UPDATE (1/15/15): Added new information on payment locations and hours as well as revised links to payment site.
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Argentina grants visitors a 90-day tourist visa. If you want to “legally” stay beyond that time, you may go to the immigration office and pay $300 pesos for a one-time 90 day extension. If you overstay the 90-day period, you have to pay a $300 peso fine upon departure.
As you can guess, most people just overstay their visa and pay the fine when they depart rather than dealing with the hassle of getting an extension. In fact, since Argentina’s enforcement of the 90-day rule is so lax, there are a lot of people I know who have overstayed that 90-day extension by years. Yes, years. And yes, they just have to pay the same $300 pesos fine.
You used to be able to just pay the fine wherever you left the country – airport, ferry terminal, bus, etc. However, this has now changed, and you may only pay the overstay fee at the following locations (within 10 days of departure):
- Ezeiza Airport (open 24 hours)
- Aeroparque Airport (open 24 hours)
- The Retiro Bus Terminal, located at Bridge No. 5 (open from 8am to 8pm)
Anyone else needing to pay the fine must do so in advance online. You can read more about paying the overstay fee on the Argentine Immigration site.
One of our readers wrote to tell us that they were denied boarding on a Saturday bus in Mendoza and had to wait until Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) to pay in person at the bank.
Keep this in mind when planning your traveling in Argentina and hopefully you don’t get stuck as well.