Reciprocity Fee

[SonomaMist]

Curious to see if any dual passport holders used a secondary passport to avoid the reciprocity fee in Brazil or Argentina. I am a US citizen but also an Irish passport holder. It worked in 2011 for Chile -- but I know they are also getting tigher.

[VidaNaPraia]

Curious to see if any dual passport holders used a secondary passport to avoid the reciprocity fee in Brazil or Argentina. I am a US citizen but also an Irish passport holder. It worked in 2011 for Chile -- but I know they are also getting tigher.

 

For Brazil, you ought to be OK.

More commonly, the question comes up on forums as it regards entry by air, and the issue is usually proof for the airline that you will be allowed to enter (since they are responsible for returning you to point of departure at their expense if denied), but don't know about cruise lines. There may also be some screening procedure before boarding, or you may not be allowed to debarked at Brazilian ports.

But it (carrying 2 passports and entering Brazil on the one that doesn't need a visa) is done all the time. Just enter and leave Brazil on the Irish passport, which gets you a 90 day prazo/entry (with 90 day extension, if applied for at the PF).

[Floridiana]

The cruiselines will only accept one passport. It you want to return to the US on the same ship, you need to use the US passport and pay visa and reciprocacy fees.

 

That said, an Italian-American on our ship used her Italian passport on the Amazon cruise, so the ship's manifest said "Italian citizen". I did not see her and find out whether she had a problem when returning to the US port of entry where she needed her US passport.

 

On the ships I have been, non-US and US passport holders were called separately to inspection and I always assumed they were checked off the manifest list. After all, even if passengers take a back-to-back cruise with the turn-around point in the US, they have to leave the ship for about an hour before they can return for their next segment and are added to the new manifest.

[SonomaMist]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.

 

I am traveling by air from the U.S. to Rio and then by air from Rio tlo Buenos Aires which I will embark and disembark before returning from Buenos Aires to the US by air. Think I'll give the Argentine and Brazil embassies a call to see what they advise. It obviously helps to save $320 -- but it's a drop in the bucket if you aren't allowed to enter the country.

 

Wish the U.S. would drop the reciprocity fee for South Americans!

[boulders]

I'm a dual US-Canadian citizen. I just got back from our trip around South America. The Brazil visa and Argentinian reciprocity fees for Canadians are half that for Americans, so I used my Canadian passport for this cruise. I did travel with my U.S. passport as we flew through the U.S. on the way there. It caused a moment of delay at U.S. immigration as I checked at the airport with my Canadian passport, but then showed my U.S. passport to immigration. U.S. immigration was fine with it though.

[floridal]

I must be slow on the draw because I just found out about the Argentina fee two weeks ago. I don't seem to remember it being pointed out by Crucon although the Chile fee was. Anyway that adds $300 US to this Canadian couple"s very short stay in Argentina. Had I known about it I might well have chosen a different cruise. Our Baltic and Mediterranean cruises allowed us to visit Russia -Germany - Egypt without this kind of rip- off.

[Turtles06]

I must be slow on the draw because I just found out about the Argentina fee two weeks ago. I don't seem to remember it being pointed out by Crucon although the Chile fee was. Anyway that adds $300 US to this Canadian couple"s very short stay in Argentina. Had I known about it I might well have chosen a different cruise. Our Baltic and Mediterranean cruises allowed us to visit Russia -Germany - Egypt without this kind of rip- off.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I wouldn't call it a rip-off. Canada does not allow Argentinians to enter Canada for free; in fact, they have to go through the far more cumbersome process of applying for and securing a Canadian visa (same for Argentinians visiting the U.S.). Argentina's "reciprocity fee" reciprocates the charges (and thankfully doesn't require Canadian or U.S. citizens to get an actual visa, just pay the money). If I am a citizen of a country that charges the citizens of another country to visit mine, I can hardly complain when that other country does the same to me.

 

Whenever you are thinking about traveling abroad, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the requirements for entering whatever countries you are thinking about visiting. The information is readily available on line.

 

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/argentina-argentine/consular_services_consulaires/visa.aspx?lang=eng

 

(Are you eligible for the cheaper single-entry fee?)

