The effects of overstaying tourist visa and being "illegal"

[esllou]

I've always done the colonia run but it seems that doing another one (would be my 7th!!) would be exposing myself to unnecessary risk and there's a real danger that I would be denied entry or at least tagged as having X days to get out of Dodge.

sooooooooo....my question is...what is the real consequence of just staying here. Someone elsewhere said it would only be an issue on leaving the country (300 peso fine and the chance of being denied entry on return) or if I got into legal problems...got arrested, etc.

is there anything else that being illegal would effect? Buying a house...getting a driving license??

what would happen if I had other dealings with the police...such as random traffic stop, witness to accident, that type of thing?

 

[French jurist]

It would be better if an Argentinean lawyer answered that.

My guess is that overstaying would make you illegal regarding an administrative decision.
I don t know if a pedido de captura would be asked against you, maybe not.

A random traffic stop and such things wouldn t put you into trouble since only your DL is asked (I'm a motorcyclist so I am controlled every month or so by the police... But I'm legal).

You wouldn t have problems getting a DL neither, in my own view.

As for buying a house, I wouldn t recommend it, but again that's just my 2 cents.

 

[mariposa]

you can buy a house as a non-resident. we did, but we were already in the process of legalizing our status. now we are legal. i know others who bought property as tourists and never became legal residents. one problem is that when you pay your annual bienes personales (real estate) tax you are charged at a much higher rate as a resident.

 

[mariposa]

sorry i meant "a much higher rate THAN a resident"!

 

[Bajo_cero2]

I've always done the colonia run but it seems that doing another one (would be my 7th!!) would be exposing myself to unnecessary risk and there's a real danger that I would be denied entry or at least tagged as having X days to get out of Dodge.

sooooooooo....my question is...what is the real consequence of just staying here. Someone elsewhere said it would only be an issue on leaving the country (300 peso fine and the chance of being denied entry on return) or if I got into legal problems...got arrested, etc.

is there anything else that being illegal would effect? Buying a house...getting a driving license??

what would happen if I had other dealings with the police...such as random traffic stop, witness to accident, that type of thing?

Hi, I am a lawyer and since the new decreto 616-2010 was enacted I was reserching at the Supreme Court library the precedents of the last 100 years.

Forget about the migration office and the migration law, it is a waste of time.

Argentina is a unique case in the world because the National Constitution is focus on fomenting immigration.

For this reason civil rights are equal between citizens and inhabitants, as an example of mi assert. The only difference is that you cannot vote or being elected for mayor, governor, president, etc.

However, the immigration administrative law allow your deportation. And you may have problems related to the lack of proper legal knowledge the police officers may have. In fact they have no idea.

So, the best is to stop wasting time at the immigration office and start to claim your right at Court.

After 2 years of residence (actually living here, doesn´t matter the immigration status) you are able to apply for citizenship.

The procedure is fast, for free and simple, only if you full fit the requisites the federal judge with jurisdiction over your address ask. It vary from judge to judge. 90% of them won´t accept your case in this free procedure, so the solution is to start a case.

Another possible escenario is to ask for a restriction order (not exactly this, but it is easier to explain this way) against the migration office.

I offer this services and this is affordable. You can contact me by PM.

Regards

 

[steveinbsas]

Forget about the migration office and the migration law, it is a waste of time.

However, the immigration administrative law allow your deportation.

So, the best is to stop wasting time at the immigration office and start to claim your right at Court.

After 2 years of residence (actually living here, doesn´t matter the immigration status) you are able to apply for citizenship.

Another possible escenario is to ask for a restriction order (not exactly this, but it is easier to explain this way) against the migration office.

What happens if, during the two years an "inhabitant" is waiting to apply for citizenship, migraciones orders their deportation?

Would it be possible to ask for a restriction order against migraciones to prevent deportation?

 

[AlexfromLA]

If you overstay your visa you won't be able to do any tramites that require an escribano or a valid I.D.

The first thing the escribano will do is ask to see your passport or DNI ( which you won't have ), take a photocopy of the relevant pages including the most recent visa, if it is a valid visa, you will be able to make the transaction. If the visa is invalid, the escribano cannot legally sign off on any of your paperwork.

You will not be able to buy property here without a valid visa. There are also many other transactions that you will not be able to do. That is the point of normalizing your residency situation, so that you can take full advantage of Argentine society and not be an outcast illegal.

Good luck to those that are going to try to become citizens or legal residents.

 

[Amargo]

Deportation...I have never heard of that! Who is going to pay for it?
If you plan on living in Argentina for long, I would try to get citizenship, as many inmigrants from Bolivia, Paraguay,etc do.
Some months ago there was even a protest in BA of Bolivian illegal residents fighting for more rights. I mean, it would have been easy for the Inmigration authorities to deport some of the protesters, but nothing happened.
I think being illegal it is only a burden for you, because you can't get a regular job, I guess you can't open a bank account. But it is not likely that you will be arrested (not for being illegal) or deported.

 

[AlexfromLA]

Bolivians or Parguayans can't be illegal in Argentina or any South American country for that matter. They are undocumented. As citizens of Mercosur or Unasur countries, they are entitled to automatic residency. That is why about 75 % of Unasur residents are legal residents in Argentina. The rest just haven't gone through the process yet. But they cannot be deported as they are entitled to automatic residency. They can only be asked to apply for residency, which they will automatically get once they apply.

US citizens are not members of Unasur or Mercosur. They are not entitled to the same benefits. This has been stated before on this forum, and clearly spelled out in migraciones's own website not sure why some people are still ignorant to the fact that Mercosur and Unasur citizens are entitled to automatic residency in Argentina, and therefore cannot be illegal.

As far as deportation. You won't be put on a plane at gun point You will be nicely given a 10 day stamp afterwhich you would have to leave the country of your own free will. You can choose to stay, but it would be in violation of Argentinian immigration law. And as soon as you do leave, you will most likely never be allowed back in.

There are also quite a few transactions that you will not be eligible to make because you will not have a valid ID or a valid visa.

Marriage might be a good option for some because then you will have family ties in Argentina and you will be entitled to automatic residency or citizenship.

 

[Amargo]

This has been stated before on this forum, and clearly spelled out in migraciones's own website not sure why some people are still ignorant to the fact that Mercosur and Unasur citizens are entitled to automatic residency in Argentina, and therefore cannot be illegal.

Those people live and work in Argentina without documents. Of course that is illegal!

And stop playing the victim yet again, tell me one single case of someone from the USA who has being actually deported.