Argentina Entrance Fee Must Be Paid In Advance

Currently, visitors to Argentina from the United States, Canada and Australia must pay an entrance fee (visitor visa) equal to the amount that those countries charge Argentine residents. The current fees are: $160 for the United States (valid for 10 years), $100 for Australians (valid for 1 year) and $75 for Canadians (valid for one entry). In the past, this fee has been payable upon arrival at either the Ezeiza (EZE) or Aeroparque (AEP) airports.

Argentina now requires that this fee be paid online prior to coming to the country. This new policy went into effect on October 31, 2012 for AEP, December 28, 2012 for EZE and January 7, 2013 for every other point of entry into the country. Cruise ship passengers will not have to pay until July 1, 2013.

In order to pay the reciprocity fee, you must go to the Provincia Payment System website, register, pay with your credit card and print out a receipt. You must then bring that receipt with you to prove payment.

Here’s a quick rundown of the new steps:

1. Go to the Provincia Pagos site and click “How to pay the reciprocity fee” (yes, they need someone to better translate to English)
2. On the next page, click “Sign Up” at the bottom left of the page (really small font)
3. Fill out the form with all required info (name, passport, etc). Click “Sign Up.”
4. Fill out a second page with some additional information (gender, arrival date) (Don’t ask me why this required a second page.) Click “Add” to add a form.
5. Once you click Add, a new “Pay” button will appear under “Forms Added.” Click “Pay.”
6. Accept the Terms & Conditions and click “Continue.”
7. A new window will pop up to enter your credit card information. Enter your credit card information and click “Send”. (Try and use a card that does not have foreign transaction fees.)
8. Print out your receipt
9. Remember to bring the paper receipt with you when you travel to Argentina (doh!)
10. Present the receipt at Immigration Control where it will be scanned and processed

Payment is no longer accepted at the airports and airlines and ferries are now requiring proof of this payment before boarding. You will be denied boarding if you do not bring proof of payment!

And remember to use Xoom to transfer money to Argentina for your trip. You can get almost 50% more than the normal exchange rate!