 

I hope you have a great trip.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Turtles06

[boulders]

I must be slow on the draw because I just found out about the Argentina fee two weeks ago. I don't seem to remember it being pointed out by Crucon although the Chile fee was. Anyway that adds $300 US to this Canadian couple"s very short stay in Argentina. Had I known about it I might well have chosen a different cruise. Our Baltic and Mediterranean cruises allowed us to visit Russia -Germany - Egypt without this kind of rip- off.

 

I just got back from my South American cruise on my Canadian passport. You will only need a single entry visa which is $75 pp.

[sheilashow]

i spent close to 3 hours on the phone speaking to celebrity...my travel agent...lan-chile....and the israeli consulate in miami about not having to pay the recprocity fee because i am a dual citizen.....

 

i got NOWHERE....

 

no one gave me a definitive answer....

 

everyone sent me to someone else....

 

it was a total exercize in frustration....and i still don't know what to do !!!!!!

 

if anyone flew out of miami on an american passport and entered argentina on an israeli passport without paying the fee....i'd love to hear from them.....

[boulders]

i spent close to 3 hours on the phone speaking to celebrity...my travel agent...lan-chile....and the israeli consulate in miami about not having to pay the recprocity fee because i am a dual citizen.....

 

i got NOWHERE....

 

no one gave me a definitive answer....

 

everyone sent me to someone else....

 

it was a total exercize in frustration....and i still don't know what to do !!!!!!

 

if anyone flew out of miami on an american passport and entered argentina on an israeli passport without paying the fee....i'd love to hear from them.....

 

When you fly out, you should use your Israeli passport, because that is what the airline will use to determine whether or not you've got the proper documentation for admission to Argentina. That's assuming there are no fees or visas required for Israeli citizens. You would then need to use the same passport for the cruise.

 

When you fly back into the States is when you would use your U.S. passport.

 

The Israeli consulate won't be able to tell you whether or not to use your Israeli passport or not. The Argentine consulate should be able to tell you what the entry requirements are for Israeli citizens though.

[KirkNC]

I must be slow on the draw because I just found out about the Argentina fee two weeks ago. I don't seem to remember it being pointed out by Crucon although the Chile fee was. Anyway that adds $300 US to this Canadian couple"s very short stay in Argentina. Had I known about it I might well have chosen a different cruise. Our Baltic and Mediterranean cruises allowed us to visit Russia -Germany - Egypt without this kind of rip- off.

 

The fee is the exact same that the US charges when Argentinian's visit the US. Any anger should be directed at the State Department.

[4774Papa]

We talked with someone that used their Hong Kong passport instead of Canadian passport and avoided the reciprocity fees.

 

One thing, if you pay the fees, make sure you keep an extra copy of it. We talked with people that had a problem because they were told when they came in the country that they didn't need the doc anymore since it was electronically keyed in the Argentine computer. You need the doc when you check in for the cruise.

[KirkNC]

I have both a paper copy and a PDF stored on my ipad ;)

[sheilashow]

When you fly out, you should use your Israeli passport, because that is what the airline will use to determine whether or not you've got the proper documentation for admission to Argentina. That's assuming there are no fees or visas required for Israeli citizens. You would then need to use the same passport for the cruise.

 

When you fly back into the States is when you would use your U.S. passport.

 

The Israeli consulate won't be able to tell you whether or not to use your Israeli passport or not. The Argentine consulate should be able to tell you what the entry requirements are for Israeli citizens though.

 

 

the law is that i must leave the united states on my american passport....

 

i can enter argentina on my israeli passport.....

 

and it says online on the argentinian consulate website that people with an israeli passport do not pay the reciprocity fee....

 

the problem is in miami airport where it depends on the lan chile representative if they will allow me to get on the plane by showing them the website and the passport.....

 

i'm afraid to take a chance.....

 

any and all suggestions and advice is welcome.....

 

sheila

[boulders]

There is no US passport control when you depart the U.S. You use whichever passport you will be entering the country you will be flying to.

 

Have a look here

[BridgeMates]

U.S. Friends taking S.A. cruise later this year which starts in San Diego.

Will they need to pay the Argentine Reciprocity fee when they arrive in B.A. or when they leave from the airport? or, since they arrived on a cruise, will they stil have to pay it?

 

Anyone know for sure?

[smeyer418]

The fee is the exact same that the US charges when Argentinian's visit the US. Any anger should be directed at the State Department.

