in some
places (for example, Clorinda), your Argentine exit stamp is
actually given on the far side of the border, but check this with
the driver.
Visas for work or study (both valid for a maximum of
twelve months) must be obtained in advance from your consulate.
Students will first need to obtain a letter from their
proposed place of study, which offers a place on a course and has
been legalized by the Argentine Ministry of Education. This must be
presented to your respective consulate, along with medical and
birth certificates and three photos. The visa costs approximately
$100, plus around $50 for additional paperwork fees (processed in
approximately a week). For a working visa , you can either
get your prospective company to approach immigration in Argentina
with the contract and arrange for an entrance permit to be sent to
your respective consulate, or take your work contract, authorized
by an Argentinian public notary, to the consulate yourself and the
consulate will obtain the work permit from Buenos Aires. Expect the
process to take at least a month. Work permits cost $200, and the
visa itself another $100. Both student and working visas can be
extended only in the Dirección de Migraciones.
Visitors are legally obliged to carry their passports as
ID . You might get away with carrying a photocopy, but don't
forget to copy your entrance stamp and landing card as well. In the
majority of cases, this is acceptable to police, but getting a copy
certified by a public notary increases its credibility.