Thursday, February 26, 2015

Tips on Entrance and Exiting Fees While Traveling



Many countries will have an entrance and an exit fee, especially when crossing borders in Central America and Southeast Asia.  Be sure to have extra currency on you when you leave.  I was thankful to have had some extra money left on me when leaving Indonesia because I failed to look up an exit fee amount and the airport was extremely small that there wasn’t anywhere to have withdrawn money from.  Also, be sure to look up the estimated cost before you get there so you have an idea and prevent you from getting ripped off. 

Some countries require a prepaid tax entrance or “reciprocity” fee before entering or landing in the country such as Australia and Argentina.  I learned this the hard way.  My mom and I were at a small airport on the island of Fiji heading to Australia.  With just over an hour left before our flight was taking off, the lady at the desk asked my mom and I if we had already registered for our entrance fee.  I was so confused.  I had never experienced or heard of such a thing.  Without any way to register ourselves at that point due to lack of internet access or a computer, we had to pay the lady $50 each to register us on the spot.  If we had done it ourselves online beforehand, it would only have cost us $25 each.  This also allows you multiple entrances within a certain timeframe.  Then, when I was in a hurry of looking up which countries require a visa-on-arrival because I was almost deported from the middle east, I learned that Argentina, another country that I was planning on heading to at the time, required a pre-payment entrance fee before landing in Buenos Aires airport.  I had already purchased my flight ticket from Morocco to Buenos Aires so I had to figure out how to pay this fee.  They no longer allowed you to pay it on arrival. Since I had some a few months before heading to Argentina, I was able to use the computer of a kind family whose apartment complex I was staying at in Macedonia.  The fee cost me $160 but is valid for up to 10 years.  You must print it and have it on you when arriving.  Unfortunately, I had to cut my trip short due to an injury and I never made it to Argentina yet but at least I have my fee already paid for when I do go!

For Australia ETA fee information visit https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETA/etas.jsp?tub=&submit=apply

For Argentina Reciprocity fee visit https://reciprocidad.provincianet.com.ar/

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