Bringing several bags of electronics

[rob0001]

over 17 years I have come in many times with all kinds of weird stuff.
Immigration asks to see your passport. They dont have anything to do with your bags, you have to go thru immigration before you even get to bag claim.
Customs sit, bored, on a chair, watching the screen of the xray machine.
Probably 1 time out of ten, they look at me and ask, what is this? pointing at something on the screen.
Last September I came in with an aluminum handrail for my building, in bunch of parts. Aluminum pipe sections, straight and curved, up to 1 meter, brackets, hardware.
They asked, I told them, they never opened the bag.
They never ask for ID, they can tell by accent I am not Argentine. Customs never had me produce a passport.
Maybe 2 or 3 times out of 30 or 40, they have actually opened a bag or box, and then, when I explain its hobby or personal, they wave me thru.
I frequently travel with both a mac and an windows laptop, 2 phones, an ebook, and an ipad, sometimes with dj mixers or small amps or auxilury speakers. They wanted to see my sewing machine once. Once they did they were profoundly uninterested.
Never once had them ask about any of those things.
I would guess that an analog synth, and you saying "I am not a professional musician, its my hobby", would get thru easily.
20 iphones, or multiple new in packaging computers, cameras, watches, thats what sets them off.

 

[rob0001]

You are not a tourist, obviously...he likely is a tourist.
The issue is, as a tourist, is it logical to bring in 6 bags of electronics for a 3 months vacation. He then has suitcases of clothes and normal stuff for his vacation...that's a lot of stuff. Maybe he goes through without a hitch maybe not. It works flawlessly until it doesn't, hahaha. Let's see what happens to him.

 

[Ries]

You are not a tourist, obviously...he likely is a tourist.
The issue is, as a tourist, is it logical to bring in 6 bags of electronics for a 3 months vacation. He then has suitcases of clothes and normal stuff for his vacation...that's a lot of stuff. Maybe he goes through without a hitch maybe not. It works flawlessly until it doesn't, hahaha. Let's see what happens to him.

I dont wear bermuda shorts, sports team logos, and expedition gear, no.
But I am obviously not a Porteno, and the customs guys have no idea, without looking at my passport/dni/plane tickets if I am a tourist or not.
For over a decade I was on 90 day tourist visas, so, technically, yes, I was a tourist.
And if they had asked, I would have said vacation.
But the customs, as opposed to immigration, have never once asked about status, nationality, passport, or anything else. Just , What is that?

and they never once commented on my clothes to electronics ratio, or asked me about pots and pans, sets of sheets, tools, knocked down furniture, sous vide, guitar amp, rolls of tracing paper, knitting machines, or anything else in my luggage.
They look at the xrays.
If they see something that looks like bombs or drugs or large quantities of consumer goods, they may ask.
Most portenos I know walk right thru too.
I had an argentine friend mule me a new mac mini this fall, he did it in factory packaging, not a word at customs.

Certainly, people get randomly stopped.
But its rare.

 

[rob0001]

I dont wear bermuda shorts, sports team logos, and expedition gear, no.
But I am obviously not a Porteno, and the customs guys have no idea, without looking at my passport/dni/plane tickets if I am a tourist or not.
For over a decade I was on 90 day tourist visas, so, technically, yes, I was a tourist.
And if they had asked, I would have said vacation.
But the customs, as opposed to immigration, have never once asked about status, nationality, passport, or anything else. Just , What is that?

and they never once commented on my clothes to electronics ratio, or asked me about pots and pans, sets of sheets, tools, knocked down furniture, sous vide, guitar amp, rolls of tracing paper, knitting machines, or anything else in my luggage.
They look at the xrays.
If they see something that looks like bombs or drugs or large quantities of consumer goods, they may ask.
Most portenos I know walk right thru too.
I had an argentine friend mule me a new mac mini this fall, he did it in factory packaging, not a word at customs.

Certainly, people get randomly stopped.
But its rare.

Congratulations, you are amazing
Unfortunately, people aren't a amazingly lucky as you. On my first time traveling to Argentina as a tourist customs asked if I was a tourist AND questioned me about my bags. Just because it didn't happen to you...it does happen...period

 

[FrankPintor]

Congratulations, you are amazing
Unfortunately, people aren't an amazingly lucky as you. On my first time traveling to Argentina as a tourist customs asked if I was a tourist AND questioned me about my bags. Just because it didn't happen to you...it does happen...period

Shit happenz, as a major insurance company tells us.

You can be denied boarding for lack of an onward ticket.
You can be stopped at customs.
You can be denied re-entry after a “visa run” across the river.

People don’t want to believe it can happen, but it does.

 

[Ries]

Congratulations, you are amazing
Unfortunately, people aren't a amazingly lucky as you. On my first time traveling to Argentina as a tourist customs asked if I was a tourist AND questioned me about my bags. Just because it didn't happen to you...it does happen...period

19 years.
between 30 and 40 trips.
I am not lucky.
I have brought all kinds of extremely weird things, and this has been my personal experience.
I am undoubtedly weirder looking than you.
I have undoubtedly brought much stranger things in repeatedly.

(2 sewing machines, a CNC embroidery machine, a knitting machine, 2 different amplifiers, 2 DJ mixers, 3 or 4 different sets of speakers, a guitar amp, several pieces of knocked down furniture, 6' sonotubes full of rolled up artworks, pots and pans and kitchen appliances and hand and power tools and lots of large amounts of art supplies, hardware, a couple of looms, a canon printer, tons of hard drives, and the aforementioned 5 meter long stair rail, and even a knocked down bathtub sized shower curtain bar. Large quantities of packaged foods, spices, condiments, including several dozen momofuko noodle packs one time. and a bunch more things even weirder)

I have no idea how many trips thru Argentine Customs you are basing your opinions on, but mine are based on a lot of different trips on different days, months, times of day, and obviously a very wide range of customs officers.

Certainly some people get questioned.
Certainly some bags get opened.
Were you made to pay duty?
Were you taken aside and made to fill out forms?
Did they confiscate anything?
Pat downs?


I have had these things happen in other countries, including the USA, but never in Argentina, except that one time my wife had a hardboiled egg in her purse. They WILL make you fill out forms for that, and it goes on your permanent record card.