All US citizens must have a valid passport to enter Argentina, and may stay for up to 90 days without a VISA. Your passport serves as a “tourist VISA” and allows you to visit, study, volunteer- basically anything legal- except work. For this reason our international internships are non-paid, and are classified for immigration purposes as volunteer work, so as not to be confused with paid positions requiring a work VISA.

If your trip lasts longer than 90 days, you may renew your tourist VISA (get another stamp on your passport), for an additional 3 months by one of two ways: by taking your passport, $30, and a lot of patience to the immigrations office in Buenos Aires, or you can leave the country and return, thus interrupting your stay. The latter is the most popular (and perfectly legal) option, so long as it is only done for one 30 day extension. A ferry ride to Colonia, Uruguay is the easiest way, and a nice excuse to visit a great little town.

IMPORTANT note with regards to length of visit and VISA requirements
What is legal: entering the country with intentions of leaving within 90 days; then, if you find once in country you need to change your return date and stay longer, you may extend for an additional 30 days via the methods described above.
What is not legal: entering the country with intentions to stay longer than three months while holding just a tourist VISA (passport). This means, for example, you cannot enter with a four month round-trip ticket without a formal VISA.

(Understanding these laws and requirements is very important, so if you are at all unclear, please don’t hesitate to call!)

UPDATE: Good news, the major passport processing delays that were going on for much of 2007 have, for the most part, cleared up. As always, the earlier you apply, the better, but turn-around time is back to 4-6 weeks for routine processing.

**For the most current info, please visit State Department’s web site at www.travel.state.gov, but this is generally what you can expect: **

If you need a passport, and your trip is at least 6 weeks away, you may apply by mail for a passport renewal; for new passports or passport replacements, you must apply in person to a local acceptance facility, generally post offices, courthouses, or libraries (listed on State Dept’s web site). You’ll need the following:

*If you’ve torn the house apart and can’t find your birth certificate, www.vitalchek.com is an easy way to get a replacement, and a better price than most.

If you need your passport in less than a month, you can pay an additional $60 fee at any processing center and get it within 3 weeks.

If you are leaving within two weeks, you can generally get one same-day if you go in person to one of the regional passport acceptance facilities in these cities: Philly, DC, NY, Norwalk CT, Miami, Chicago, Boston, LA, San Fran, Seattle, Aurora CO, New Orleans or Houston. If going to one of those cities is feasible, call 1-877-487-2778 for an appointment. Fee is also $60 expedited fee plus the regular processing fee of $100.

Otherwise, there are a slew of private agencies that charge much more, but can get a passport to you in as few as 2 days. Expect your grand total between government fees and the agency’s fees to be anywhere from $200-$350, depending on how many days you can afford.

The cost of the course includes accommodation beginning the day before your classes begin (Sunday) until the day after your course or internship ends (Saturday). Most students fly out of the States on Saturday evening and arrive Sunday morning. They take Sunday to get their bearings, unpack, perhaps nap, walk around a bit, and are raring to get started the next morning. Others prefer to arrive a few days prior, and that’s fine as well; if we know as soon as possible, we’ll arrange for your HomeStay, residence or apartment to be ready for you earlier. As far as your return date, this depends entirely on your commitments back home, budget, etc. Many students head back the Sat after the program ends because of commitments back home, or because they’ve traveled on the excursions, gotten to see and do a lot during their program time, and they know their wallet will lead them home. Others plan for some extra travel time afterwards to catch what they didn’t have time to see. If you plan to use your accommodation for additional days, please inform us at booking and we’ll reserve it for you.

All major airlines fly in and out of Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport (code EZE), and, unfortunately, there is no magic rule as to who offers the best rate. As any expert flight-scouter knows, a little patience at the PC will ‘do you good’ in finding the best rate for your particular date. That said, there are a few under-the-radar places to look which often have good deals:

*(If you can fly out of New York, LA, DC, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Orlando or Miami: El Salvador-based airline TACA often has great deals (taca.com). 

*If you can fly out of NY, LA, DC or Miami, try Panama-based Copa Airlines (copa.com)

*Lan Chile (Lan.com) flies out of most major cities, and partners with American Airlines to give some pretty good deals.

*Airfarewatchdog.com is worth checking out as well, as they list unpublished airline sales.

*Believe it or not, old friends Expedia and Priceline also offer competitive rates to EZE.

