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

[sesamosinsal]

You weren't being facetious when you referred to the customs and border patrol officers here, were you? I've usually found them to be very friendly (just a bit indifferent on rare occasions...at the worst).

Nah, they're not too bad. They're generally nicer than the Argentine immigration folks. Maybe the gentleman that greeted me this past Wednesday hadn't had his coffee yet.

 

[sergio]

Nikad, the US started to require a visa for Argentines when it became apparent that many were overstaying their visas and abusing the system. I agree that the visa requirements for Argentines can be unfair. I've had a couple of good friends denied visas - and they would NOT have abused the system. Still the reality is that Argentina and the US are in very different situations. Reciprocity makes little sense when it hurts Argentina. From my own perspective, I have not visited Brazil in several years as I don't care to pay for the visa, same with Chile. As a permanent resident of a Mercosur country it seems very unfair to me that I should have to pay for a visa when I live here! I do believe that a lot of Americans are going to be deterred from visiting because of this fee. A couple coming for a week or two would have to spend $262 USD. That is quite a lot, even by US standards. Argentines who can afford to visit the US are almost always people of fairly high income. They usually make numerous trips over their lifetime, so $131 USD for a ten year visa is no big deal. $131 for a one time, short visit is a lot.

 

[fifilafiloche]

The same paranoid distrust applies to Canadians or British citizens. Read the following story of a couple with those nationalities that couldnt cross the US border from Canada with their own vehicule, while being able to prove their financial independence :

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/north-america/help-refused-entry-to-usa-45606

To our horror, at the second border, we were horribly treated and threatened. We were shouted at, saying that this was our second warning (was there ever a first one?) and that if we tried this again without proof of empolyment and return tickets (+ financial proofs), they would confiscate the car and deport us back to the UK, and bar us from the US!!! They registered us in the US Justice Dptmt system, asked for our addresses, DOB, parents' addresses and DOB, old jobs' details, fingerprints, photos, ect. I was so shocked I could only cry on my chair, realising that this was over before it had even started; meanwhile, they were entering our details in their database and checking I would not move.

The problem? The british national had philippine origins
They had absolutely no problem entering Argentina with a one way ticket, no embarassing questions here.

And it s not an isolated case. Another "poor" canadian with us american ancestry living on the border.

I live next to the usa border. For years have gone across but I to ran into the same thing last year. Mother died, move down to take care of the stuff , no job and there you go flagged. Strange thing is why would I want to work in the USA? the job I do pays far less across the line.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Nikad, the US started to require a visa for Argentines when it became apparent that many were overstaying their visas and abusing the system.

Not true.

In 2000, for example, Argentines (as far as I know) did not need a visa to enter the U.S. for tourism.

The amount of Argentines that were deported in 2000 was only 125.

From the UK? 426
From Germany? 201
From Portugal? 181
From Italy? 133

And those countries are all visa waiver countries.

(Source)

 

[davonz]

I am glade that they are charging AUSSIES for the visa. I am an aussie and took in an argentine friends tourist visa application to the embassy for him, what a hassle, just to visit for 2 weeks. He has a good job here, and on a good wage. NZ didnt require a visa for him to visit for 3 months, just a return air ticket, and enough funds to last for his stay.. and because of the AU embassy staff attitude and cost/hassle he was thinking about not going there at all.
And to top it all off, the woman at the counter couldnt speak english very well which pissed me off, and she kept on saying that you need to have a ticket purchased/booked with booking reference to aus (he already had a ticket to NZ on LAN), which is stupid as there are 3 aussie airlines, 2 you can only buy tickets online, so you either purchase or dont, no booking reference is possible. 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...

 

[steveinbsas]

The same paranoid distrust applies to Canadians or British citizens. Read the following story of a couple with those nationalities that couldnt cross the US border from Canada with their own vehicule, while being able to prove their financial independence :

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/north-america/help-refused-entry-to-usa-45606



The problem? The british national had philippine origins
They had absolutely no problem entering Argentina with a one way ticket, no embarassing questions here.

And it s not an isolated case. Another "poor" canadian with us american ancestry living on the border.

I think it's important to note that this couple was "gently" denied entry the at the first border crossing and tried to enter shortly thereafter at another (at the suggestion of an official at the first). Even the "victims" of this discrimination acknowledged that it was logical (fair or not) for the border officials to assume that they might be moving to the US (in an SUV full of belongings...in spite of their stated travel plans).

According to the story John himself told (several times) at Dave's Thanksgiving dinner, things got ugly and dramatic (threatening) when they tried to enter at a second location and acknowledged that they had previously been denied entry. I do agree that it would have been an awful experience to endure, and, given the fact that John is originally from the Philippines, it's hard to believe there wasn't some profiling involved in this case. That's simply the way things are at the US border these days.

In the 70's, coming in from Canada in a VW van I was stopped, detained, and seriously searched before being allowed to reenter. I think the length of my hair and choice of vehicle made me the target of profiling even then: I could have been a draft dogger or dope dealer (but I was neither).

 

[EvergreenGal]

Below is what was emailed to me via a website about happenings in BA....pretty much the same as what I saw posted a few pages back.


Starting December 20th, 2009, the Argentine Government will apply a "reciprocity fee" to the nationals of the below mentioned countries. These fees will be collected at Ezeiza International Airport when entering the country for tourism or business, and will be valid for multiple entries for ten years.



According to the "Direccion Nacional de Migraciones" website:



When entering Argentine territory, the nationals of the folowing countries must pay a "reciprocity fee". This payment is not a Visa since Argentina does not require Visa to nationals of the mentioned countries when traveling for tourism or business purposes.

The Argentine Government set this entry fee on equal amounts to those Argentine citizens must pay when requesting a Visa to travel to those countries.

• Australia: USD 100
• Canada: USD 70
• United States: USD 131

Rates are subject to modification based on reciprocity. The payment can be done in Argentine Pesos, United States Dollars, Credit card, or traveler's checks.

 

[iStar]

Is the longest non-militarized border in the world. It is Canada's only land border, and Canada is by far the largest nation having a land border with only one country.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, border security along the International Boundary was dramatically tightened by both nations in both populated and rural areas. Both nations are also actively involved in detailed and extensive tactical and strategic intelligence sharing. It is a common misconception that the nineteen terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks entered the United States via the Canadian border

There are over 100 million border crossings each year.

The border sees movement of over US$1.5 billion in two-way commercial traffic per day.

http://ottawa.usembassy.gov/content/textonly.asp?section=can_usa&document=borderissues

I'd say it's safe to assume the % these "incidents" out of 100 million crossings is below 1%.

If I was denied entry into Buenos Aires at EZE for whatever reason and then tried to enter via another airport or border I'd expect some "difficulties" otherwise why wasn't I allowed in the first place?

That's a BIG RED FLAG.

 

[steveinbsas]

I think iStar just nailed it, again.

 

[fifilafiloche]

2 nails in the coffin of Coherence.

The first one supported the idea that putting entry barreers for citizens of a wealthier nation wouldnt make sense because of the dire "need of resources", the second one supports the denial of the entry of Canadians who have no reason to settle in a country with lower welfare and proved their means to feed the us american tourist industry without working for the time of the Visa. Some people have logics that Logic doesn t understand.

This fails to explain as well how canadians can be refused freedom of mouvement with their direct neighbour and not in Argentina, thousands of miles away. Having an asian background would have a different profiling signification North and South? Does this mean that every US American with philippine roots is a potential economic danger ?

But thanks for the red flag image, for some of us it was difficult to understand this elaborated vocabulary and it s so decorative. The hammer and sickle symbols caracterising a closed world fearing foreign infiltration are missing tho