I Was Denied Entry At Ezeiza

[Bajo_cero2]

Does it seem odd that one of these threads pops up every couple of months .. panic problem with immigration, badly explained. People panic, discuss possible other problems, possible loopholes, reveal their own strategy and status and then it fades away ....until the next one.

Well, i guess people moved on.

 

[semigoodlookin]

My overstaying process went so swimmingly that I am shocked to see people are now having trouble.

I moved here in 2011, had no reason to leave so stayed until May this year without going in and out constantly and getting stamps. In May this year I wanted to head back to the UK, so instead of go through nerves at the airport of will they/won't they, I went to the immigration office and paid the fine there about 9 days before I left (I think the limit is 10 days). That was my 300 pesos paid and a form to be signed at the airport. At EZE on the day I went to the booth, he barely glanced at the paper and waved me through.

Coming back two weeks later I thought that possibly the fact I overstayed a good three years might cause me problems. The guy asked me what I was doing here (in a completely non aggressive or judgemental way), I said I was here to get married, he seemed delighted by this and told me good luck and in I went. In fact the whole process was very serene, my bags were absolutley loaded with "stuff" and I just sailed through.

Anyway, perhaps things have changed since then, which would be worrying for anyone up to the old tricks. Or, perhaps there are some things to consider (yes, here I go with a it worked for me so may work for you bit).

Did me going to the immigration office before the day of the flight help? Certainly, having the paper in hand resulted in the fellow simply looking at it with a glance and moving me on, it was not at all busy with no line behind me at the airport either. I wonder (to myself but out loud here) whether the fact the paper came from someone else took responsibility away from him so he didn't care.

I guessed that even though I had overstayed 3 years that it helped me more than if I had loads of stamps. I am not even sure they check the date as they look so uninterested, perhaps its the number of stamps they look out for.

Or perhaps it is that they are clamping down on this and I sneaked in during the final days of the good times.

 

[syngirl]

So, are you here to get married, or was that just a line you delivered to get past immigrations? haha imagine if all the permatourists started saying that, I wonder if it would raise any eyebrows at immigrations?

 

[steveinbsas]

In reply to this:

If all three of the denials of entry happened at EZE I wonder if they actually occurred as the result of the "discretion" of an individual immigration officer.

The "tourists" who are denied entry have to be detained and "processed" before they are sent back.

That doesn't sound like something that would happen at the sole discretion of one official sitting in a glass both at the airport.

Dr. Rubilar wrote this:

If facts, it works like that.
The immigration "theory" is that the airport is not Argentine soil, so they just reject you and you go back in the néxt airplane.

That is very interesting. So it is a lottery, and the results are based on the whim of one person (who may have missed a mate break)?

And now all perma-tourists can live, or more precisely leave in fear of not being able to return.

That might be almost as effective as the long anticipated crack-down (with a lot less effort on the part of migraciones).

If it does happen more frequently in the future, I wonder if the airlines in other countries will start scrutinizing passports for a multitude (in some cases dozens) of 90 day Argentine "tourist visa" stamps.

That could seriously cramp the lifestyle of someone who had never overstayed a tourist visa but frequently travels to Argentina to visit family or stay in the apartment they own. Hypothetically, it could even happen to someone who has been married to an Argentine for many years but never bothered to get permanent residency.

They might not have a problem entering Argentine once they land at EZE, but, prior to departure, how would they be able to convince an airline that they won't be sent back?

 

[khairyexpat]

That doesn't sound like something that would happen at the sole discretion of one official sitting in a glass both at the airport.

Agree 100%. It must be a complete formal legal procedure. I´d imagine, it´s like a swift court hearing on the spot at the Airport, with a verdict.

But it´s his discretion to initiate and start the process .. or .. look the other way. No?

 

[semigoodlookin]

So, are you here to get married, or was that just a line you delivered to get past immigrations? haha imagine if all the permatourists started saying that, I wonder if it would raise any eyebrows at immigrations?

I was actually here to get married, and indeed did. However, I had no proof of that at all and the only reason I could ever see it being a legitimate tactic to use is because whoever you are talking to may think that you are in the process of doing something official. I don't know

 

[lucha54]

I was actually here to get married, and indeed did. However, I had no proof of that at all and the only reason I could ever see it being a legitimate tactic to use is because whoever you are talking to may think that you are in the process of doing something official. I don't know

Hmm I'm gonna take this and run with it like a linebacker with a football.

 

[steveinbsas]

My stays in Argentina are by the numbers, no overstays, no extensions, stay less than 180 days a year. One time when exiting the official took my passport and checked it out in an office somewhere. Eyebrows raised when she seen the number of stamps, something I would consider to be a normal reaction anywhere. The lady returned about ten minutes later and said " everything is OK, no problems." Am sure they audited my days and checked for overstays and total days in Argentina.

Your experience supports the assertion that the decision to deny entry is not at the sole discretion of the official in the glass booth, althhough it may indeed be his/her discretion to initiate the "investigation" which leads to the denial.

Never get the full story...All we get is, "deported/denied entry" for no other reason than the official is having a bad day...Wish we could get something more about these deals. They ask for help/info from forum members, but when members ask for help/info, we get FU.

You also get comments from someone who's "got dozens of Argentine (and Chilean) stamps in my passport" without indicating if there was a single overstay as well a link to an irrelevant thread about a land scam in Chile that usurped the name of a fictional location ("Galt's Gulch") in a novel (Atlas Shrugged) written by Ayn Rand, but that's an example of what self-absorbed internet trolls/Saul Alinsky soldiers are experts at.

 

[semigoodlookin]

My experience of being deported (another country) is that the first official, the one you deal with at the passport check, will flag you as suspicious. You will then be led away and have an interview. If you pass the interivew (this included basic background checks) then you can go. If you lie, even about a small thing that really has no bearing on the situation, then you're finished. It is not the interviewer who decides, and he/she has to run it by a supervisor, who is the one to make the final call on whether you are deported or not.

You get a phone call (again in my experience), but having someone on the outside in the airport is no good, unless they can somehow prove and verify your story. They are not allowed to come and see you. If you are to be deported, you are placed in a "cell" with other people in your situation (these could range from a mother and child seeking refuge to Hannibal Lector) until the next available flight to ship you out. If the cell is cold and you only have shorts and top, too bad, they do not let you look at your bags (which are retrieved for you by the way) and do not care. The officials range from obnoxious to nice, and some of them individually move through those moods in the space of minutes. I forgot to mention that they also search you, and I mean search you, but if you are a woman then you will have a woman do the search. The people can be utter dicks, there is no chain of command at all, no one to complain to. It is one of the only situations where I have felt I was in the company of people who operate outside the law.

When it is time to go back, you are escorted through the interior of the airport with one or two officials and also escorted onto the flight. On board the plane you are treated as a normal passenger.

Of course, Argentina could be very different to that and I doubt they go to those precise lengths, but that was my experience.

 

[Girino]

The people can be utter dicks, there is no chain of command at all, no one to complain to. It is one of the only situations where I have felt I was in the company of people who operate outside the law.

The same feeling I got on the back of Italian Parliament when we were taking a picture of a bell with the sign of a never-heard-of public organization, and beyond the gates you could see agents dressed with suits washing expensive cars.... Suddenly one appeared from nowhere, dressed in a suit and with a tie, and told we couldn't take pictures, tried to grab the phone to smash it, was very bully....

There, I felt we were beyond the law and we could get in serious trouble because they are all like this in the political-power nest. Very scary, contributed to my decision to leave Italy forever.