A friend in Argentina just e-mailed me saying that Argentinians

[enid602]

can (as of 1/1/2008) visit the US without a visa. This is the first I've heard of the no visa requirement. I did a little googling to try to verify it, but could not. Does anyone out there know of the visa requirement being lifted for Argentinians? Pls let me know.

[whistle]

1. Even Americans can't get into the country without a visa

[Cleita]

4. You need a passport to get back into the country not a visa.

The best way to find out is to ask the American embassy or consulate in Argentina, as they are the ones who issue visas to the USA.

[whistle]

14. I stand corrected and I knew that....it just did not register in my brain

:silly:

[treestar]

2. Britain and European countries have a visa waiver

Never heard of it being applied elsewhere, though.

[enid602]

5. waiver

When I did my google, I found an article that said that Argentina was on the visa waiver progrm until mid-2002. I guess their economic crisis lead to our fears of massive illegal immigration. I wonder if maybe they've again been considered for the waiver program.

[treestar]

15. Thanks for googling that - interesting

I bet it usually is directly tied to the economics of the country in question.

[tammywammy]

3. Did you try

travel.state.gov

[enid602]

6. yes

Yes, and could not find anything pertaining to visa waivers with regard to Argentina.

[tammywammy]

7. This is all I could find

http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm/immigrant_visas/8the_diversity.htm

The 2008
Diversity Visa Lottery Program (DV-2008)

And Argentina is listed. Maybe that's what they were talking about.

[enid602]

13. BINGO

No it's not that. After googling in English, I tried in Spanish. It cam up instantly. The Senate recently ratified Voinivich's (pug-Ohio) legislation stating that the visa waiver program will be given to certain select countries that 'cooperate' with the US on the war on terror. Wonder what the hell that means. More gitmo's? More waivers of crimes against humanity committed by US citizens/corporations on foreign soil? At any rate, the info I got comes from infobae.com. It follows (just in case you understand a bit of Spanish):

Será a partir de 2008, según una enmienda aprobada ayer por el Senado norteamericano. Pero para entrar al programa habrá que cumplir con varios requisitos. Se deberá ayudar a ese país en la lucha contra el terrorismo


Nuestro país fue el primero en obtener el beneficio del programa Visa Waiver Program (VWP) en julio de 1996 y los argentinos aprovecharon la "cortesía" durante casi seis años hasta que llegó la crisis del 2001.

La modificación a la legislación fue propuesta por George Voinovich, senador republicano por el estado de Ohio. Y fue aprobada por 40 votos contra 38. El beneficio se aplicará a todos los países que colaboren con los Estados Unidos en la lucha contra el terrorismo.

Según informa hoy el diario Clarín, Voinovich aseguró que la noticia es "maravillosa para Estados Unidos y sus aliados y una fuerte señal de democracia para sus enemigos".

Pero el beneficio no está aprobado aún. Para que la Argentina lo obtenga se deberán cumplir con varios requisitos. Mayor seguridad en los aeropuertos, pasaporte biométrico y seguimiento de los pasajeros, son algunas de las exigencias que se tendrán que cumplir a rajatabla.

Actualmente hay 27 países que integran la lista de naciones que cuentan con el beneficio de la Visa para que sus ciudadanos puedan ingresar a los Estados Unidos, y entre ellos no hay ningún latinoamericano.

Cabe recordar que desde febrero de 2002, tras la crisis política, EEUU declaró una "medida de emergencia" y los argentinos tuvieron que volver a tramitar el visado para poder viajar al país del norte.


FUNNY HOW THINGS ARE REPORTED OUTSIDE THE US, BUT NOT HERE!

[formercia]

8. It's so Junior and familiy can visit Uncle Jorge

without leaving a record in their passports.

Remember Jorge? He's the guy that had a Billion transferred into his account in Argentina for no apparent reason.

[tammywammy]

9. This is in regard to Argentenians coming to the US

And you still have to have a passport even if you don't need a visa.

[formercia]

10. I'm sure the arrangement would be reciprocal.

They would have an entry and exit stamp unless prior arrangements were made. I had a good going over by the Brits when I showed up without an entry or exit stamp once. They were very curious as to how I had pulled that one off.

[treestar]

11. Doesn't the * family have land in Paraguay?

I bet Paraguayans can come without a visa. Like Saudis.

[entanglement]

12. No, they can't

n/t