Passports
Make sure your passport is up to date. We recommend at least six months from your date of entry to Argentina, Chile or New Zealand.
If you have made a late booking and your passport is close to expiring near the return date of your trip, we advise checking with your embassy and/or airline for specific requirements or restrictions.
Visa requirements for Argentina
Avenida 9 Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Citizens from the following countries, among others, will not need to apply for a visa when travelling to Argentina:
- The European Union
- The UK
- The United States
- Canada
- Australia
Citizens of some nations, however, may be required to pay a reciprocity fee.
If you are travelling from certain countries not mentioned above, you might need to apply for a tourist visa. Please see the Argentinian embassy website for full details of visa-exempt countries. Please be aware that visa conditions/requirements can change without warning.
If you're visiting Iguazu Falls before or after your Antarctic cruise, you may need a visa to visit the Brazilian side of the falls. Please check with your local embassy.
Visa requirements for Chile
Citizens of the following countries, among others, will not be required to apply for a visa when travelling to Chile:
- The European Union
- The UK
- The United States
- Canada
Please note that citizens of some nations may be required to pay a reciprocity fee.
If you are travelling from certain countries not mentioned above, including Australia, you may need to apply for a visa* - check with your local embassy. If you are not required to apply for a visa, you will instead be issued with a tourist card, or 'Tarjeta de Turismo', on arrival in Chile, which will last for 90 days. This is an A5 sized white piece of paper - you must retain this document and present it to immigration when you leave.
Swoop says
Need support for your visa application? We are happy to provide any documentation you may require for your visa. We ask for £25 GBP per visa to cover the administration costs involved, please ask your Customer Experience Coordinator for more details.
Australians travelling to Chile
Australian passport holders are required to obtain an e-visa to enter Chile. There will be single entry and multiple entry visas available.
Visas to enter New Zealand
While no visa is required to visit Antarctica, if you are travelling through New Zealand in transit, you may be required to obtain a visa.
If you are visiting from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and many other countries it is essential to apply for an eTA. The online process is valid for two years and allows multiple entries to New Zealand.
Visa requirements for Brazil
If you are an Australian, Canadian or US citizen travelling to Brazil for tourism or business by air, sea or land after 10th April 2025, you will need to obtain a visa ahead of time.
If you are a citizen of Australia, Canada or the US travelling to Brazil for tourism or business before that date, you do not need a visa.
You can apply online through the official government website.
Swoop says
If you are combining Patagonia and Antarctica into one epic adventure, you will only need to check if you require a visa for Chile and/or Argentina. No visa is required to visit Antarctica as it isn't a sovereign nation.
VAT payments on accommodation in Chile and Argentina
As a tourist, you won't need to pay VAT (19% in Chile, 21%, in Argentina) on the cost of your accommodation. However, your hotel will need to see your passport stamp and/or immigration paper receipt as proof you have travelled into the country from abroad.
Just please keep in mind that the Argentine immigration office is no longer stamping passports. Instead, it is issuing travellers with an immigration QR code and sending it via email. Your accommodation provider needs a copy of this code as proof it is not required to make VAT payments.
For the avoidance of doubt, neither Swoop nor our local partners will be held liable for any surcharges or any taxes, including VAT or its equivalent, that may be applied as a result of national or regional government policies.
Please note that such governmental policies can be modified at short notice and without prior notification.
Travelling with under 18-year-olds
Chile has put in place strict requirements for the entry/exit of minors under the age of 18 In an effort to prevent international child abduction. Even when the minor is travelling with both parents, the parents will be required to show evidence of their relationship to the child when departing the country. Please carry an original, certified or authenticated birth certificate.
If only one parent is travelling with a minor, or neither parent is travelling, legal authorisation to take the child abroad will be required, too. This permit must be signed by the parent or parents that are not travelling.
Driving licences in Argentina and Chile
Spending some time exploring Chile or Argentina before or after Antarctica and considering hiring a car? Some nationalities visiting these countries will just need a regular driving licence to rent a vehicle. However, you will be required to purchase an international driving licence if your driving licence does not have a photograph.
You may also be required to get an international driving licence if you have a licence that does not use Roman script (such as a Russian licence) or you have a photocard licence.
Road trip in Tierra del Fuego
Make sure you have spare pages in your passport, not only for any visas you might need but also for getting stamps in the numerous southernmost sights that you might visit such as bases in Antarctica.
Lizzie Williams Polar Product Manager
Important information for Japanese residents
Travellers from Japan (both Japanese citizens and foreign residents) are required to notify the Japanese Ministry of the Environment before their trip to Antarctica. Read the instructions on sending this notification.
Hiking over the snow at Peterman Island
Reciprocity Fees
If your government imposes a fee on Chilean or Argentinean citizens who visit your country, you will likely need to pay a "reciprocal" fee when travelling to Chile or Argentina. Citizens from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK no longer have to pay reciprocity fees to enter Chile or Argentina.
If you are a citizen of a nation not listed above, please refer to your respective country’s Chilean or Argentinean consulate for requirements.
View over Santiago, Chile