How to Apply for an Argentina Visa for Filipino Tourists or Visitors

UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 2019: Do you hold a non-immigrant B2 United States visa? If yes, you can now easily apply for an Argentina Visa online via their AVE (Autorizacion Electronica de Viajes) system. To do this, just go to the National Directorate for Migration (Direccion Nacional de Migraciones; migraciones.gov.ar) website, select ‘AVE’, register, and then follow the next instructions and prompts (visa fee of $50, payable online).
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If you don’t hold a US visa, you will have to do the standard process stated below.

If you’ve been following my updates lately, you would know by now that I am soon going on my biggest adventure (yet): a trip to Antarctica! Of course, no single country or government owns Antarctica so visitors do not necessarily need visas to go there — however, if you’re sailing to this ‘White Continent’, most ships would depart from ports such as Argentina, Chile, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, and South Africa.

In my case, I’ll be sailing on an expedition with Hurtigruten that’s starting from Argentina, and as a Philippine passport holder, I needed an Argentina visa.

Now… I gotta be frank: getting an Argentina visa has been the most difficult and most expensive tourist visa that I’ve ever applied for and paid for (so far). But despite that fact, the process can be fast and hassle-free given the right preparation and know-how; so with my experience and knowledge, I hope this guide will help you get that visa ASAP should Argentina be in your upcoming travel plans!

But first, a disclaimer :

NO ONE can give you a guarantee on your Argentinian visa’s approval: not even a lawyer, a consultant, a travel agent, or an embassy employee. Anyone who says otherwise is most likely going to be a scammer. That being said, what I can offer you here is a comprehensive guide with helpful tips to increase your chances of getting that Argentina tourist visa.

Table of Contents

Application Process for Argentina Visa

Step 1: Determine the type of Argentina visa that you need to apply for

There are, of course, various types of Argentina visas out there that you can apply for: a visa for studying, a visa for business, a visa for being an Argentinian’s fiancé, etc.

For this particular guide though, I will only be discussing the requirements for a tourist visa since it’s an experience that I’ve gone through myself.

If, however, you have a different situation or purpose of visit, it’s best that you contact the Argentina embassy for more information and for the complete requirements via this email: [email protected]

Step 2: Prepare the required documents for your application

Depending on your circumstance, click the symbol ‘+‘ below to view the corresponding requirements for each section. Make sure that you have authentic, original, and complete documents at all times!

