90 Minutes In Buenos Aires

[mjohnstone]

The experience of a tourist expelled from Buenos Aires for not having paid entry/reciprocity fee.

An ode to bureaucracy, inefficiency, lack of interest and long term perspective.

http://www.perfil.com/columnistas/La-experiencia-de-un-turista-expulsado-de-Buenos-Aires-20130524-0011.html


Sorry! It's in spanish. Google translate does a pretty good job, all things considered.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

With its own house in order, Chile accepted into Visa Waiver Program and will probably eliminate its own "reciprocity" charge: http://tinyurl.com/mq4xcyv (unlikely any time soon in Argentina).

 

[Montauk_Project]

no country on earth will let you in without the propper visa or fee. Try going to the US without a visa, or Brazil, or Indonesia even. The problem is that the airline let them board and they were not warned about this beforehand.
Always check websites before travelling! A US passport is not a "get into any country free" card.

 

[camberiu]

With its own house in order, Chile accepted into Visa Waiver Program and will probably eliminate its own "reciprocity" charge: http://tinyurl.com/mq4xcyv (unlikely any time soon in Argentina).

How can this be, as according to some here, the Chileans are moving to Argentina in droves? They have no education, no healthcare, and the gap between the haves and have not is huge. Have the Americans gone mad by waving visa requirements from the Chileans?

 

[sleslie23]

I hate to seem unsympathetic to his story, but he did show up without the proper documentation. The same thing would have happened in Sao Paulo and any other country where visas or reciprocity fees are required (and not payable at the point of arrival).

 

[trennod]

Yep, I think the onus is on the travellers and these ones clearly failed. Isnt the minimum you do prior to travelling to a country is read-up on the visa/entry requirements to make sure you have them covered?

 

[thomasb]

I once had a visa misunderstanding entering the US after an 11 hour flight (before 2001). Something similar happened, except that I was thrown in an Airport cell for 3 hours, then escorted in to my return flight in cuffs by 2 huge armed airport security guys parading through the entire plane (of course they had me enter after everyone else was already seated and my seat was the very last row).

So yea, I agree with Montauk.

 

[sleslie23]

http://travel.state....ravel_1744.html

Who knew I needed a visa to enter Botswana. Good thing I checked before I boarded my flight.

 

[Montauk_Project]

Every few months there is some story on Argentine TV that an Argentine goes to Spain to give a paper in a scientific conference, compete in a sports event, etc. and ends up held in a cell for 48 hours. They are always dark skinned. And there is no visa required for Argies to go to Spain.
My husband went to Spain with an official invitation for a film festival and he was scared shitless that he would get stopped. We had a plan and everything.

The airline failed, not migration.

 

[camberiu]

Every few months there is some story on Argentine TV that an Argentine goes to Spain to give a paper in a scientific conference, compete in a sports event, etc. and ends up held in a cell for 48 hours.

Yeah, they tried pulling that crap with Brazilian tourists too. There was swift retaliation where Spaniards were given the same treatment upon arrival in Brazil and they changed their tune right after.