Visas

So, to enter Argentina, as a US citizen, you are not required to have a specific visa, and are assigned a 90-day tourist visa automatically. This 90-day pass can be renewed for additional 90-day periods (I think there may be a limit, but I'm not sure) once you leave the country and return within the original 90-day period. It's a bit of a joke, in terms of a loophole allowing people to say here longer, but we'll role with it. As for me, I had arranged to get a 1-year student visa thru the school I am studying Castellano, and in doing so, I had to go thru hell in a handbasket to get the paperwork that would be required at immigration here in Argentina. I'll spare the details, but it was rather exhaustive, so when everything was compiled, translated, stamped, etcetera, Laura (who did all the same stuff) and i accompanied our contact from school to the immigration office to cross the t's and dot the i's and get ourselves a legitimate visa for a year.

When we got to the front (apparently, our contact had some VIP card for immigration, because we waited about 5 minutes - think DMV x 1000, with an efficiency rating of -50x that of a DMV; it was a great surprise!), and presented our paperwork, we were then informed we were missing a document, one that was never mentioned as something that was necessary - apparently, this was not atypical, as communication and the dissemination of information here is, more or less, a modern comic tragedy. Our contact had even spoken with the supervisor the day before to confirm we had everything, and again, as is customary (unless you ask if you need something specific, noone is going to tell you what you need, if you don't know what you need - makes perfect sense), there was no mention of this specific document.

So, back to the drawing board, more or less... The document, a US Good Conduct Certificate, is a pretty standard form, as we learned from the US Embassy the next week, but it's something that takes a bit of time to get situated. We have needed to pick up a fingerprint card (with instructions) from the US Embassy, and obtain fingerprints from a local police station, known as Comiserias (our first trip was unsuccessful, as the police station had run out of ink, apparently, when we walked in - this information was given to us by a kid who looked 14, after we told him we were there for finger printing, asked us to sit down and wait, and within 5 minutes, asked if we could come back again a different day - seriously!?!), before sending the certified documents to the US Department of Justice for processing/documentation. This process, naturally, takes between 3-4 weeks until we receive the good conduct certificate. Unfortunately, that does not account for the mailing/shipping time between the US and Argentina, which adds about another week or so to the process.

We are now at the end of March (holy bejeezus batman!), and, having gone to Punta, my 90-day tourist visa has been re-upped, so to speak, so I'm in the clear, but still without a student visa. The good thing, however, is that when i finally get it, it'll likely put me through the end of May 2010, just in time to head to South Africa for the World Cup!! There's always a silver lining in Argentina, it just may be more difficult to see when it's covered in garbage and dogshit... Viva Argentina!