There are two types of insurance to consider when planning your trip: travel medical insurance and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

Purchasing travel medical insurance is extremely important, as most domestic medical insurance plans will not cover you when you leave the country. Immersion Argentina does not group insurance policies as a part of our packages, because the coverage needs and preferences of each student are so diverse. However, to help make your choices easier, we’re happy to provide some recommendations below.** Please note that Immersion Argentina is not affiliated with any insurance company, and we encourage you to read your policy thoroughly and ask the provider any questions before purchasing (these are simply recommendations based on our extensive travel to Argentina, and are not intended to replace any legal or professional advise from your insurance agents)**

Before making any purchases, it is wise to contact your current medical insurance provider, tell them of your planned trip and inquire of their out-of-country coverage. Most standard plans do not provide such coverage, but it is always smart to check first.

International Medical Group has economical international medical insurance plans with extensive coverage; expect an average of $30/ month for $50,000 coverage. Of course, you can raise limits at a higher cost, cost or raise deductibles for lower cost at your discretion. Find them at www.imglobal.com

You might also consider a policy that reimburses air travel expenses or other non-reimbursable costs should you need to cancel your trip, due to a serious illness, death in the family, or a myriad of other covered reasons outlined in the policy. Immersion Argentina has an excellent return policy, but we cannot cover the cost of your flight. If you purchase with a travel company like expedia or Priceline, they offer you flight reimbursement coverage with your purchase that runs around $40. Otherwise, we recommend AIG’s Travelguard Air Ticket Protection policy, which also costs around $40 for coverage up to $1,000. Find them at www.travelguard.com

There are also packages that combine both medical and cancellation coverage. These policies also include coverage for trip interruption, and cover non-reimbursable expenses should you have to end your program early due to emergency. Trips of 30 days or less are quoted on-line, and trips over 30 days are priced at a per-day rate past 30 days, and you’ll need to call. You can find more information at www.travelguard.com and check out the “Savvy Traveler” policy and “Protect Assist Gold” policy.  Savvy Traveler starts around $30 for trip cancellation and medical coverage up to $10,000, and Protect Assist Gold starts around $50 for cancellation and medical coverage up to $50,000.

It is not a requirement to have any vaccinations to enter Argentina, and many travel sites do not suggest any at all. As the safest measure possible, we like to follow the CDC recommendation that all international travelers get a set of routine vaccinations every 10 years. While Argentina does not have any recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases on record, it is a smart idea to be vaccinated against diseases that can be found in other parts of South America, in case you travel from Buenos Aires. The CDC maintains a list of doctors’ offices across the nation which specialize in international travel and have these vaccines readily available (in case your family doctor does not). Again, it is a personal choice, but we prefer to recommend the safest measure possible.
UPDATE: Feb 26, 2008: Due to a reported outbreak last month of yellow fever near the border of Brazil and Paraguay, Argentina began offering vaccinations as precaution, particularly in the northern provinces of Argentina. Argentina’s Ministry of Health is quick to point out that the last documented case of yellow fever in Argentina was in 1841. PLEASE NOTE, there are no travel warnings or safety concerns issues, we just want to make everyone aware. As always, we suggest you ask your doctor about this and other routine international travel vaccinations.

If possible, the best thing to do is take care of all routine medical visits before you leave. However, if you need to seek medical attention while you are there, either planned or unplanned, there are highly trained doctors in Buenos Aires, and you will always receive adequate care. The public healthcare system is completely free to everyone, but the atmosphere can be a shock, as it does not resemble the modern, cushy decoration you’re used to. The private facilities are much more modern, but they charge. As their fees are not nearly as high as the US, Canada or Europe, many foreigners prefer these facilities to feel more comfortable. If you have a certain medical condition that concerns you, please let us know and we can help in locating a good doctor for you.

Because medicines are free to many citizens, and a much lower cost to others, the Argentine Ministry of Health requires doctors to prescribe the generic versions of all medicines. Or, if the prescription is from an overseas doctor, the pharmacist is to use the internationally accepted name of the drug. So, this means it could be difficult to get the exact medicine you are currently taking.

Any other questions you might have in preparing for your trip, regarding these matters above, or anything else that crosses your mind, your personal pre-trip advisor is there for you. Additionally, your pre-trip goodie packet contains much more information about what to bring and what to expect. In the meantime, no question is too small or too silly! You’re embarking on a big journey, so we want you to feel well prepared, so you can concentrate on just being excited!