Returning To Argentina/issues At Us Airports

gvas12

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Hello everyone,

I'm not sure if a thread on this topic has already been posted, but I wanted to get some info. on this.

In 2011 I went back to the states to visit my family and I remember that when I was returning to BA from LAX there were some issues before boarding the plane.As I was about to check in I was told I could not board the plane to Argentina if I didn't have a return ticket to the US. After being held up for a few minutes and being asked to wait, I realized I had stamp from Retiro which said "Prorroga de residencia" with the word "visa" in big letters on it. Maybe those of you who renewed your tourist visa at Retiro have gotten this stamp. it looks a bit more official and "fancy" and it could be confused for something other than a tourist visa.

I told the lady behind the desk that I had a visa and I was in the process of getting residency (which was a lie) and I asked her to look for the page with this stamp on it.

Once she found it, she let me board the plane, but she mentioned that without some proof of residency or return ticket, I wouldn't have been able to board.

Fast forward to now, in December I will be moving to Montevideo for a few months, but now I'm worried I might have issues again when I visit my family in January.

Has anyone had a similar experience when coming back from the US? if so, did you have to show or provide anything extra to board the plane?
 
Every single time I travel out of Argentina, they call me on the intercom at every change of planes in every airport to ask if I have a DNI otherwise they won't let me board the plane if I haven't paid the reciprocity fee. It's a pain in the ass.
 
I got stuck in checkin once with Air Canada, they wanted me to purchase a refundable ticket on the spot. They made clear that they were perfectly fine with me refunding the ticket without penalty the next day, but that procedure must be followed - at time of check-in, I must have a ticket out of the country. They relented at the end, because I was traveling with my Argentine spouse, we both declared that I was in the process of processing residency, and we had both the original marriage certificate as well the libreta de familia with my information in it: they decided that was good enough.

Aside from that, I traveled multiple times - usually with American Airlines or United - and they did not care. Reciprocity fee, yes they're strict about that. But return ticket? Only that one time.
 
Hello everyone,

I'm not sure if a thread on this topic has already been posted, but I wanted to get some info. on this.

In 2011 I went back to the states to visit my family and I remember that when I was returning to BA from LAX there were some issues before boarding the plane.As I was about to check in I was told I could not board the plane to Argentina if I didn't have a return ticket to the US. After being held up for a few minutes and being asked to wait, I realized I had stamp from Retiro which said "Prorroga de residencia" with the word "visa" in big letters on it. Maybe those of you who renewed your tourist visa at Retiro have gotten this stamp. it looks a bit more official and "fancy" and it could be confused for something other than a tourist visa.

I told the lady behind the desk that I had a visa and I was in the process of getting residency (which was a lie) and I asked her to look for the page with this stamp on it.

Once she found it, she let me board the plane, but she mentioned that without some proof of residency or return ticket, I wouldn't have been able to board.

Fast forward to now, in December I will be moving to Montevideo for a few months, but now I'm worried I might have issues again when I visit my family in January.

Has anyone had a similar experience when coming back from the US? if so, did you have to show or provide anything extra to board the plane?

Once, after returning to the States on a family emergency, American did not want to let me board in Seattle (I had a return ticket to SFO, but had left it in Chile). I told them the Chileans had never asked me for a return ticket (true), and insisted on seeing a supervisor and showed her the numerous stamps in my passport. It turned out not to be a big deal.
 
Every single time I travel out of Argentina, they call me on the intercom at every change of planes in every airport to ask if I have a DNI otherwise they won't let me board the plane if I haven't paid the reciprocity fee. It's a pain in the ass.

The airlines typically get confused with me too re: reciprocity fee. Usually at the Gate when I am trying to board flight to BsAs. On the other hand, my wife always has problems trying to board flight in BsAs to US. It is reciprocal on all fronts;-)
 
The easy solution is to buy a fully-refundable return ticket before your trip, from the same airline. Then once you arrive at your destination, return the ticket for a full refund. The only requirement is that you have sufficient credit on your credit card to buy the refundable ticket.
 
Hello everyone,

I'm not sure if a thread on this topic has already been posted, but I wanted to get some info. on this.

In 2011 I went back to the states to visit my family and I remember that when I was returning to BA from LAX there were some issues before boarding the plane.As I was about to check in I was told I could not board the plane to Argentina if I didn't have a return ticket to the US. After being held up for a few minutes and being asked to wait, I realized I had stamp from Retiro which said "Prorroga de residencia" with the word "visa" in big letters on it. Maybe those of you who renewed your tourist visa at Retiro have gotten this stamp. it looks a bit more official and "fancy" and it could be confused for something other than a tourist visa.

I told the lady behind the desk that I had a visa and I was in the process of getting residency (which was a lie) and I asked her to look for the page with this stamp on it.

Once she found it, she let me board the plane, but she mentioned that without some proof of residency or return ticket, I wouldn't have been able to board.

Fast forward to now, in December I will be moving to Montevideo for a few months, but now I'm worried I might have issues again when I visit my family in January.

Has anyone had a similar experience when coming back from the US? if so, did you have to show or provide anything extra to board the plane?

I am confused... if your family is in the US, and you move to Montevideo - Uruguay - what does Argentina have to do in the middle of it?
 
The easy solution is to buy a fully-refundable return ticket before your trip, from the same airline. Then once you arrive at your destination, return the ticket for a full refund. The only requirement is that you have sufficient credit on your credit card to buy the refundable ticket.
Buying a "refundable" ticket turned out to me a nightmare for me: http://baexpats.org/...s/page__hl__lan

It's better to make up a fake ticket and/or purchase a cheap Buquebus ticket. If you buy from a travel agent the'll print one up for you.

Also Argentina is again a special case, LAN made me go through hoops for a refund and then they wanted to give it to me in cash at the official rate. In fact they said if I was residing in Argentina that was the only way to get a refund.

The airlines generate a lot of free income (even more than Movistar's subscripciones escondidos) from making people buy useless tickets.

I've had this happen to me three times in recent years (TACA in Lima to Havana, TAME in Guayaquil to EZE and Qatar Airlines in HCMC to Madrid)
 
Has anyone had a similar experience when coming back from the US? if so, did you have to show or provide anything extra to board the plane?

As a general rule, if you are going to another country as a tourist (i.e. without a VISA or being citizen of that country), you are requested to show proof that you will be leaving that country within 90 days.
There are country enforcing this more strictly (like the US) and some who couldn't care less (like mine). It is in the interest of the airline to avoid flying deported tourists for free because they don't comply with the immigrations rules at their destination.

When I arrived here from the EU with a one way ticket, I had also a one-way ticket to Uruguay within 90 days. They never asked for it, but it is really a matter of chance (I was flying Iberia through Madrid).
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

I'm wondering if this is an issue the US has with Argentina. One of my American friends recently went to visit her family and she had a similar issues. In the end, she was able to board the plane by showing a return ticket from Peru that she had cancelled. Maybe they wont care as much if I'm returning to Uruguay?

I would prefer not to buy a refundable ticket because I know of people who were not able to get the full refund and I would prefer to avoid any further issues. By any does anyone have any suggestions on what to say/do if I'm faced with this issue again?
 
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