A Student Visa Or University Admission - Which Comes First?

[cosmolat]

Hi All,

Apologies if this is redundant. I've been lurking for a few months but can't recall a precise answer to this question.

I am getting conflicting answers from the Argentine consulate in my home city (Toronto) and UBA. UBA claims you must first have a student visa, and only then can you apply to any of their programs (in this case, a masters degree). The consulate says you must obtain a letter of admission from an Argentine university before you may receive a student visa.

Can anyone who may have been through this process shed some light? Getting conflicting answers to this sort of thing seems to be pretty standard, but I'd like to get it sorted out as soon as possible, since we plan to fly into BA for the beginning of November.

Thank you!

 

[Peony54]

I don't know who you talked to at UBA but that makes absolutely no sense. You need to be accepted into a program before you are able to acquire the student visa.

 

[Tilda]

http://estudiarenargentina.siu.edu.ar/aplicacion.php?ah=st542af2ba63083&ai=estudiar||19000030&id_idioma=3&mapa_grande=&noticia=&contacto=&institucion_universitaria=&mapa_del_sitio=&declaracion_legal=&id_menu=30#Do_I_need_to_get_a_visa_before_traveling_


http://estudiarenargentina.siu.edu.ar/aplicacion.php?id_menu=7

Yes, I have heard of tinyURL but this will have to do. Logically you should not be able to get a student visa without at least a tentative acceptance from an educational institution. The links above gives you some pointers that you can bring to the consulate to further your conversation.

Now, it does say that you can enter Argentina as a tourist and then change that status on Argentine soil.

If you get here in November, and your masters course doesn't start until February you may not be able to get a student visa until February. Thus you will need to apply for an extension of you tourist visa. But this is Argentina and overstaying your tourist visa seems very common.

Make sure that you have your birthcertificat, and previous titles certified in USA before you come over, if needed. You will still need to do the runs here in Buenos Aires to get translations, certifications and more stamps done.

Do you speak Spanish?

 

[cosmolat]

I don't know who you talked to at UBA but that makes absolutely no sense. You need to be accepted into a program before you are able to acquire the student visa.

This makes sense to me based on my experience with the student visa process in Canada. We (my partner and I) have been corresponding with the transfer student department at UBA (pases de universidad), but I suppose it makes sense that the consulate would actually know the process.

 

[PhilipDT]

The consulate and Peony are correct.

You can of course come here on a tourist visa, apply for the university and go to immigration to apply for residency.

 

[cosmolat]

If you get here in November, and your masters course doesn't start until February you may not be able to get a student visa until February. Thus you will need to apply for an extension of you tourist visa. But this is Argentina and overstaying your tourist visa seems very common.

Make sure that you have your birthcertificat, and previous titles certified in USA before you come over, if needed. You will still need to do the runs here in Buenos Aires to get translations, certifications and more stamps done.

Do you speak Spanish?

Thanks, those details are helpful. Is birth certificate required? I had thought to leave it in a safe place in Toronto, as I don't want it to get lost or stolen. Is it a must have in your experience, or would an authenticated copy be sufficient?

My partner is entirely fluent and I am "functional" so he's taken charge of most of this stuff.