Why are there so many VISA violations?

[nikad]

Is it a "violation" or is it working the system legally in ones favor?

It is just taking advantage of a loophole. Hopefully someone will rule things better, I do not think these kind of things benefit anybody.

 

[emilyr]

I cant believe how many VISA violations I read about on here. If you are mature enough to leave your home country, be mature enough to keep it legal.
Good grief..

Sorry in advance if this is rude...or as we say in the South, "God bless ya, but....", but you open the door when you open a thread for the purpose of insulting others!

wow. Thanks, mom! [sarcastically]

I would say that it is a very American attitude to CRIMINALIZE improperly documented immigrants in attitude and in practice. I am sure there are a lot of expats here who are just as disturbed as me by the way the US treats people entering and leaving the country and the way that foreigners are criminalized. I appreciate that a visa violation is not a crime so that for example, if you make a mistake and leave your legal visa at home (as I did last year) when traveling, you are not thrown in jail, tried, and deported.

Having money and the privilege to do everything en blanco is GREAT but has nothing to do with maturity. Being able to arrange everything here has a lot more to do with money, such as paying lawyers or being a pensioner or rentista or making an investment (or with dumb luck like getting a job transfer here or the love of your life happening to be Argentine), than it does with maturity. Just paying the fines and filling out paperwork, perfectly on time, does not make you better than other people, and to believe it as such is to me even more so an indicator of immaturity.

I know quite a few "illegals" from Peru and Bolivia, and even Argentines work and sell en negro, a HUGE percent of the population in fact. The new Asignacion Universal for children is outright directed at parents with children who work in informality. Now, Argentines, of course, are in their own country and can break their own laws, and the others are members of Mercosur, but by this standard they would all be immature because they are not keepin' it legal. Or would we make them an exception with the (immature) assumption that Americans should be better and held to a higher standard....because they are....Americans??? And are you suggesting that expats should be better than other people because they could get on airplane and go somewhere else? I don’t think so. Es nada más lo que nos ha tocado en la vida.

I think it's really hard to make a fair assessment of a bunch of people you don't know, where they come from, who they are. Some people with visa violations are in some sort of limbo to getting legal.

Seriously....this is one my favorite parts of Argentine culture, the live and let live attitude...the "no pasa nada." I was trying to get AWAY from the self-righteous, black and white punto de vista. Certainly that is not even how the LAW functions here.

 

[fifilafiloche]

Right on the point, Emily. What amazes me most is that those expats dont even understand how their attitude is patronizing. They have been brain washed to the point that they truely believe those beliefs forced up their throat since their earliest infancy are universal values and that they have to evangelize the world. This rigidity doesnt prepare them well for travelling, since they are not open for learning.

Now if they were reading expats forums complaining about how it works in their own country, they would violently defend the way it works. Argentines intervening here are educated enough not to take that behaviour too personally.

 

[malbec]

fifilafiloche...shame on you! You have written something nice about the Argentines!

 

[iStar]

Well I might not be paying taxes but I do pump over 174000 pesos into the economy per year.

We have been here for 3 years as tourists and we pump those pesos year round not just high season so the government should be happy for the economic support!

Aren't we ALL paying taxes every time we buy something? The more money you have the more you buy and probably higher ticketed items as-well.

 

[hannstew]

Perhaps mature wasn’t the correct word to use, however if I am going to do something wrong, be it an immigrations “rule” or even worse, a violent crime, I know the consequences, and should not have to come asking others how I can now get out of it. My comment was not meant to insult anyone but when 4 of 9 threads at almost any given time is about tips or advise on extending a visa or how to beat the system as a “permatourist” or how to pay the fine for not taking “the trip” and renewing the visa, it makes me wonder why not think ahead to comply with the regulations. If you go across every 90 days, cool, you are still legal but if you will be here as some of you say 3+ yrs, why not get your documents? There are obvious advantages to that.

 

[hannstew]

Another thing, why is the 10th thread on the home page a post that has been there since September without activity?

 

[cassiem13]

Perhaps mature wasn’t the correct word to use, however if I am going to do something wrong, be it an immigrations “rule” or even worse, a violent crime, I know the consequences, and should not have to come asking others how I can now get out of it. My comment was not meant to insult anyone but when 4 of 9 threads at almost any given time is about tips or advise on extending a visa or how to beat the system as a “permatourist” or how to pay the fine for not taking “the trip” and renewing the visa, it makes me wonder why not think ahead to comply with the regulations. If you go across every 90 days, cool, you are still legal but if you will be here as some of you say 3+ yrs, why not get your documents? There are obvious advantages to that.

First, I think you will find that nobody on here is committing violent crimes and asking for advice of how to get out of the consequences.

Secondly, most "permatourist" expats DO try to comply with the "rules" (that word can only be used loosely here), but are often still the ones who the officials actually apply the rules to. In that case, why is there something wrong with asking advice from others who may have been in that situation before, or who know more about the laws than they do? Isn't that why we have this forum, so we can all help each other out, whatever the situation?

Finally, you ask why we don't just "get [our] documents?". Yes, there are obvious advantages to that. But it isn't just a matter of going to the local People Who Want To Live in Argentina Office and saying, "sign me up!". There are certain requirements, and it's always a lengthy legal process, and even those of us who have employers that love us still can't necessarily meet the requirements, even if we don't have the local fiance(e) to marry or the money necessary to invest.

Again, to reiterate what so many people have already said: please don't judge the people on here for how they live their lives, be it here or elsewhere. You don't know them or their situation, and why would you begrudge people asking for help and information in a forum that is designed specifically for that purpose?

 

[Diskosis]

Cassie said it perfectly.