Visa Requirements: Make sure you meet them before you travel abroad!

While speaking to my mom yesterday, she told me a story of how her attorney, and his family, traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina last week. Twice…

My mom’s attorney and his family wanted to spend a week in Argentina during winter break. My mom’s attorney has a Spanish passport so he did not need a visa to visit. However, his wife and kids are U.S. Citizens and therefore, traveled with a US issued passport. Upon arrival, they were shocked that they were denied entry to Argentina because they did not have a valid visa. Immediately, they assumed the usual “I’m an American, I can travel anywhere in the world without a US passport.” WRONG!

Little did they know that Argentina has a visa reciprocity fee of $160. They would have known this if they checked the State Department’s travel website.

Left with no options, they booked a new flight back to Miami, FL where they had to apply for an Argentinian tourist visa via the internet and then fly back to EZE. They could not do it at the airport at EZE because the WiFi was down.

Here is my advice: It is imperative that one check the United States Department of State International Travel Website a couple of months before heading to a foreign country. The State Department clearly lists out (most) entry requirements for U.S. citizens visiting foreign countries for tourism. If you ever find it to be ambiguous or confusing, then contact the countries Embassy here in the U.S. via email, phone or social media if available.

There are other websites that can also help determine whether you need a visa or not to enter specific countries, such as VisaHQ and VisaGuide.

This trip became costly for this individual. Don’t make the same mistake.

HT: Thanks Liv for bringing to our attention the broken links.