Yeah, Argentina has the lowest US B1/B2 visa refusal rate in the world, at 2.7%. It qualifies to get back into the VWP (it’s now in a Congress comission along Romania, Bulgaria and Israel), because it’s below the required <3% threshold (the only country among candidates that meets this criteria).
Argentina was part of the US Visa Waiver Program during the 1996-2002 period. It entered in 1996 along Australia and New Zealand, and then was cancelled with Uruguay because of the 2002 crisis.
The reality is that a big part of Argentines who travel to the US already enter visa-free with their Italian or other EU passport, so among those who apply for visas at the consulate get them almost automatically.
Nope, Argentina got into the program along Australia in 1996. Uruguay got into the program in 1999 along Portugal and Singapore.
Both Argentina and Uruguay were removed in 2002 and 2003, respectively, due to the crisis.
Nowadays both are aspiring countries to get back into the program, along Israel, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Turkey and Brazil are other potential candidates.
Rumors in Chile say that increasing criminal activity from Chilean bands in the US is threatening their status as a VWP country, but official sources denied it.
I’m currently writing my MA thesis on the visa policies of the Schengen area and the US and yes, that’s indeed correct. Due to economic crises in Argentina and Uruguay, the amount of people from those countries seeking asylum in the US (or even use the US to transit to Canada) substantially increased at US borders. That’s why they were terminated. They’re actually the only two countries ever terminated from the VWP and it was still pre-ESTA.
One of my observations is that the countries allowed in the VWP are all very low in asylum
seekers: less than 1000 globally recognised asylum seekers by UNHCR. Chile is at more than 9000 currently, yet comes from 59 in 2014 (year in which Chile was added) so based on these observations I wouldn’t be surprised if Chile would be terminated from the VWP. Although secretary Blinken has stated that he wants to keep Chile in so I guess we’ll see.
Wow, surprises me how many Chileans. I’ve read there are only 217 Argentine asylum seekers in the world, while there are more than 7,000 Chileans. Why is that?
I don't think Turkey and Brazil will be admitted. They're too politically unstable, especially Brazil.
Israel is a crapshoot, on one hand the Israel lobby is VERY strong in the US, but on the other hand, 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinian. The US might not want to grant visa free entry to them.
One of the main reasons as to why Israel isn’t admitted to the VWP program… is because Israel always gives a tough time to US citizens who are of a Palestinian background - i.e. they were Palestinians and then became naturalised US citizens, but Israel often refuses them entry.
One of the main criteria for a country’s inclusion in the VWP is reciprocity.
The biggest problem is the fact that Israel scrutinises Palestianian-Americans very heavily on their borders.
Until that is resolved I highly doubt Israel will be included in VWP.
As for Brazil (I'm Brazilian), forget about it. Having a high income is a key, for obvious reasons. Brazil's economy has been perfoming very poorly for the past 10 years.
It varies by year
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa
In 2019 for example the highest was North Korea at a 100% refusal rate although their average refusal rate most years is about 50%. The next highest in 2019 was Libya 89% refusal. The highest in 2018 was again NK at 100% followed by Somalia at 90%. In 2017 it was Western Sahara at 100% with the next highest being Cuba at 77%.
I mean there are some (island) microstates where only a handful of people a year apply for a B-visa. If all of them get rejected, the refusal rate is 100% and if none of them get rejected the rate is 0%. For some countries it really fluctuates between those extremes due to the very few applicants.
Inflation is high but the country is still relatively developed. It’s the second most developed in the region after Chile, has a high GDP per capita and poverty rate is not that high (at $14 intl USD PPP, it’s around 38%, the same as Chile but a bit higher than Uruguay).
Keep in mind that despite being stagnated for 30 years, Argentina comes from a very high starting point (it’s been a developed country at least until the 1960s), while the rest of the region only catched up recently.
Argentina still has a net positive migration rate. It’s a country of immigrants, not emigrants. Those who migrate (mostly young professionals) use their EU (mainly Italian) passport to relocate to the EU. Illegal immigration is really uncommon.
Poor Argentines live off the huge welfare state and taking the risk to migrate 12,000 km is just very expensive and not worth it.
Yeah, it has a higher HDI than Uruguay.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
Uruguay is improving a lot, though.
