'Immigration/Airline Restrictions on 90-day+ Trip' Travel

• EXPAT LUNCH: Sunday, May 27, 2012
  May 27 special: 15% discount (cash)!
• Now in Asuncion, Paraguay too!
• EXPAT DINNER: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Immigration/Airline Restrictions on 90-day+ Trip

What I had planned to do is fly into Montevideo, stay for a couple of days, then travel to Buenos Aires and stay for a month, then return to Uruguay for three months. BUT--even though I will get a new tourist permit from immigration and would have documentation from an airline or the ferry of my having left Uruguay for a month, when I finally leave the country for good to return to the U.S., my original airline ticket will show that I arrived in Uruguay more than 90 days before and the airline can either refuse boarding and/or require me to buy a new ticket at some exhorbitant last-minute fare. Apparently the "enforcement" of these situations is inconsistent and depends on the airline and the counter personnel working at the particular time.

I am also wondering if I flew into Buenos Aires on arrival and out of Montevideo upon departure if I am going to encounter the same problem since many of the flights from Montevideo have a connection in Buenos Aires enroute to the U.S.

Has anyone on this forum encountered this situation? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I went on holiday to Europe in May/June this year and was refused check-in at Barcelona airport on my return flight because I didn't have a round trip ticket to Europe... a place where I don't live. I had to make a major fuss, to demand to see a senior Iberia executive and to produce my Uruguayan cedula before they'd let me board.

5 years ago I made a one way journey to the ROU when I moved here permanently and suffered similar nonsenses at London Heathrow airport. Fortunately, I had bought a Buquebus ferry ticket from Colonia to Buenos Aires the year before on-line and had saved the pdf file so a quick diversion to one of the cyber cafes at the airport allowed me to access the old ticket, "edit" the dates, print it out and present it to the numpties at Iberia airways who accepted it with a scowl.

According to the airlines imaginatively created pseudo-rules, passengers must have a ticket showing that they are booked to leave the ROU within 90 days of arrival. A printed ferry ticket ROU to Buenos Aires showing that you have booked a passage out of the ROU within the 90 day period should satisfy their bogus "regulations."

The reality about 90 day ROU tourist visas is that (a) they can be extended for another 90 days at any Uru immigration office for a small fee or (b) a trip to a neighbouring country (even a day trip) will entitle the traveller to a new 90 day visa on return to the ROU.

Many airlines enjoy increasing the charges on round trip tickets when the passenger is planning to stay more than 90 days.

- a ticket to leave (not a return trip ticket, or even an airline ticket to leave, but some prepaid transportation out of the country). One might infer that the the ticket be for a date within the entry period allow, but I've never seen that written in the regulations.

- sufficient funds for your stay

- passport, visa and/or other travel document

If a passenger arrives in violation of the entry requirements most countries not only fine the airline, they also require the airline to return the passenger to where ever they came from at the expense of the airline.

Aside from the travel document issue, ie: Immigration in Uruguay is not going to let you in without a passport or cedula (per Mercosur rules), or a visa if from a country where that is required. It is very unlikely that Immigration will make inquiry about your funds or return ticket.

The problem arises when an airline employee decides to be more strict that immigration will be and demand to see a return ticket.

Once upon entering Costa Rica a friend that was traveling with me was asked by immigration to see her return ticket. She had one, but it was in my house in Costa Rica. That explanation was acceptable to immigration.

When an airline is being difficult, you can of course a buy a very expensive, one-way, 100% refundable ticket and then refund it the next day. Just make sure you read the fine print.

Also, the entry period in Uruguay is 90 days, with an extension of 90 days upon asking.

Expert Page: Quick Tips for Getting Settled in Uruguay

Just want to be sure I have this more or less straight:

When do these problems with the airlines potentially occur--when I arrive in Uruguay with a round trip ticket that shows me in Uruguay for more than 90 days, or when I try to board my flight leave the country with that ticket, even with proof (via travel and new immigration tourist document) that I've been out of Uruguay and in Argentina for enough time to bring my "new" stay in Uruguay under 90 days? If I I fly into BUenos Aires and then have to connect there on my return to the U.S., would I have a similar problem there with my connecting flight since I believe that the Argentine tourist stay limit is also 90 days?

Would the airlines actually invalidate my ticket at some point while I am on my trip because of this? If my round trip airline ticket is still valid, what rationale is there (other than a nasty bureaucratic power play, of course) for the airlines to require me to buy a new refundable ticket back to the U.S.? If worse comes to worse and I had to do that, can the refund be obtained in the U.S.?

This is getting more complicated that I ever imagined.

I've had a ticking off from the Argie immigration at EZE for entering Argentina using my Uruguayan cedula and departing for Europe from Argentina using my passport but they seems satisfied with my apology and my promise not to do it again :-)

Any problems you might face will happen up north when you first depart. If an airline sells you a round trip ticket with the return portion dated at more than 90 days, I cannot see any legal reason for them to cancel it unilaterally. If you pre-book an online ferry ticket before leaving the USA for travel within 90 days of your arrival in the ROU, print out a copy and produce it if challenged by the check-in droids, the airlines own pseudo-rules are satisfied.

I have posted a link for Buquebus below which offers direct sailings MVD - Bs As or bus/ferry connections via Colonia but there is a cheaper alternative in the form of Seacat Colonia. I will post the link in the next message.

• Buquebus

I usually take a day trip from Colonia to Bs As once a month to stock upon duty free cigarettes and 12 year old Irish whiskey. The best duty free shop is aboard the slow Buquebus car ferry... they even stock Belgian choccies :-)

• Seacat Colonia

When my daughter went to Buenos Aires to study for four months, i tried to get an open ticket so that she could pick her return date of departure which proved to be a 'no-no'. We ended up getting a return ticket with fixed dates and had to pay more than the regular fare (more than 90 days).The airlines don't know what costs are going to be more than 90 days out...fuel prices, exchange rates etc so they cover themselves.

As for travel UY/ARG, i would think that as long as you have a return ticket, UY-ARG-UY there shouldn't be a problem. Many tourists do the cross river day trips and some for longer time without problems, as far as i know. If your passport is stamped on departure from UY and again upon return, i think i may be correct in thinking that the 90 day stay would be counted from when you re-entered. I am not sure how one would handle the little forms that one fills in for immigration....whether you hand it in to immigration on departure from UY to Arg and then get another on on re-entry.

I hope things work out and you have a good trip.

Your 90 day stamp can be renewed once (per 90 day entry). ie: you could stay in Uruguay for 1 year by going to Argentina (or somewhere) twice, and getting your 90 day stamp renewed twice. It costs about 300 pesos to renew the stamp.

I know someone that has lived in Uruguay nearly 20 years by traveling a lot.

Some also claim the fine for over staying your visa is small, but it is a much better idea to respect their rules and travel or get an extension.

Expert Page: Quick Tips for Getting Settled in Uruguay

I have taken the ferries Colonia - Bs As - Colonia more than 60 times in both directions and have never been asked to show a return ticket.

We encourage everyone to share their opinions, comments, thoughts and information, please consider sharing...

Please register or login in to reply to this post:

• Login
  (Register)

• EZE airport to Buquebus terminal (Transportation)
• Residency (Immigration)
• Most countries (Travel)
• To quote Obama... yes you can :-) (Expat)
• More related posts for Immigration/Airline Restrictions on 90-day+ Trip

Related posts on other sites:

• Residency Requirements (Peru Forum)
• Border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Costa Rica Forum)

Related eBooks:

• Uruguay 2011 Travel Guide City Guides for Montevideo, Punta del Este, Piriapoli