Argentina - Clearance
Visiting Argentina with a cruising yacht does require a substantial amount of paperwork, numerous checks and daily position reporting. Customs rules and laws for visiting yachts (both private and commercial) do tend to change with each government, however in 2019 cruisers reported that as long as the rules are followed, procedures are in the main straightforward.
ARRIVAL FORMALITIES
General Process:
Yachts arriving from overseas must clear with the following authorities:
- Health Control (not in all ports)
This does not appear to be necessary in all ports. For example, arriving in Buenos Aires from Uruguay does not require clearance with Health. However, arriving in Mar de Plata from Uruguay does.
- Harbour Authority/Yacht Club/Marina
At the Marina or first Prefectura office you visit, make sure that you receive the Raoul (roll). It sometimes takes some persuasion, but without this, you will not be checked into the country by Immigration. The Raoul is a form filled out with all the yachts particulars (mostly taken from the ship’s papers) and the passport particulars of the captain and crew.
The Raoul can be downloaded, printed off and filled in at this link.
You will need to fill it in approx. five times on arrival. Get used to this form as at each subsequent port in Argentina, you must fill in the same form again (often three times).
A good idea (to save you time) is to fill in an extra form on arrival, leaving those fields clear that change (e.g. previous port and next port), then copy it 40 times. You can then just fill in the blanks at each port before having it stamped.
- Immigration
Immigration will stamp the passports and the forms from the yacht club/marina.
- Port Captain (Prefectura Naval Argentina)
You will need to visit the closest Prefectura office to where you are moored. The Prefectura must stamp the forms first before going to Customs. If they refuse to, be persistent and insist they call Customs to confer (to save you a return trip).
- Customs
They should give you a customs document which allows you to stay the same amount of time as your visa (in most cases 90 days).
Domestic Cruising:
Cruising in Argentina involves giving your position every day and in each stopover visiting the Prefectura upon arrival and departure and filling in more forms (as outlined above).
Every boat must check in on a daily basis with the Prefectura by a pre-agreed method (E-mail, satellite phone, SSB or VHF frequency) while sailing between Argentine ports. Get a written contact sheet and log your attempts to call to avoid possible fines on arrival at your destination. If heavy weather is forecast, you may even get weather information sent back from the Prefectura. Further details under Restrictions below.
CLEARING OUT
International Clearance:
On departure from the country, skippers must visit the Prefectura once again to complete more paperwork. They will want to come to the boat the morning of departure and do a safety inspection (life-raft (service date), life jackets (certificates, dates), flares (dates), lights, bilge pumps, etc.). A useful translation of the safety check list to English and Dutch by Sailors for Sustainability can be found at: http://j.mp/SfSArgEqReq.
Cruising between Argentina and the Falklands (Las Malvinas)
Argentina’s new conservative government continue to press the country’s claims to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands. They have also always claimed a section of the Antarctica Peninsula as part of their territorial waters.
Whilst the procedure to apply to sail in these waters does involve some form filling, it has eased in recent years and latest reports (from a British yacht) is that permission was granted by e-mail within a week of sending the completed form.
This permit is needed by ships and all sailing vessels using Argentine waters en-route to the Falklands, South Georgia or the South Sandwich Islands – all UK controlled. This is being aggressively policed and large fines are made for those making unscheduled stops, even in an emergency. For example, two private yachts in the last 2 months of 2010 were fined $6000 US for visiting the Falklands without Argentine permission. In both cases Force Majeure was claimed (engine problems/weather), however, this was not considered an issue when being assessed for the fines.
Applying for “Permiso”
You do not have to be in Argentinian waters to apply for permission. First, complete the application form which can be downloaded here. Then send the form to all three e-mail addresses below:
kstm@prefecturanaval.gov.ar
info@prefecturanaval.gov.ar
infodiop@prefecturanaval.gov.ar
A response should be returned within approximately 7 days.
A useful report with feedback from cruisers who have applied for “permiso” can be found here.
Useful numbers
Argentine Consulate: +44 (0)20 7318 1340
Embassy of the Argentine Republic: +44 (0)20 7318 1300
Last updated: August 2020
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Next Section: Formalities: Clearance Agents
Related to following destinations: Argentina
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Here is an update as of Jan 20th for Puerto Williams and Ushuaia.
Argentina:
Ushuaia is open for arrivals and a number of boats including us have cleared in with no issues over the past couple of weeks. PCR test, health insurance and electronic affidavit are required but we were not required to quarantine once the PCR result was received. The lack of quarantine may have been a special case because we traveled from Puerto Williams. Cases of omicron are currently quite high in Ushuaia so this could change at any time but officials in Ushuaia have reported that unless things get much worse the port will be open for the remainder of the Antarctic season.
Chile:
Puerto Willians (and all Chilean ports) are currently closed with very few exceptions. 72 hour humanitarian stops are still allowed for food and fuel but here in Puerto Williams even those requests are sometimes being turned down because Ushuaia is open 20 nm to the west. Officials in Puerto Williams would prefer the port to be open and want to help yachts but health controls have tied their hands. There are still Chilean residents waiting to return to Puerto Williams from Ushuaia who have been stuck since the beginning of the pandemic. Given the slow increase in Covid numbers throughout Chile, it is not expected that anything will change before winter arrives in a few months. Most foreign boats departing for Antarctica this year from Puerto Williams will not be allowed to return.