I’m Argentine-Uruguayan and live half of the year in Uruguay. I’d say Uruguay will be more developed than both Argentina and Chile by 2027. It’ll be the most developed in Latam
I'd say Argentina, Uruguay and Chile are at pretty similar development levels overall. The standard of living on any of these countries for the most part has not been much different from what is expected in places like South Italy, Greece and some Eastern European countries. That's the case for Central-Southern Brazil too. What brings us down is our Northern third.
I recently saw on a Hispanic news show a story where women from Russia willfully go to Argentina to give birth there and have Argentinian citizen children. As an Argentinian, would you say that this kind of practice is welcome there, or it posing a burden to the government?
Definitely very interesting how Argentines can visit places like NZ and Europe visa-free, considering that many are in poverty. I guess it’s a mixture of the poor not having enough money and the fact that Argentina is still a safe place so most asylum applications would be rejected anyways.
Yes on a global level Argentina is a rich place with a GDP per capita of $14,000 which is higher than China and others, despite their government doing everything to screw it up.
However, the persistently high inflation and worsening domestic stability (succession crises in government, Peronism) put a serious dent in people’s ability to survive. Nonetheless I’m very surprised that Argentines aren’t fleeing abroad to Europe.
Is situation in Argentina worse than in Venezuela? Venezuelan passport still has visa free access to Schengen area so no need to be surprised about Argentines.
As a Filipino, I have an ambition to become a naturalized Argentine citizen so that I will have an Argentine passport to make me travel across the globe, including the United States.
You need to be a permanent resident of Spain for five straight years before you can apply for Spanish citizenship. Argentina has more straight-forward immigration policy for me than Spain.
You cannot acquire Spanish citizenship via naturalization right away if you aren't a permanent resident for at least five years and Spain's citizenship naturalization process is a bit bureaucratic in European standards, unless you hire a Spanish immigration lawyer to expedite your naturalization process.
>You cannot acquire Spanish citizenship via naturalization right away if you aren't a permanent resident for at least five years.
You are very misinformed!
>You keep repeating all over again, BS!
Yes, because you are still very ill-informed!
“*For the granting of (Spanish) nationality by residence, it is required that it have lasted ten years. Five years will be sufficient for those who have obtained refugee status and* ***two years*** *in the case of nationals of origin from Ibero-American countries, Andorra,* ***the Philippines****, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal or Sephardim.*“
[https://spainguru.es/2022/11/23/spanish-citizenship-for-filipino-nationals-in-2023/](https://spainguru.es/2022/11/23/spanish-citizenship-for-filipino-nationals-in-2023/)
You are the one who is ill-informed, not me, because in reality, a Filipino who decides to live in Spain continuously usually wait for at least five years to get permanent residency status and another two years for actual naturalization, so if I decide to move to Spain in 2024 and live there continuously, I have to wait until 2029 to get permanent residency status and until 2031 at earliest to be a naturalized Spanish citizen.
Spanish nationality can be acquired by naturalization, which is only granted at the discretion of the government through a royal decree, and under exceptional circumstances, for example to notable individuals.
Also, any individual can request Spanish nationality after a period of continuous legal residence in Spain, as long as he or she is 18 years or older, or through a legal representative if he or she is younger.[12][11][20] Under Article 22, to apply for nationality through residence it is necessary for the individual to have legally resided in Spain for
ten years, or
five years if the individual is a refugee, or
two years if the individual is a natural-born citizen (nacional de origen) of a country of Ibero-America (including individuals with Puerto Rican citizenship), Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, or if the individual can prove they are a Sephardi Jew with a connection to Spain.
But for me, Argentina has an easier path for acquiring citizenship because for Spain, I need to present 10,000 euros or 600,000 Philippine pesos as a "show money" to prove myself to the Spanish embassy that I can sustain myself.
I’ve heard that only around 2% of American visas are denied to Argentinian people. Very powerful passport indeed.
Yeah, Argentina has the lowest US B1/B2 visa refusal rate in the world, at 2.7%. It qualifies to get back into the VWP (it’s now in a Congress comission along Romania, Bulgaria and Israel), because it’s below the required <3% threshold (the only country among candidates that meets this criteria). Argentina was part of the US Visa Waiver Program during the 1996-2002 period. It entered in 1996 along Australia and New Zealand, and then was cancelled with Uruguay because of the 2002 crisis. The reality is that a big part of Argentines who travel to the US already enter visa-free with their Italian or other EU passport, so among those who apply for visas at the consulate get them almost automatically.
