Confused...

caradoc

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I was meant to buy my ticket today to get the SEACAT and go to Uruguay tomorrow.. but I really don't know what to do. I have an apartment here and it is paid for and I do not want any problems at immigration by not being able to get back into the country. I spent 40 days in BA in January and now I have spent 85 days. I intend to overstay by 14 days in October (overstay my 180 days). I was intending to go to Uruguay to 'renew' my 90 day visa.. but supposing I am questioned? Supposing they see my return ticket takes me over 180 days? Are they that organised? Some seem to think they are getting organised. So what is the alternative? To not to Uruguay and stay here until October... safer option but 2 violations .. I have gone over my 90 days allowance AND I have gone over my 180 day allowance. I so want to do the right thing but I need those additional 2 weeks because I am going back to Brazil. My passport does not have multiple entrants and exits.. only Jan and May stamps and I have never done the visa run or overstayed in Argentina before. The reason why I hesitate staying and paying the fine is I really would like to come back next year and do not want any hassles.

So bloody confused :-(
 
the fact of the matter is that there is no way of knowing what will happen. you could get through with no problems, while the person behind you with the exact same itinerary could get stopped.

The only thing i can probably clarify is that you will not get 2 violations. if there's one thing i've learned from this board , it's that an overstay is an overstay, whether it's by 1 day or 1 year. not sure if/how this will affect the chances of you re-entering next year (my guess is that they are not turning people away at the border for one overstay, especially if it's been several months since your last entry) but again we have no way of knowing for sure. but, if you have a 90 day visa and stay 200 days, i believe its exactly the same as extending your visa to 180 days and staying 200 days (in which case you're probably better off just not even bothering to extend it.
 
the fact of the matter is that there is no way of knowing what will happen. you could get through with no problems, while the person behind you with the exact same itinerary could get stopped.

The only thing i can probably clarify is that you will not get 2 violations. if there's one thing i've learned from this board , it's that an overstay is an overstay, whether it's by 1 day or 1 year. not sure if/how this will affect the chances of you re-entering next year (my guess is that they are not turning people away at the border for one overstay, especially if it's been several months since your last entry) but again we have no way of knowing for sure. but, if you have a 90 day visa and stay 200 days, i believe its exactly the same as extending your and visa to 180 days and staying 200 days (in which case you're probably better off just not even bothering to extend it.

OK.. Yours is a voice of reason. At least if I pay at the airport, I have recognised my actions and paid the fine (and it only cost me 300 pes)... and I go on the day knowing what to expect and what to do; whereas, if I go to Colonia it will cost me 60 dollars AND I still overstay the 180 rule by 15 days and (although people say that I will 'probably' will not have to pay a fine because I haven't violated the 90 day rule) MAYBE I will have to pay the fine for violating the 180 day rule. It seems option 1 carries more certainty and intentionality.
 
I went for the weekend but I have a friend who also in the past 2 weeks just went for the day, I have done both in the past with the same results. FYI there is not an overstay fine for 180 days as there is no 180 day visa, there is only a 90 day visa issued when you enter the country, that is what you would be overstaying. No one has ever been fined for being in Argentina more than 180 days, people have reportedly been deported or turned away at the border for abuse of renewing the 90 day tourist visa in lieu of getting some type of residency.
 
I went for the weekend but I have a friend who also in the past 2 weeks just went for the day, I have done both in the past with the same results. FYI there is not an overstay fine for 180 days as there is no 180 day visa, there is only a 90 day visa issued when you enter the country, that is what you would be overstaying. No one has ever been fined for being in Argentina more than 180 days, people have reportedly been deported or turned away at the border for abuse of renewing the 90 day tourist visa in lieu of getting some type of residency.

But there is a 180 day rule - the tourist can stay 180 days in a given year. What this forum seems to suggest is that doing the 'visa run' in order to have a renew in your passport might make you feel good but if you stay over 180 days you still effectively violate the conditions of your visa. Most here seem to suggest simply overstaying and resolving it at the close of your stay will not be troubling to the authorities and appears not to impact your re-entry (as long as you don't make too much of a habit of it). I mean have I understood the issue or am I missing something?
 
But there is a 180 day rule - the tourist can stay 180 days in a given year. What this forum seems to suggest is that doing the 'visa run' in order to have a renew in your passport might make you feel good but if you stay over 180 days you still effectively violate the conditions of your visa. Most here seem to suggest simply overstaying and resolving it at the close of your stay will not be troubling to the authorities and appears not to impact your re-entry (as long as you don't make too much of a habit of it). I mean have I understood the issue or am I missing something?

There is not stricto sensu a 180 days rule.
The law defines the tourist as someone who is allowed to come & stay for 3 months, and who is allowed to renew the tourist visa for an additional 3 months (which make 180 days).

But the law doesn't say that someone (tourist) has to stay for a maximum of 180 days per year.

The law also allows the DNM agents (customs) to deny the entry if they suspect tourism is not the true purpose (even if this "tourist" comes for the first time in Argentina).

So far, the Argentine customs were very lenient and overstays were never penalized for Westerners (except in a very few occasions it seems).

Lately, there have been more testimonials which can be believed that show that the situation is changing: it's more and more possible now for pseudo-tourists to get into trouble, although it's still quite unusual AFAIK.


If I were you, I'll stay until october & leave from Ezeiza, pay the fine, and you have 99.99% chances reentering.
 
Thank you - you seem to be very knowledgeable about (what seems a rather misintrepretable law... indeed even my own country seems to misrepresent the law on their website for advice to nationals travelling to Argentina). I have never renewed my visa. So effectively I could go downtown and renew my tourist visa and be within the structure and spirit of the law (as long as they don't suspect me of not being here as a tourist)...?
 
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