The fee for a U.S. visa application will soon increase to $140. I expect that Argentina will also increase the fees that people from the U.S. will pay to enter Argentina because such fees are reciprocal.
In addition to the $131 visa fee, Argentines also pay about $20-$50 (USD) in miscellaneous fees to schedule their appointments (they have to buy a PIN card to call the call center who schedules the interview), and they often pay a fee to have their passport and visa couriered back to them after the appointment. Argentines also have to take the time to schedule the appointment, go to a bank to pay the fee and go to the embassy for the visa interview. A visa interview can take almost an entire day. If the visa applicant does not reside in Buenos Aires, they have to add the cost of traveling to Buenos Aires for the appointment. Further, there is no guarantee that the visa application will be approved. As Alberto points out the visa interview process can be quite cumbersome and inhumane. So, our process of paying a fee at the airport is much simpler than the process an Argentine uses to apply for a visa to come to the U.S. Visa reciprocity fees are normal and used by most countries around the world. If you are interested, you can read the Reciprocity Tables at the U.S. Department of State website. There are separate tables for each country of the world and a complete listing of all the visa reciprocity issues and fee schedules. -- Lisa E. Battan Lisa E. Battan, P.C. 1909 26th Street, Suite 1F, Boulder, CO 80302 303-444-8668 fax: 303-444-4847 toll free: 1-866-614-8668 www.battanlaw.com This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by telephone or return e-mail and return the original message to us at the address above. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
