US tourist visas for Argentine nationals

[marksoc]

Because the US is the only country people need visas for right?

No, but for many other countries you don´t have an interview where you need to prove something, being afraid of being rejected, and loose the money you paid (because it is not returned if you are rejected). Try getting a visa for Thailand: "Welcome sir, of course sir, here is your visa sir, enjoy Thailand". And it is free.

 

[syngirl]

No, but for many other countries you don´t have an interview where you need to prove something, being afraid of being rejected, and loose the money you paid (because it is not returned if you are rejected). Try getting a visa for Thailand: "Welcome sir, of course sir, here is your visa sir, enjoy Thailand". And it is free.

Actually Canada is harder for Argentines to get into than the USA -- ask any Argentine that has taken out a visa for both.

You are interviewed fully, you need every piece of paper in order or you'll be told to go away and come back later, you can lose your money (because it is not returned if you are rejected -- for a permanent residency for my husband we have 1000 bucks at risk right now, for a tourist it is between $75 and $200 depending on what type you want) -- you need to show receipts from the past 6 months minimum, and after all of that you can still get rejected by the customs officer when you arrive.

 

[syngirl]

Actually if you can get a visa for Canada, you'll never have a problem getting one for the USA -- a friend of mine who worked in negro but owned his car, apartment etc could not get a visa for the USA. He got one for Canada by getting a letter of invite from a friend, proving all of his financials for the length of the trip, and only requesting a stay of 2 weeks. After he got the Canadian visa, the USA approved him right away with no rigamarole whatsoever.

 

[jrockstar80]

just some thoughts...

if you do a little googling and read some messages on the various forums about US immigration, you'll see that one common complaint is that the consular officers 'didn't even look at my documents'... so one might reasonably conclude that 'having the right documents', even the ones listed on the embassy's website, isn't a guarantee for receiving a visa. additionally, it's not hard to imagine that inexperienced consular officers or just consular officers having a bad day might not follow the 'rules' governing the issuance of tourist visas to the letter. in both cases, it can help to have an attorney who knows US immigration law to prepare the application and/or applicant for the interview. i'm sure there is some general apprehension about hiring a lawyer, but it's kind of a quirk of the US immigration system that it falls to lawyers to advocate in these kind of cases... for instance, in other countries, they have licensed 'migration consultants,' (i.e. Canada, Australia), but not in the US.

 

[starlucia]

Actually Canada is harder for Argentines to get into than the USA -- ask any Argentine that has taken out a visa for both.

You are interviewed fully, you need every piece of paper in order or you'll be told to go away and come back later, you can lose your money (because it is not returned if you are rejected -- for a permanent residency for my husband we have 1000 bucks at risk right now, for a tourist it is between $75 and $200 depending on what type you want) -- you need to show receipts from the past 6 months minimum, and after all of that you can still get rejected by the customs officer when you arrive.

I was shocked to learn about Canada's strict requirements. After a 2-year long-distance relationship, my Argentine friend married a Canadian, assuming she'd be moving to his house in Ottawa soon thereafter. Her residency application was flat-out rejected, due to the lack of stamps in her passport (never having traveled out of South America.) A year after the wedding, she's still in Buenos Aires, waiting for permission to go join her husband. WTF?

 

[starlucia]

Try getting a visa for Thailand: "Welcome sir, of course sir, here is your visa sir, enjoy Thailand". And it is free.

And... it's Thailand. How many Argentines do you know that are planning to overstay their visa in Thailand and work illegally?

Anyway, it's not just the US that's cracking down. Spain, I believe, does not require visas of Argentine citizens. A student of mine - twentysomething Argentine girl, living at home, not enrolled in college - met a Spaniard in BA on vacation and started dating him. He bought her a plane ticket to visit him, and when she arrived, immigration would not let her enter the country; she was on the next plane back to Argentina (her single girl status and empty bank account were red flags, I assume.)

Frankly I think it's far more degrading, not to mention incredibly cruel, to let someone buy a plane ticket, make it through the entire flight, then turn them away at the border like some criminal, than make them sit through the stupid visa interview.