Argentina Visa for the USA: DS-160, $185 Fee, and Interview

Argentine citizens need a nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States, and for tourism, business, family visits, or medical care the right one is almost always the B-1/B-2 visitor visa. It is issued by a U.S. consulate after an in-person interview, and under the current reciprocity schedule for Argentina it can be valid for up to ten years with multiple entries.¹ The government fee is $185, and approval turns less on paperwork volume than on convincing the consular officer you will return home when your visit ends.

Why a Visa Is Required

Argentina is not currently part of the Visa Waiver Program. It participated from 1996 until February 2002, when the Department of Justice terminated the designation.² In July 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Argentine officials signed a statement of intent to work toward Argentina rejoining the program, but the embassy’s announcement acknowledged the process will take years.³ Until that happens, every Argentine traveler needs a visa.

What the B-1/B-2 Covers

The B-1 side covers business activity like conferences, client meetings, and contract negotiations. The B-2 side covers tourism, visiting relatives, and medical treatment. Consulates in Argentina issue them as a combined B-1/B-2, and the reciprocity schedule allows multiple entries over 120 months with no reciprocity surcharge on top of the standard application fee.¹

A ten-year visa is not permission to stay for ten years. It only lets you travel to a U.S. port of entry and ask to be admitted. The Customs and Border Protection officer decides how long you can actually remain, typically up to six months for B-1/B-2, and records that date on your electronic I-94. The I-94 date is the one that governs your stay, not the visa’s expiration.⁴

How to Apply

File the DS-160

Everything starts with the DS-160, the online nonimmigrant visa application on the State Department’s Consular Electronic Application Center.⁵ The form asks about your trip, work, education, family, and security background. Answer carefully. The consular officer will have the DS-160 open during your interview, and any gap between what you wrote and what you say out loud creates a problem. When you submit, print the confirmation page with the barcode. You will hand it in later.

Pay the $185 Fee

The nonimmigrant visa application fee for the B-1/B-2 is $185.⁶ It is nonrefundable, so a denial does not get your money back. You must pay before you can book an appointment.

Biometrics and the Interview

After paying, you schedule two appointments. First is the biometrics visit at an Application Support Center, where fingerprints and a photograph are taken.⁷ Second is the consular interview at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. Bring your current passport, the printed DS-160 confirmation, and your fee receipt.

Interviews are short. The officer’s job is to figure out whether you truly intend a temporary visit. Expect direct questions about why you are going, how long you will stay, and what you are coming back to. Decisions usually happen at the window.

Proving Strong Ties to Argentina

This is the heart of the case. Under U.S. law, every nonimmigrant applicant is presumed to be an intending immigrant until they show the officer otherwise.⁸ You rebut that presumption with evidence that your life in Argentina is anchored enough to bring you home. Officers weigh the whole picture, not any one document.

Useful evidence includes:

An employer letter confirming your position, salary, and approved leave dates. Self-employed applicants should bring business registration and recent tax filings.
Property records such as a deed, lease, or mortgage statement.
Documents showing close family in Argentina, such as a spouse, children, or dependent parents.
A current enrollment letter and class schedule if you are a student.
Bank statements from recent months showing stable income and enough funds to cover the trip.

Young applicants with no job, no property, and no dependents at home face a much harder case than mid-career applicants with visible roots. Bring what you actually have; do not manufacture what you don’t.

Emergency and Expedited Appointments

Regular interview slots in Buenos Aires can be weeks out. If you have a genuine emergency, the consular section may grant an expedited appointment at its discretion, but only after you have completed the DS-160, paid the fee, and booked the next available regular date.⁹

Situations that may qualify include the death, grave illness, or life-threatening accident of an immediate relative in the U.S.; urgent medical care for you or your minor child, with a doctor’s note and confirmed appointment; work or student start dates that fall before the next regular slot, backed by an I-20 or petition; unexpected business needs requiring your physical presence, though routine meetings do not qualify; and travel of substantial cultural, political, journalistic, athletic, or economic importance. You will upload documents such as a death certificate, hospital records, or an employer letter. Requests without proof are refused.

If Your Visa Is Denied

The most common refusal is under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, meaning the officer was not persuaded you had strong enough ties to leave the U.S. at the end of your trip.¹⁰ Less common grounds are misrepresentation on the application or a prior immigration violation such as an overstay.

There is no formal appeal from 214(b), but the refusal is not permanent. You can reapply, paying the $185 fee again and starting from a fresh DS-160. Applying again with the same facts and the same documents usually produces the same result. The State Department’s advice is to wait for a real change in your circumstances, such as a new job, a property purchase, or the birth of a child, before trying again.¹⁰

Overstaying Your Visa

Overstaying the date on your I-94 voids your visa automatically. From that point, you can only apply for a new one from a consulate in your home country, and the statute imposes bars that grow with the length of the overstay:

Under 180 days: your visa is revoked and future applications will be harder, but no automatic entry bar applies.
180 days to one year: after you depart, a three-year bar on reentry.
One year or more: after departure, a ten-year bar.

Consular officers have very limited ability to waive these bars. Track your I-94 date and leave before it expires.

Getting Your Passport Back

If you are approved, the embassy keeps your passport to print the visa inside. At the Buenos Aires embassy, passports are returned only by DHL. Before your interview, visit a DHL branch and purchase a waybill listing your name exactly as it appears on your passport, your mailing address, and a contact phone number. One waybill covers all family members applying together, and a friend or relative can buy it for you as long as the applicant’s name is on it.¹¹

1
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country – Argentina
2
Department of Justice. Department of Justice Terminates Argentina’s Participation in the Visa Waiver Program
3
U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Secretary Noem Kickstarts Process for Argentina to Rejoin Visa Waiver Program
4
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Traveling to Other Countries While in the United States on a B1 or B2 Visa
5
U.S. Department of State Electronic Application Center. Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160)
6
U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment
8
GovInfo. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
9
U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Emergency Appointments
10
U.S. Department of State. Visa Denials
11
U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Important Passport Information