Visas Argentina passport holders will be able to visit the US without a visa...

[TonyTigre]

Looks like it might take a few months to implement the change, but Argentina passport holders will be able to visit the US without a visa under the US Visa Waiver Program. Besides the obvious benefits and conveniences for Argentinian travelers, it's a big vote of confidence from the US and further shows the great relationship Milei has with the Trump administration.

 

[Ron]

This is definitely a huge step forward. Until now, even just to make a layover in the US, Argentine passport holders needed a visa, which was a hassle and an extra expense. Being part of the US Visa Waiver Program will make traveling so much easier and cheaper. It also shows a strong level of trust from the US and will likely open the door to more tourism and business opportunities. Overall, it’s a big win for Argentina and for all travelers!

 

[FuturoBA]

Great news! Looks like Argentina is joining Chile as the only Latam countries to be able to visit the US without a visa.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Looks like it might take a few months to implement the change, but Argentina passport holders will be able to visit the US without a visa under the US Visa Waiver Program. Besides the obvious benefits and conveniences for Argentinian travelers, it's a big vote of confidence from the US and further shows the great relationship Milei has with the Trump administration.

My neighbor that works with the Argentine government said they did this mainly because the World Cup is in the USA next year and there will be HUGE amounts of Argentines going to the World Cup and they wanted to make it easy for them. This is indeed great news.

 

[Jenn]

This

My neighbor that works with the Argentine government said they did this mainly because the World Cup is in the USA next year and there will be HUGE amounts of Argentines going to the World Cup and they wanted to make it easy for them. This is indeed great news.

This makes sense with so many American cities hosting the World Cup next year. My friend that goes to every World Cup said that the # of Argentines that go are HUGE.

My Argentine friends here in Spain speculate that many Argentines will overstay their tourist visas and overstay in the USA. Will be interesting to see if that happens.

 

[FuturoBA]

This

This makes sense with so many American cities hosting the World Cup next year. My friend that goes to every World Cup said that the # of Argentines that go are HUGE.

My Argentine friends here in Spain speculate that many Argentines will overstay their tourist visas and overstay in the USA. Will be interesting to see if that happens.

Since Argentina has one of the lowest overstay rates could also be another reason they were granted visa waiver.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Since Argentina has one of the lowest overstay rates could also be another reason they were granted visa waiver.

Sounds about right. I don't know any Argentines that have overstayed their USA tourist visa. I know many from Brazil, Colombia and other Latin American countries but I have never met anyone or heard of any that overstayed. Most I believe if they want to go somewhere just go to Spain for better quality of life. USA isn't actually too easy as it is so expensive to live in.

 

[noname]

Yes, totally! This is huge news for Argentines, they’re getting their “golden ticket” back to the U.S. after more than 20 years of having to apply for a visa.

The not-so-great part?
It’s going to take 2 or 3 years to actually happen… but it’s still a pretty strong symbolic move for Milei in Washington. Plus, Argentina has the lowest visa overstay rate in all of Latin America, so that definitely works in its favor.

In the meantime, Argentines are doing what they do best before elections: stockpiling dollars 😅. Just in June, one million people bought USD 2.4 billion, classic pre-election behavior as the October legislative elections get closer.

So yeah, between the return of “visa-free” travel and the dollar fever, that’s Argentina this week.

 

[TonyTigre]

I think the 2 to 3 years estimate seems to be quoted more in articles by publications critical of Milei. I am not sure that estimate applies to two presidents who like to govern by execute orders. I suspect the immigration reforms announced earlier in the year by Milei might be related to the effort to get the approval for the US Visa Waiver Program. Meaning, the work started before the announcement this week.

It has been estimated that Argentina getting back into the US Visa Waiver Program could increase trade between the countries by $11 billion. If both presidents see it as a high priority, which I believe to be the case, I think the timeline could be greatly accelerated. Having it in place, at least for a subset of the Argentina passport holders in time for FIFA World Cup 2026 could something they are trying to achieve as others have noted.

 

[FuturoBA]

I also think this coincides with the recent changes(more difficult) to obtaining Argentine citizenship. Bowtiedmara hinted at this

Argentina used to have a Visa Waiver, which got cancelled during the 2001 crisis when many Argentines started moving abroad due to the economic malaise in the country. Another reason which was never mentioned but did the rounds unofficially was that Argentina’s citizenship was very easy to obtain, and during the 1990s many Chinese and other immigrants had already discovered the 2-3 year citizenship route.

 

[Betsy Ross]

I think the 2 to 3 years estimate seems to be quoted more in articles by publications critical of Milei. I am not sure that estimate applies to two presidents who like to govern by execute orders. I suspect the immigration reforms announced earlier in the year by Milei might be related to the effort to get the approval for the US Visa Waiver Program. Meaning, the work started before the announcement this week.

It has been estimated that Argentina getting back into the US Visa Waiver Program could increase trade between the countries by $11 billion. If both presidents see it as a high priority, which I believe to be the case, I think the timeline could be greatly accelerated. Having it in place, at least for a subset of the Argentina passport holders in time for FIFA World Cup 2026 could something they are trying to achieve as others have noted.

My neighbor works for the government and he told me about this well before it was released. He told me things will be in place before the World Cup next year in the USA.