Job Discussion Forums

[gypsy woman]

Is there any problem coming to Chile or Argentina on a one-way ticket from the States? The plan is to do my CELTA training there and then find work. Any advice or experiences to share?

[Dia]

yes, there is a problem in Chile's case if you enter on a tourist visa, i'm not sure about argentinas or if you have a different visa (which usually someone from the US only has if they have already been hired for a job and recieved the visa in the US) and hopefully it can be worked around in most cases. (tourist visa is currently 90 days, pay 132 dollars cash in the airport, supposed to last the lifetime of your passport)
(I recently did quite a lot of research on this with calling consulates, airlines, and travel agencies. however, as often within the case of chile you cannot get any written guarantees of these things and sometimes rules etc change without notice or reason. my summary follows: )
To enter chile, you should be able to prove "return or onward travel" i.e. prove you will not overextend your tourist visa. so, the one-way ticket would not work theoretically. Even though you may be planning to have a job by then or leave the country, you are supposed to need some sort of way to show that. That said, they don't always check that at customs when you get here, however, if they were to check it and complain that you cant prove you are leaving within 90 days, you may be asked to buy your return ticket on the spot, or the airline you flew with is responsible for bringing you back to the US.
So, most airlines will ask you to prove you are leaving chile before they let you board the plane in the US so they wont have to be responsible for you in that way. Its usually possible to ask the airline if this is one of their requirements.

One option ($) is buying a two way and not going on the return flight. Also, one option is to buy an "onward ticket" and hope that is sufficient(some of the US embassies I talked to told me this was not allowed, but a few said yes, and it has worked and doesnt appear to violate anything)... I.e. buy a one way to chile from the us, then another one way from chile to peru a month later, and bring that physical ticket or itinerary with you. both of these should be legal ways to do what you want without having to fake, lie, etc... just remember (if you potentially do use that second ticket, that you will have the same problem entering the country again unless you have found a job by that time)

I entered Chile on a one way ticket a week ago and I was stopped and asked to show my return ticket/way out of chile at the airport in the us while checking in. they, however, didn't actually ask for it in customs.

[ghostdog]

It's pretty much always an airline problem rather than a problem with immigration in the country in which you'd be arriving. As the previous poster notes, if you are for some reason refused entrance to a country, it's the airline's responsibility to put you on one of their planes and ship you back from whence you came, and it's not a responsibility they relish. So it's really the airline that you have to worry about; I've never been asked for an outward ticket or proof of funds trying to enter a country in my life. I have, however, been hassled by airlines whilst trying to fly into Thailand (bought a 15 USD ticket on a low cost airline and ate the cost) and China, twice (once merely had to sign a waiver, but once got nailed at the airport for an exorbitantly expensive ticket out and spent three months trying to get a refund, which ended up costing me over 100 USD in fees and exchange rate loss).

That said, I was able to fly from China all the way to Buenos Aires last year on a one-way ticket without any problem at all. But be prepared to buy a ticket somewhere else if you get stuck at the airport.

One suggestion: sometimes -- only sometimes -- if you can get your travel agent to book you a ticket out of your destination country to another location, and if that reservation is still on the computer for the airline to find when you check in, that will suffice. But the whole enterprise is pretty much a lucky dip.

Good luck.