Long stay tourist visa- How should I book my plane ticket?

[effkay]

Hi there,

I am planning on coming to Buenos Aires next month with the intention of staying 6 months to do an internship. From what I understand, I can enter on a tourist visa and stay for 90 days, and then in BA I can renew the tourist visa for a further 90 days, or simply leave to Uruguay and re-enter for a further 90 days, which I'd probably be doing anyways for the purpose of travel.

Even if I'm right in thinking all of this, would it be acceptable to book my plane ticket to leave on February 29th and return on August 8th to the UK, or would this attract problems because I am basically presuming I'll be able to renew my visa, and at point of fist entry, the evidence suggests I'll overstay the 90 days?

Any advice on this at all would be greatly appreciated, the argentinian embassies website was fairly useful but couldn't quite answer me this.

 

[HeyBA]

Hey effkay,

Here's the de facto reality of this:

It's the airline upon departure, not Argentine customs upon arrival, that could possibly give you trouble. The purported logic of the airlines is as follows: the airline is legally required to pay your return fair if you are denied entry upon landing. There's very few cases of North Americans and Europeans denied entry upon landing to Argentina, but the airlines sometimes use the possession of a one-way ticket to Argentina as an excuse to sell you a high-priced ticket at the last minute.

As your case is a return fare outside of the 90-day initial visa stamp, it might be a good idea to buy a BuqueBus ticket to Uruguay, or another kind of ticket to some other destination outside of Argentina you know you'll be visiting. You can buy a BuqueBus ticket that is flexible over any date for a year, I believe. It costs more, but it's worth it.

Have a photocopy of this BuqueBus ticket, and, if asked for proof of onward travel, produce the ferry ticket and plane ticket. Produce it non-chalantly only if asked, with the attitude of "Of course I'm complying with Visa requirements."

Another tip: I think this has nothing to do with customs and more to do with the airlines selling tickets. So, if you're worried about it, get to the airport early for departure, especially if you're leaving from a destination with lots of flights to BA. (Last year on a the second half of a ticket to and from Miami, I had to argue with check-in rather forcibly to get them to let me on. I was at the airport only an hour before boarding though, which is probably why they tried to twist my arm into buying a return.)

The BuqueBus flexible ticket cost about 400 pesos a year ago, fyi.

 

[Crema Americana]

It depends on the airline, but some won't sell you a return ticket (for round trip) six months from your departure date regardless of your visa or immigration status. At least not some of the cheaper fares. If they do, you shouldn't have too many issues.

From my experience Argentine customs do not ask or check to see when you'll be leaving the country or how long you're staying for. Last time I came in (earlier this month) it was a return ticket originating in BA and no questions or flags raised despite my current tourist status. Unlike the UK or the US, they don't seem too concered with when you're leaving. I was hounded much more at Heathrow for an international trasfer than I ever was here for overstaying.

Having some proof of onward travel as HeyBA suggests couldn't hurt, though, in case you get a rather picky customs agent or policies change in the next few weeks.

 

[james p]

what I do is to buy a 90 day ticket and before the 90 days I change the departure date for up to 1 year from the initial flight. I pay usd100 for this.....I have done this on Lan and American Airlines, and always Miami/Buenos Aires.....But you need to buy a ticket that is changeable.

 

[effkay]

Thank you all so much for your very informed answers, flying from the UK, I have found many airlines that will sell me ticket for the 170 days I want to stay, however mos tof them do not allow changes or cancellations on the return leg, so james p's advice is unfortunately inapplicable.

My plan is to simply buy the plane ticket for the full trip and then just have a buque bus ticket in case of a problem.

One more question though, I plan on using BA as my base to travel SA, each time I leave Argentina and re-enter, will I be given a new tourist visa? Therefore provided I leave and return before 90 days, I wouldn't have to renew the tourist visa?

Is there a limit to how many times one can leave and re-enter for tourist admission in a year?

 

[TheBlackHand]

If you're really coming to Argentina to do an internship, why don't you have those organizing your internship help you with the appropriate visa ?

 

[effkay]

I have asked them for advice, but I'm trying to figure out things independently and also in a way that will benefit my travel plans.