(Section A) Argentina Tourist Visa WITHOUT Any Guarantor/Sponsor

1. Philippine Passport. Other than providing your passport itself, you need to provide a photocopy of the information pages on A4 paper. Make sure as well that your passport is valid for 6 months beyond your intended travel date, it has your signature, and has at least two (2) blank pages.
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2. A duly accomplished Argentina Visa Application Form.
   • Print this Argentina Visa Application Form in A4 size.
   • Download the application form from here(it contains English translations on the 1st two pages because the form is in Spanish).
   • Properly fill the form with your information in CAPITAL LETTERS (even your email address).
     • Erasures are NOT allowed and you should also NOT write outside the boxes.
     • Put a long dash line “—” in all spaces that are not applicable to you.
     • Ensure that you have signed it with your signature. In this section, it will ask for a date: this must be the date when you submit your requirements to the Embassy. It’s best to leave it blank just in case — otherwise, they will make you redo the form (which is still not a problem, but to save time, it’s preferable to be careful).
   • There are sections here that ask for your flight dates and hotel in Argentina… this does NOT mean that you are required to book your airline and hotel beforehand because the embassy does not necessarily require applicants to book it before approval — as a standard, they only need proof of reservation first.
     • You can easily get a flight reservation online with OneWayFly for a small fee of only Php 1,000~. I highly recommend them because they are fast, easy, and legitimate; plus, I have been using them for years for all of my visa applications! (Read here for more info).
       • Later on, in case you want to book your flight, my go-to platform is Skyscanner since they offer the best flight deals:
     • For hotel bookings, it’s best to do it with Booking.com or Agoda.com. With them, you can reserve a hotel with NO pre-payment and you can even cancel the booking a day before your arrival with NO cancellation charges at all.
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3. 4 cm x 4 cm Photo (white background). Photos that are pixelated or of low resolution will NOT be accepted.
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4. Cover Letter with Daily Itinerary Details. This is for explaining why you are applying for an Argentina visa. Along with this letter, you must also provide your day-to-day itinerary.
   • If you want to see a sample, here was the letter I submitted.
   • You must sign the cover letter at the bottom (with your FULL name — including your middle name — in capital letters).
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5. Flight Reservation. This should be a round-trip ticket confirmation or reservation.
   • You can easily get a flight reservation online with OneWayFly for a small fee of only Php 1,000~. I highly recommend them because they are fast, easy, and legitimate; plus, I have been using them for years for all of my visa applications! (Read here for more info).
   • Ensure that the flight document shows your name and that it is extracted from the airline directly. Rest assured, OneWayFly will be able to provide this kind of document.
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6. Certificate of Employment (COE). Submit the original COE document that is duly notarized, and it should properly indicate your full name, passport number, your position, start date of your work, a brief description of the duties that you do, your monthly salary, and your approved duration of leave.
   • IMPORTANT NOTE: Your COE must be notarized in the country in which the letterhead of your certificate indicates. So if for example, you work for a company that’s located overseas, the Certificate of Employment that they will provide for you must be notarized in that particular country address — and NOT the Philippines.
   • For self-employed / business persons.
     • If you’re a freelancer, submit your Certificate of Registration and latest ITR (original, and photocopy in A4 paper).
     • If you own a business, submit your Business Registration issued by DTI / SEC (including all the Articles of Incorporation and latest General Information Sheet) and the company ITR (original, and photocopy in A4 paper).
       • Start filing your local taxes as early as NOW — after all, a lot of embassies (not only Argentina) require an ITR. So if you’re looking for a hassle-free experience on Philippines tax compliance, I suggest registering with Taxumo because they can take care of literally everything for you: tax forms, payments, and submissions. I’ve been using them for years now and it has been such a time-saver. Come sign up with my code AILEEN and you can get a 10% discount on all their subscription plans!
   • For unemployed persons.
     • Given the way the Embassy of Argentina presents its requirements for visa application, it’s best that you acquire a guarantor/sponsor if you’re unemployed. (See section B below for details).
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7. Bank Certificate and Bank Statements (or Passbook). These must be original copies from your bank encompassing information for the last three (3) months of the current year.
   • How much should you have in your bank account? The Argentina Embassy did NOT mention any minimum balance requirement, but after a bit of research, I found out that you must at least have $100 (Php 5,000~) per day of your stay — you can use this as a standard but of course, it’s always best if you have more.
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8. Hotel Reservation.
   • If you’re planning on staying with a friend in Argentina, a notarized letter of invitation must be submitted (more details of this in section (B) below).
   • For hotel bookings, it’s best to do it with Booking.com or Agoda.com. With them, you can reserve a hotel with NO pre-payment, and you can even cancel the booking a day before your arrival with NO cancellation charges at all.
   • Once you’re done researching, please remember that the hotel reservation you must present to the Argentina Embassy is a direct confirmation from the hotel — not just the document you got from Booking.com or Agoda. (So for this, you can just email the hotel to ask for a document confirming the booking).

(Section B) Argentina Tourist Visa WITH a Guarantor/Sponsor

This kind of application is applicable for students, minors, unemployed persons, husband/wife (if one of you will be supporting the other), self-employed persons/freelancers*, and others. This also applies to anyone who would have a company/agency to sponsor the trip.

For submitting the necessary requirements, simply submit the requirements listed in section (A), numbers #1 to #5, as well as #8.

When it comes to (#7) Bank Certificate and Bank Statements , you should ask these from your guarantor/sponsor — such could be your mom, dad, brother, sister, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, relative, company, etc. (Technically, anyone can be your sponsor). In addition, you should submit…

1. Guarantee Letter. An informal letter written by your sponsor and guarantor certifying that he/she will be funding or sponsoring your travel expenses. This should be signed by him/her, and notarized in the country that he/she resides in.
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2. Photocopy of Guarantor/Sponsor’s Passport. Provide a photocopy of the bio page only; if not, it can be a photocopy of any Visa page or any government-issued ID.
   • If your guarantor/sponsor is a foreigner or foreign national, please also provide a photocopy of his/her identity card (I-CARD)or AEP (Alien Employment Permit).
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ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• If you’re a student or minor…
  • You should provide:
    • Affidavit of Support from your parents
    • DSWD Permit (must be authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs)
    • Birth certificate
    • Parent’s government-issued ID with picture (this can be their passport, Driver’s License, etc.)
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    • If he has NO account in any of the local banks in the Philippines, he/she can provide a photocopy of his/her bank statement with contact details.
    • Providing pay slips will help.
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    • Your host must write a letter of invitation and send the original copy to the Embassy. This serves the sole purpose of initiating the visa application process and does not guarantee, under any circumstances, the granting of visa abroad. The letter is informal and shall meet the following requirements:
      • The letter must be written in Spanish.
      • It must be addressed to the intervening consular authority (e.g. .Al Sr. Cónsul de la Republica en…)
      • Contain all personal and contact details of the inviting person in Argentina: name and surname, DNI, address,telephone or mobile number, and email address.
      • Contain all personal and contact details of the foreigner invited to Argentina (in short, YOU): name and surname, nationality, date of birth, type and passport number, telephone or mobile number, email address and any other contact details)
      • Explain the reason for traveling, relationship of the invited person with the host, duration of stay in the country, the place of stay and estimated dates of arrival and departure.
      • Express that the signatory will be responsible for the departure of the said foreigner once the permitted length of stay expires.
      • Include this paragraph: “Como invitante de extranjeros, he leído y comprendo los términos de establecidos en el Capítulo VI dde la Ley 25.871, artículos 116, 117, 118, 119, 120 y 121.”
      • It must contain the signature of the host, certified by the corresponding Notary Public and relevant Public Notaries Association.
      • This original document of the letter of invitation must be sent by the host to the Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Manila by post.

