Argentina has rubberband flexibility when it comes to law and order. Technically you can only stay for 90 days as a tourist but most of my ex-pat friends have been here from 6 months – 5 years. As long as you leave the country every 90 days (a daytrip to Uruguay will suffice) you get a new stamp in the passport.
But there's also another option. A ferry ride to Uruguay will set you back around $300 argentine pesos, the same price as the overstayer penalty. So, instead of doing a visa-run every 3 months, you can wait for months or years and pay the fee at the airport when you leave.
Don't let the short queue fool you, the migration officials operate at granny pace.
If you're going to choose this option, you need to allow a bit more time at the airport and I've documented the long and windy process below.
So what do you need to dodge a visa bullet?
- A passport
- $300 Argentine Pesos
- At least an extra hour at the airport
- Patience to queue and not lose your cool
So what do you need to dodge a visa bullet?
- Go to the Migration Service Office (Dirreción Nacional de Migraciones)
- Queue patiently, a short line doesn't = a short wait.
- Give them your passport, they'll tinker on a computer and give you a form.
- Go to Banco de la Argentina around the corner and queue again to get form stamped and pay $300 ARG
- Take the form back to the Migration office, queue again to get it stamped and get your passport.
- Check in as normal, which normally involves a lot more queuing and show them the form.
- Get form stamped at customs where they fingerprint and take a photo of you.
Banco de la Argentina – the official rate is $4.86, the real rate on the street is $6.54 pesos to 1 US$.
This is the form that gets ripped and stamped and signed at random.
Another tip if you're flying with a bicycle bag is that you shouldn't put everything in it before they weigh it. The reason is, because it's oversized you have to wheel it to another part of the airport so if you're worried about being overweight, put more stuff in between check in and dropping it off.
The flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago is truly spectacular, check out the view over the Andes mountain range.