Thursday, February 5, 2009

More for us

Was quite excited to find out that the US$131-134 fee (reports vary) that Argentina was going to start charging U.S. residents to enter the country has been postponed until at least March. Originally, it was supposed to go into effect in early January, causing some crankiness on our part.

The fee amount is roughly equivalent to what the U.S government charges Argentina residents when they apply for a visa to enter our country. So it's a little tit-for-tat, only without the added hassle of actually applying for a visa, if you're from the U.S.

Other South American countries (Brazil and Chile to name two) already do something similar (to visit Brazil, you do have to get a visa, though), and Argentina isn't just picking on the U.S--they plan to assess similar reciprocal fees to more than 100 other countries. So, I can't quite argue that they're not playing fair. Doesn't mean we wanted to pay it, though. Not when we can spend that cash on more leather, instead!

We still have to pay a $20 per person fee to leave the country (an airport fee), but we can live with that.