The National Immigration Agency has changed the method by which tourists and business visitors from the US, Canada, and Australia will be required to pay in order to gain visa entry to Argentina.
The reciprocity fee will shortly no longer be payable at the airport upon arrival. Instead the payment must be carried out online, prior to arrival, using the credit card based Provincia Payment System.
The system will be effective as of 31st October 2012 for flights to Aeroparque and 28th December 2012 for Ezeiza International Airport. A press release clearly states that “after these dates cash payments will not be accepted at the airport”.
The change in payment method follows a decision to increase the fee for US citizens from US$140 to US$160, which came into effect in April of this year.
A press release from the US state department offers these instructions for how to pay the reciprocity fee online:
1) Enter the web site www.migraciones.gov.ar or www.provinciapagos.com.ar of Provincia Pagos and register to start the process.
2) Complete the form with the corresponding personal and credit card information.
3) Print the payment receipt.
4) On arrival in Argentina, this printed receipt must be presented at Immigration Control. The receipt will be scanned by the Immigration officials, the information will be checked, and the traveller’s entry to the country registered.
Oh, just get it over with and make Americans, Canadians and Australians apply for a visa+$. That way, no one will want to come here.(Besides, you don’t like these people anyway,.. except for their money and the fact they are easy marks.) Of course, with this new on-line system, less will be will be coming here,..yet again. Good luck with your CFK Tourism market strategy Argentina.
As a pervious traveller to Argentina, this process of cash money was frustrating (more so because the people at immigration hate their job with a passion and if there is a problem with a passport or visa and you can only speak broken Spanish, add another 4 hours to this process).
However at least people had the money to pay when they arrived, what happens if you don’t hear about this? Mark my words there are going to be a lot of people standing in these lines saying “i had no idea you had to pay online!”
At least changing your pesos to dollars on your departure back home or to another country is easy…. wait……
I want to return to Argentina very much, but you are making it harder and harder.
Does anyone have updated info on this reciprocity fee collection? We will be entering Argentina by land at Iguazu Falls in late November. I called the Argentina Embassy in Washington to ask it the fee would be collected at this border crossing, or if we had to pay it online before arrival. Their answer was that they had no information on that. Who does?
Earle: according to the article, and to the information available at the US embassy website, you only need to pay the fee in advance if you enter through one of the two airports in Buenos Aires (http://embassyofargentina.us/embassyofargentina.us/v2011/en/consularsection/news.htm#entry)
In fact, according to this Argentine government website, you are exempted from paying the reciprocity fee if you enter the country by land: http://www.argentina.gob.ar/informacion/45-viajar-a-la-argentina.php (in Spanish). So it seems like you should be fine.