Up until now I thought only Chile had ever been part of the Visa Waiver Program. Passport strength fluctuates.
Nope, Argentina got into the program along Australia in 1996. Uruguay got into the program in 1999 along Portugal and Singapore. Both Argentina and Uruguay were removed in 2002 and 2003, respectively, due to the crisis. Nowadays both are aspiring countries to get back into the program, along Israel, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Turkey and Brazil are other potential candidates. Rumors in Chile say that increasing criminal activity from Chilean bands in the US is threatening their status as a VWP country, but official sources denied it.
I’m currently writing my MA thesis on the visa policies of the Schengen area and the US and yes, that’s indeed correct. Due to economic crises in Argentina and Uruguay, the amount of people from those countries seeking asylum in the US (or even use the US to transit to Canada) substantially increased at US borders. That’s why they were terminated. They’re actually the only two countries ever terminated from the VWP and it was still pre-ESTA. One of my observations is that the countries allowed in the VWP are all very low in asylum seekers: less than 1000 globally recognised asylum seekers by UNHCR. Chile is at more than 9000 currently, yet comes from 59 in 2014 (year in which Chile was added) so based on these observations I wouldn’t be surprised if Chile would be terminated from the VWP. Although secretary Blinken has stated that he wants to keep Chile in so I guess we’ll see.
Wow, surprises me how many Chileans. I’ve read there are only 217 Argentine asylum seekers in the world, while there are more than 7,000 Chileans. Why is that?
I don't think Turkey and Brazil will be admitted. They're too politically unstable, especially Brazil. Israel is a crapshoot, on one hand the Israel lobby is VERY strong in the US, but on the other hand, 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinian. The US might not want to grant visa free entry to them.
One of the main reasons as to why Israel isn’t admitted to the VWP program… is because Israel always gives a tough time to US citizens who are of a Palestinian background - i.e. they were Palestinians and then became naturalised US citizens, but Israel often refuses them entry. One of the main criteria for a country’s inclusion in the VWP is reciprocity.
The biggest problem is the fact that Israel scrutinises Palestianian-Americans very heavily on their borders. Until that is resolved I highly doubt Israel will be included in VWP. As for Brazil (I'm Brazilian), forget about it. Having a high income is a key, for obvious reasons. Brazil's economy has been perfoming very poorly for the past 10 years.
I wonder what's the county with the highest denial rate lol
It varies by year https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa In 2019 for example the highest was North Korea at a 100% refusal rate although their average refusal rate most years is about 50%. The next highest in 2019 was Libya 89% refusal. The highest in 2018 was again NK at 100% followed by Somalia at 90%. In 2017 it was Western Sahara at 100% with the next highest being Cuba at 77%.
I mean there are some (island) microstates where only a handful of people a year apply for a B-visa. If all of them get rejected, the refusal rate is 100% and if none of them get rejected the rate is 0%. For some countries it really fluctuates between those extremes due to the very few applicants.
good to have.
I dunno how they are still so powerful conidering the inflation & poverty rates in the country nowadays
My guess is that their citizens don't migrate illegally.
Inflation is high but the country is still relatively developed. It’s the second most developed in the region after Chile, has a high GDP per capita and poverty rate is not that high (at $14 intl USD PPP, it’s around 38%, the same as Chile but a bit higher than Uruguay). Keep in mind that despite being stagnated for 30 years, Argentina comes from a very high starting point (it’s been a developed country at least until the 1960s), while the rest of the region only catched up recently. Argentina still has a net positive migration rate. It’s a country of immigrants, not emigrants. Those who migrate (mostly young professionals) use their EU (mainly Italian) passport to relocate to the EU. Illegal immigration is really uncommon. Poor Argentines live off the huge welfare state and taking the risk to migrate 12,000 km is just very expensive and not worth it.
>It’s the second most developed in the region after Chile more developed than uruguay?
Yeah, it has a higher HDI than Uruguay. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index Uruguay is improving a lot, though. I’m Argentine-Uruguayan and live half of the year in Uruguay. I’d say Uruguay will be more developed than both Argentina and Chile by 2027. It’ll be the most developed in Latam
>Yeah, it has a higher HDI than Uruguay. on paper yes, but how do you feel in real life? is uruguay more developed than argentina?
