New Entry "Reciprocity" Fee for US, Canada, Australian Citizens...

[nikad]

totally agree with the last posts... when it comes to visas, there is no such thing as fairness, if we really talked about fairness there would be no borders, everyone would be born in countries of the same economic level, etc, etc... this fee is just silly and might hurt the tourist industry and will almost for sure hurt the image of Argentina to put it at the same level with Bolivia. The US doesn't impose a fee for punishment, it is just to pay the cost of all the R&D work it takes to figure out if the person applying qualifies under US law, plain and simple. By law, every person interviewing and issuing visas has to be an American working for the US State Department and making a US salary. So, ultimately the reason why it is so relatively expensive to apply for a US visa is the fault of Argentina's bad economic management.

The fact that the Government and Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs ruled this fee makes it legal, therefore it has now become Argentine Law in this country to charge such fee... do you think that US Law is or should be prevalent over Argentine law in this country?

Do you think that local labor is cheaper than US? You might want to reconsider that, since employers pay for salaries, retirement, health insurance, work risk insurance, etc. also if fired they must indemnify ( usually with a large sum of money ). That is of course the case when you are working here legally.

 

[2GuysInPM]

...
But people know that what the theory is and practice is are two entirely different things. I was just passing on very credible and corroborated direct experience of others, and if you choose to ignore that, okay.

Hi, I don't doubt that at all. I've too heard of people crossing the border without visas more than a few times. I totally believe that. I know for a fact that the first two times we crossed at Iguazu, the Brazilian side was unmanned. While we had our visas, there was no one there so we crossed and got no stamps on the way in or out. Back then, they did not care. But things seem to have changed now, at least at the Iguazu border.

I don't know why or how some have been able to cross w/o visas. My guess is one of the following was true; (a) they crossed w/o checking with border agents and did not get caught, (b) they used a tour company that had an "agreement" (emphasis on quotes) with border guards, (c) they crossed at a border where the guards just did not care (and accepted their DNI), or (d) the border agents (at their discretion) issued a "courtesy" entry stamp at the border when they showed up without visas. The last one happened to 4 of us when we entered Paraguay with no visas.

 

[mendozanow]

But they also all LEFT without issue.

 

[citygirl]

I think it might be *possible* to do it. I just don't think it's a great idea to try it.

On my THIRD trip to the consulate on Monday, I will ask as well. At this point, I feel like I'm getting to know everyone there

 

[2GuysInPM]

I think it might be *possible* to do it. I just don't think it's a great idea to try it.

On my THIRD trip to the consulate on Monday, I will ask as well. At this point, I feel like I'm getting to know everyone there

We might cross paths tomorrow. We're going there to pick up our visas as well.

 

[random.striker]

And the worse thing was that he was phoned by one of the embassy staff, the woman asked him if we were more than just friends, the way that she asked really upset him. The woman was called Anna - so if any of you know her tell her she is a f**king b***h for me. If i was still there i would go tell them what i thought of them.
I am still pissed off over this - as you can possibly tell, as he and his family have been vary good to me while i was in argentina...

I would suggest you write a formal complaint about the way this was handled. Address one copy to the Ambassador, the general consul and one to your MP from your area in Australia.

I've done this before and the MP to send a letter to the Ambassador who got to review the case.

That's probably the best you can do to help your Argentine mate.

Pretty sure there's a big breach if "Anna" was asking questions about sexual orientation.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

The fact that the Government and Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs ruled this fee makes it legal, therefore it has now become Argentine Law in this country to charge such fee... do you think that US Law is or should be prevalent over Argentine law in this country?

Do you think that local labor is cheaper than US? You might want to reconsider that, since employers pay for salaries, retirement, health insurance, work risk insurance, etc. also if fired they must indemnify ( usually with a large sum of money ). That is of course the case when you are working here legally.

When you work illegally the indemnify is even higher. You can sue your employer with your passport only. Regards

 

[mikaela]

Have any australians found a work around? my mum is visiting and is australian, while i live and work here in BA. We want to take off for weekends and short trips using BA as a base, which is not going to work if she has to pay $100 every time she comes back here! Can she buy a 3 month visa or so? Some incentive to travel or even come to Argentina.... we also don't want to just hang here for 3 months, help.....

 

[citygirl]

The Australian visa fee is now valid for 1 year (as of Dec 2010). So you'll only need to pay it once.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Just wanted to let everyone know that this morning I went through Jorge Newbery (AEP), and they are charging the reciprocity fee to Australians, Americans, Canadians, etc. I don't know if this had been posted here yet, but it was news to me.