Baja Cero, the problem I have with this thread you started is that it seems that you are including many different types of “tourists” and giving the same advice to them all. I can understand if you are talking to the “fake tourists,” who are staying in Argentina permanently, maybe even working. Going across the border every 90 days seems like these people are playing games with the Argentine immigration policies. If I were in this type of situation I would take your advice, because it sounds like what you are telling them is for their own benefit.
But some of us are real tourists, at least we think we are. Real tourists spend time in countries complying with each country’s rules for spending time there. In Ecuador, for example, a tourist is allowed to stay up to 90 days per year. If I enter Ecuador and then exit the country after thirty days and then reenter Ecuador, the immigration agent will tell me, “you have 60 days left before you have to leave.” That is no problem and tourists can live with these kinds of rules.
But for “real tourists,” Argentina is not so clear with what their laws are. Lonely Planet, for example, tells tourists that they can get a fresh stamp for another 90 days. The last thing I want to do is start going through the hassle of applying for some type of Argentine residency. So until such time as Argentina makes their laws more clear, or I start hearing that tourists are being refused entry(maybe the case you presented is just a fluke), I am going to continue going out of the country every 90 days, and then reentering Argentina if I am permitted to do so and if I wish spend more time here.
And I am definitely not going to take your advice to overstay the 90 day passport stamp, and then just pay a fine when I leave the country. Although that advice might work in Argentina, tourists have to enter other countries, as well.
Nounou, for example, makes a good point in post #10 when he says, "I don't know what the system is in Argentina, but here if you overstay your visa, even though a tourist visa is seldom evidenced in your passport, you can be 'flagged'. This is bad news, as it could have a detrimetal effect should you try and enter another country, even if your purpose is tourism."
I think Nounou is right and sounds like a smart traveller.
In post #63 you made the point that “I always assert that it makes no sense to do the visa run because you give the immigration agents too much power. They are corrupt and racist. That's why they were not disturbing expats for years. They have freedon on when and how to enforce the law.”
Baja Cero, I respect what you are trying to say but that is exactly why some of us might question your advice to overstay(and pay a fine when we leave). Doing that would be “giving authorities too much power over us” because they do “have the freedom on when and how to enforce the law.” We are not only trying to keep our noses clean in Argentina, but in all other countries, as well. I think you mean well but by recommending that they just overstay their visas, I think you are giving tourists shortsighted and just bad advice, because it might present problems for them in the future.