Nope its the US Congress. State only collects the fee that Congress requires that they charge. This is a user fee. Its supposed to pay the approximate actual cost of processing a visa application to the US. Just so you are aware a foreign national from one of these countries must set up an interview and personally travel to the US embassy or consulate for a personal interview. They are fingerprinted and a background check is also done. After which a decision is made to issue or deny the visa application. If denied they don't get the money back.

 

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/fees-visa-services.html

Edited February 7, 2014 by smeyer418

[boulders]

U.S. Friends taking S.A. cruise later this year which starts in San Diego.

Will they need to pay the Argentine Reciprocity fee when they arrive in B.A. or when they leave from the airport? or, since they arrived on a cruise, will they stil have to pay it?

 

Anyone know for sure?

 

They will need to show that they have paid the reciprocity fee when they board the ship in San Diego. Without the receipt, they won't be allowed to board.

[cherylandtk]

They will need to show that they have paid the reciprocity fee when they board the ship in San Diego. Without the receipt, they won't be allowed to board.

Not quite. The Argentine fee is purchased online in advance and quite a few passengers purchase it while onboard the ship.

[cherylandtk]

There is no US passport control when you depart the U.S. You use whichever passport you will be entering the country you will be flying to.

 

Have a look here

While there is no passport control, there is an examination of passports conducted by the check in staff. US law requires that dual citizens use their US passports for this.

[Astro Flyer]

We're applying for our reciprocity fees & wonder if others have had similar experiences as us and any insights would be appreciated.

 

On my SA roll call others said to establish seperate accounts for each of us because they had experienced problems doing 2 for 1 account. My wife did her's 1st & received an email confirmation of her account. We submitted her application & can see that a payment is pending on our credit card (notified cc company about these transactions).

 

Unfortunately it's been over an hour now & the window that opened after submitting our application & payment is still "Waiting" for a reply from them. No email confirmation yet & we're hesitant to do anything while the page is "waiting" to not mess up anything. Does it take hours to get the "entry code" email or is mine most likely hung up?

 

How great...have to pay $160/pp to go from the airport to the ship & it's a PITA getting it completed! :eek:

[Astro Flyer]

I didn't want to waste anyones time by having them reply to my question so I'm updating our experience.

 

We gave up on the hung cc payment page & signed in again and...VOILA...both of our reciprocity fee forms are now there. I was hesitant to do anything not wanting to mess up the process by bypassing the hung cc payment window & waited 90 minutes before doing it.

 

We've printed several copies of each form in the "best" quality so hopefully they'll be able to read our UPC code. :)

Edited February 11, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[2ashevillesailors]

U.S. Friends taking S.A. cruise later this year which starts in San Diego.

Will they need to pay the Argentine Reciprocity fee when they arrive in B.A. or when they leave from the airport? or, since they arrived on a cruise, will they stil have to pay it?

 

Anyone know for sure?

 

You must pay online before going to the airport. When you check in at the gate you must HAVE a printed copy of having paid the fee to Argentina. A couple on our flight was denied entry onto the airplane, they for got their forms at home and did not have time to go online and reprint it. I called Argentina Consulate in Washington, DC and got all of the info that I needed.

Now we are booked for Panama Canal cruise to Valparasio, have to find out how to pay it. Was thinking you pay when getting off of the ship?

Edited February 15, 2014 by 2ashevillesailors

[Merlinite]

Now we are booked for Panama Canal cruise to Valparasio, have to find out how to pay it. Was thinking you pay when getting off of the ship?

 

Valparasio is not in Argentina. I don't think there is a fee for Chile, but would not surprise me if there is.

[Astro Flyer]

Valparasio is not in Argentina. I don't think there is a fee for Chile, but would not surprise me if there is.

Based on the Chile USA website they also have a $160 Reciprocity Fee:

 

"ENTRY FEE:

There is a reciprocity fee of US$160 dollars to be paid in cash (U.S. dollars) or credit card. The one-time charge is good for the life of your passport. Go to the CONSULAR SECTION for more information".

 

http://www.chile-usa.org/fastfacts.htm

 

We're required to have the ARG reciprocity fee to fly to Buenos Aires to begin our cruise which ends 14 days later in Valparaiso. Most of us continue cruising to LA & we don't have to pay the Chile reciprocity fee although it may be included in our taxes & port fees.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Astro Flyer