For boats considering sailing into the Pacific, it is possible to receive permission for an “innocent passage” north through the channels after provisioning in Ushuaia. Given Chile’s long coastline and mixed reports of difficulties stopping even for fuel and provisions north Puerto Williams it would be difficult to recommend at this time.
Gary and Karina
SV Sea Rover II
I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with you on Argentina as the country with the most Spanish speakers. That would be Mexico at about 120 million people. Colombia has about 45 million people, and Spain has about 40 million as well. Surprisingly, the United States has about 50 million Spanish speaking people in the country, more than the population of Argentina as well.
Thanks to the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires the next weekend ( 29/11-02/12 ) is forbidden sail near Buenos Aires Port and the north area until Olivos port.
Omar Wetdoc, from Buenos Aires
Hello Omar,
We are presently in Portugal and potentially heading toward Argentina. There have been comments that ‘Argentina is getting expensive’. Expensive, compared to say Europe, US, Canada? Can you comment? Thanks for you past comments by the way.
Regards,
James and Shelley
S/V Carina, Portugal
Update from Sailors for Sustainability:
We found Werner’s report about the inspections and requirements in Mar del Plata for yachts sailing south to Patagonia very helpful. Note, however, that the list of requirements seems to have changed recently. For example, fewer flares are required and AIS was added.
The new list (from May 2018) can be found here: https://cargasitiow.prefecturanaval.gob.ar/webpna/documentos/ordenanzas/ordn_pdf/4-2018-1.pdf
The list is in Anexo “A”.
We do not yet have any experience with the Argentinian authorities, so we don’t know yet if they actually check each item on the list. We will let you know what our experience was after Mar del Plata.
Floris & Ivar
Notices to Skippers and current warnings in the Argentine sea.
Available in Spanish and English, click over WP.
http://www.hidro.gov.ar/nautica/GeoRadioavisos.asp
Omar Wetdoc, from Buenos Aires
Clearance in Mar del Plata – as of Nov 22/17
I have submitted a long report about my experience clearing in and out here (see adjacent), however important to note are the safety requirements for visiting International yachts, as this caught me out.
The Prefecture demands that international vessels are classified as “Veleros Oceanicos” and have a list of safety requirements that boats must comply with before clearance is granted. There is a link to the list in my report adjacent.
This includes the requirement to have a certified life raft, six parachute flares and six handheld flares. The chief of Prefecture for the Coastguard department has given me the right to have no sextant on board. All other requirements apply. I had a total of four inspections.
Posted on behalf of Anastasia July 2017
Beginning December 2016 we asked our permission for the Falklands, it was done in Mar del Platta. We left on14 December from Mar del Platta and arrived on 29 December in Desceado (after a stopover in Caleta Hornos) there we left on 13 January 2017 for the Falklands. We had at that time our permission without any problem.
The permission is NOT at all a bottleneck to go to the Falklands. In Desceado and in Mar Del Platta the prefecture was super friendly and did not make any problem for us. We had a peaceful crossing and even in PW and here in Ushuaia no problems about our whereabouts.
Getting a Permit to Malvinas/Falklands – from Omar Sanchez:
The bureaucracy has unfortunately increased and now it takes about 40-45 days to get the permit to go to Malvinas/Falklands.
That is why this year some foreign sailors have preferred to return to Punta del Este in Uruguay and to make the dispatch to the Malvinas from there, without touching Argentine ports to Malvinas.
This does not invalidate the rule that establishes the daily position report in Argentine waters.
After March 24, 2016, U.S. citizens no longer need to pay a reciprocity fee to enter Argentina.
See: http://www.embassyofargentina.us/en/consular-section/reciprocity-fee-for-us-citizens.html
Wetdoc, from Buenos Aires.
Our thanks to Henk Boersma for these updates.
Puerto Williams Update:
Recently the “SAG” (these are the people responsible for avoiding alien flora and fauna arriving on Chilean soil) started implementing a law that no fresh fruit, vegetables or meat can be brought into the country. All will be confiscated and destroyed. Threats with fines for not complying are in the air.
For years this has been the rule in the rest of the country, however now PW is included as well which doesn’t make sense. Maybe it will blow over.
For the charter boats that do their shopping in Ushuaia (Argentina), this new rule forces a change of plan… The problem is of course, that there are no reliable supplies in Puerto Williams!
Ushuaia Update:
All is quiet on the customs front, apart from some issues which involved Argentine sailors with foreign flagged boats. They are still fussy about arriving or going to the Falklands without a permit.
Cruising the Beagle Channel
For cruising the Beagle Channel as far as Staten Island, no zarpe is required for trips to Lapataia and Islas Bridges but the Prefecture must be notified before you leave with the details of your trip. Anywhere further out, and you must pay a visit to the Prefecture for a zarpe.