Renewing tourist visa - how's it done?

[Sundowner]

Hi Everyone!

I'm clueless on how to renew a tourist visa in BA. How's it done? I don't speak Spanish - yet.. Is it difficult to do and how long before the expiry do I need to renew my visa

Thanks!

 

[French jurist]

Hi!

I guess there must be one or two messages on the forum depicting your situation.

You have two options :
- Either doing a RT to Colonia (taking the Buquebus boat from Puerto Madero) and you'll get 90 additional days automatically.
- Or you can go to "Migraciones" (in Retiro) but that's not recommended at all.

Eventually, to do a RT to Uruguay, you can also take a smaller boat from Tigre (you board the boat not far away from the Tigre train station). That's a bit cheaper (around 220 pesos the RT), a bit longer (2 h 30) but the journey is much nicer since you'll cross the delta through the many small islands (many things to look at : birds, nature, etc.). Using this method you'll arrive in Carmelo which is like Colonia (a little "dead" city) but with even less attractions (nice to breathe a different air though).


Last solution : don't renew your visa and pay a fine the day you leave.

 

[glasgowjohn]

Colonia Express is another option - they have some good deals on internet from time to time

 

[MizzMarr]

There is a ton of information on this board about how to do the tourist visa. The major questions are WHY do you want to renew the visa and how long will you be staying here? If you just want to do it to stay "legal" but are staying in Argentina a short time (less than 1.5-2 years) then look at trips to Uruguay for fun but not necessarily as a necessary trip. It is a bit of a complicated matter and there are a lot of possibilities to consider. Some got in trouble (like me) for continual border crossing over time (to stay "legal") and it ended up being more headache than it was worth, but that was also a lot of trips and right after some changes in the law which appear to have been taken seriously at first but now have slackened.

At the end of the day, it seems that nobody in immigrations really cares (especially if you just have a few stamps) and it costs more to go to Uruguay for the most part than just pay the fines. That said, I really like Uruguay and loved my many visits there. There's MANY more options for interesting places to go than just Colonia or Montevideo!

 

[El Duderino]

Last solution : don't renew your visa and pay a fine the day you leave.

How big is the fine?

Also, does this make it difficult to get back into Argentina when you return?

Thanks for any information!

 

[steveinbsas]

How big is the fine?

Also, does this make it difficult to get back into Argentina when you return?

Thanks for any information!

The fine is $300 pesos and there is no problem coming back into Argentina.

In fact, it may be less "problematic" in the long run to overstay and pay the fine once in a while than going to Uruguay every three months.

 

[Sundowner]

Thanks to everyone - very helpful information. Cheers