      NOTE : Additional requirements may be needed as deemed necessary by the Consulate of the Embassy of Argentina – Manila.

      Step 3: Set your appointment for processing your Argentina Visa application

      To schedule your application at the Embassy of Argentina, simply send them a request via email at [email protected] (please take note that visa applications are only done Mondays to Wednesdays, from 9:00AM to 12PM).

      Once they reply to you and confirm your schedule, take note of their consular section’s details are as follows:

      Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Manila – Consular Section
      8th Floor, Liberty Center, 104 H.V. de la Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City
      Tel: 845.3218/3219/3238 Fax: 845.3220
      E-mail: [email protected]
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      Filing Hours: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Monday- Friday)
      Visa Release Hours: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Monday – Friday)

      Once you reach the 8th floor, the entrance of the Embassy has a doorbell button on the left side — just push this and when you hear a beep, it means that you can proceed to open the door. Head directly to the counter and express your purpose. The officer will scrutinize your documents and ensure that everything is complete and in order.

      If they deem your documents to be enough, they will give you a deposit slip indicating the visa fee that you will have to pay. As of October 2017, the fee is $150 (or Php 7,600~) . For payment, you just need to head to the BPI branch in Leviste street which is just a few blocks away from the Embassy — afterward, you need to go back to the Embassy to provide the proof of payment/deposit.

      NOTE: Be reminded that this visa fee payment is non-refundable and it does NOT guarantee the approval of your Argentina visa.

      The officer will then advise you that they will call or email you within 10 days about the schedule of your interview.

      Step 4: Attend your interview appointment

      They told me to wait for 10 days for a notification as to when I’ll be scheduled for an interview — however, they e-mailed me 2 days after and scheduled my interview for the next day .

      Don’t forget to bring your passport for the interview (and any other documents that can help support your application). After submitting your passport at the counter, you will have to wait a bit until your name is called… I was scheduled for a 10AM interview but they only started the interviews at around 11AM, so it’s best that you bring something to entertain yourself with (you’re asked not to use your cellphone inside so maybe bring a book or a Kindle).

      Now for the actual interview itself, mine only took about a minute, and I think it’s mostly because I wasn’t really staying in Argentina as much given that the main purpose of my trip was to Antarctica. The interviewer was the Ambassador himself and he was quite friendly — we spent a bit of time talking about Antarctica, as well Argentina itself!

      Once we were done talking, the Ambassador said that I got the visa, and then the officer assisting him told me to get a claim stub at the counter which will show the date when I can claim my passport with visa.

      If you’re curious about the possible interview questions that they will ask you, naturally, it will vary depending on your situation and background. Nevertheless, I can assure you that there won’t be any tricky questions! This is NOT a quiz but just a simple background check.
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      Besides, I even had the chance to hear some of the other interviews (since the walls were thin haha) so to give you an idea, it will typically cover the following aspects:
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      – Your background: proof of strong ties with the Philippines, your job, your financial capacity, etc.
      – Details & purpose of your trip: where are you going to, why you’re going, how long, where you’re staying, if you have relatives/family in Argentina, if you prepared your itinerary, etc.
      – Your relationship with your sponsor: only if you’re applying with a guarantor/sponsor
      – Your travel history
      – Etc.
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      Again: there really are no difficult questions since they only want to know more about you and your trip. So just be honest and concise.

      Step 4: Claim your Argentina visa

      My claim stub indicated that my passport with Argentina visa will be ready after 1 working day , so I just headed back to the Embassy on the date mentioned. You bet that I was relieved when I finally saw the visa with my very own eyes!

      When your Argentina visa is not granted, I’m NOT sure if the Embassy will give you reasons for the denial, nor do I know if they will let you appeal (since it’s an experience I haven’t [ thankfully ] gone through).
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      That being said, I have a feeling that since the Embassy is so meticulous with the requirements, their acceptance of your application at Step #3 above might most likely mean that you already have a strong chance of getting your visa approved (but don’t take my word for it — all in all, I wish you the best of luck!)