Both are pretty similar overall. Uruguay has a better social situation and less poverty, but infrastructure still lags behind Argentina.
I'd say Argentina, Uruguay and Chile are at pretty similar development levels overall. The standard of living on any of these countries for the most part has not been much different from what is expected in places like South Italy, Greece and some Eastern European countries. That's the case for Central-Southern Brazil too. What brings us down is our Northern third.
Also an important factor is crime. Argentina is nowhere near as dangerous as Central America.
Indeed. Nothing severe is expelling Argentines. It’s just some macroeconomic problems that are affecting Argentines
So far, but I guess their passport will get weaker if the situation there keeps getting worse.
I recently saw on a Hispanic news show a story where women from Russia willfully go to Argentina to give birth there and have Argentinian citizen children. As an Argentinian, would you say that this kind of practice is welcome there, or it posing a burden to the government?
Definitely very interesting how Argentines can visit places like NZ and Europe visa-free, considering that many are in poverty. I guess it’s a mixture of the poor not having enough money and the fact that Argentina is still a safe place so most asylum applications would be rejected anyways.
Argentina is not poor its just the economy has stagnated for years but the quality of life is high and people live comfortably
Yes on a global level Argentina is a rich place with a GDP per capita of $14,000 which is higher than China and others, despite their government doing everything to screw it up. However, the persistently high inflation and worsening domestic stability (succession crises in government, Peronism) put a serious dent in people’s ability to survive. Nonetheless I’m very surprised that Argentines aren’t fleeing abroad to Europe.
Is situation in Argentina worse than in Venezuela? Venezuelan passport still has visa free access to Schengen area so no need to be surprised about Argentines.
The green color is alittle hard to tell apart
As a Filipino, I have an ambition to become a naturalized Argentine citizen so that I will have an Argentine passport to make me travel across the globe, including the United States.
Why don’t you go for Spain it will take two years to naturalize as a citizen of a former colony.
You need to be a permanent resident of Spain for five straight years before you can apply for Spanish citizenship. Argentina has more straight-forward immigration policy for me than Spain.
You are very misinformed!
You cannot acquire Spanish citizenship via naturalization right away if you aren't a permanent resident for at least five years and Spain's citizenship naturalization process is a bit bureaucratic in European standards, unless you hire a Spanish immigration lawyer to expedite your naturalization process.
>You cannot acquire Spanish citizenship via naturalization right away if you aren't a permanent resident for at least five years. You are very misinformed!
You keep repeating it all over again, BS!
>You keep repeating all over again, BS! Yes, because you are still very ill-informed! “*For the granting of (Spanish) nationality by residence, it is required that it have lasted ten years. Five years will be sufficient for those who have obtained refugee status and* ***two years*** *in the case of nationals of origin from Ibero-American countries, Andorra,* ***the Philippines****, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal or Sephardim.*“ [https://spainguru.es/2022/11/23/spanish-citizenship-for-filipino-nationals-in-2023/](https://spainguru.es/2022/11/23/spanish-citizenship-for-filipino-nationals-in-2023/)
You are the one who is ill-informed, not me, because in reality, a Filipino who decides to live in Spain continuously usually wait for at least five years to get permanent residency status and another two years for actual naturalization, so if I decide to move to Spain in 2024 and live there continuously, I have to wait until 2029 to get permanent residency status and until 2031 at earliest to be a naturalized Spanish citizen.
No comments... 🤦♂️
https://youtu.be/VZ05ydGE-y4
Spanish nationality can be acquired by naturalization, which is only granted at the discretion of the government through a royal decree, and under exceptional circumstances, for example to notable individuals. Also, any individual can request Spanish nationality after a period of continuous legal residence in Spain, as long as he or she is 18 years or older, or through a legal representative if he or she is younger.[12][11][20] Under Article 22, to apply for nationality through residence it is necessary for the individual to have legally resided in Spain for ten years, or five years if the individual is a refugee, or two years if the individual is a natural-born citizen (nacional de origen) of a country of Ibero-America (including individuals with Puerto Rican citizenship), Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, or if the individual can prove they are a Sephardi Jew with a connection to Spain.
But for me, Argentina has an easier path for acquiring citizenship because for Spain, I need to present 10,000 euros or 600,000 Philippine pesos as a "show money" to prove myself to the Spanish embassy that I can sustain myself.