Leave to Uruguay or pay fine at EZE?

[jicassochica]

Hi, my apologizes if this has been a subject of a previous post, but I am not a resident and I am approaching the three month mark. I don't have time to go to Uruguay, but I have heard that one can go to the ports and have them stamp your passport for a fee....has anyone done this? Or I can just go ahead and pay the fines at the airport...how much does this cost? Thanks!

 

[Mitscherman]

If you overstay your Visa, the fine is 50 pesos but you must exit the country. You can also return the same day and receive a new 90 day Visa. Or you can renew your Visa for 90 days at the immigrations office in Buenos Aires for 100 pesos. The point is, you have to either pay the fine and exit the country, exit the country before your 90 day window, pay no fine, and return, or extend your stay at immigrations headquarters in Capital Federal. The folks down in Tigre told me I would have no problem overstaying my Visa, pay fine when I exit, and return same day for new Visa. In fact, that was the recommendation rather than paying for an extension. When I told them that I had "heard" it could be a problem later on, they smiled and said "no problem."That seems to be the general consensus of the people I know and have asked.

 

[mcaffa]

The easiest thing is to go to the main immigrations office a couple days BEFORE your visa expires and get a Prórroga de Permanencia, which will extended your tourist visa for another three months. The fee is $100 pesos (and take along a photocopy of your passport). When another three months pass, you will need to leave the country and re-enter. Then, three months later you can renew it again at Immigrations. It just alternates back and forth. It's really quite easy just as long as you do things BEFORE the visa expires. I've been doing this and have had no problems. A lot easier than trying to get permanent residency here (I went through the ultimate immigration nightmare here, so I finally gave up).

 

[windy]

have just got back from about my 10th visa run to colonia ,god that place is boring.
No offence meant but colonia breaks my heart

 

[G]

Besides taking the buquebus, one can drive to Uruguay, right? Has anyone tried this?

 

[Agus]

Door to door it will be faster to drive but if time is not a factor, the ferry might be less of a hassle.The road is notorious for picketing and it is full of trucks. Make sure you have good papers for your car (its yours or you have a notarized paper saying you are authorized to drive the car) you have a tarejta verde and the additional insurance rider you need for going into Uruguay.There is also paperwork going in and out relative to the car. Dont attempt this on a weekend or in the summer. There is a reason there is a car ferry to Uruguay.

 

[jicassochica]

Thanks for all the help! I think I will be opting for permanent residency to avoid the continuous leaving and returning delimna, however I hope it doesn't turn into nightmare as mentioned. Otherwise I'll pay up at EZE.

 

[rmartinbuenosaires]

Yes, Colonia sucks after the first ten minutes the FIRST time. Fortunately last month I had to go there and the beauty now is....you don't have to spend the whole afternoon there. They have new boat service and you can (I did) take the 8 am boat, got there, walked outside, and got right back in line for the SAME boat returning an hour later. The whole ordeal, from my apartment and back home again, was around four hours. I guess the benefit is the limited duty free shopping for alcohol. So, based on my previous experience and what the other people have posted, in worse case scenario, you only have to do this twice a year and the other two times you can go to Immigrations so in reality as someone said, it is alot easier than dealing with the permanent residency which is a nightmare.

 

[mcaffa]

Hey - what's with all the Colonia bashing? I like Colonia! Its a great place to spend a weekend and to escape from the noise, pollution and crime that BA offers.

 

[MikeBA]

Hey - what's with all the Colonia bashing? I like Colonia! Its a great place to spend a weekend and to escape from the noise, pollution and crime that BA offers.

Yah but it's really boring after the 1st time.