By Leila Miller
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking steps to bring Argentina back into its visa waiver program in the coming years, the agency said on Monday during Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Buenos Aires.
Argentina was part of the program between 1996 and 2002. The scheme allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the U.S. for business or tourism for up to 90 days without a visa, if their home nations meet counter-terrorism, law enforcement and immigration requirements.
Noem in a statement said that Argentina had the lowest visa overstay rate among Latin American countries, and that Argentine travel to the U.S. had been increasing.
She noted that Argentina had become an “even stronger friend” to the United States under President Javier Milei.
Libertarian Milei has sought to align himself with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has lauded Milei’s deregulation efforts and called the Argentine leader his “favorite president.”
The DHS announcement comes shortly after Argentina decided to loosen visa requirements for Chinese visitors, saying those with valid U.S. entry visas would not need Argentine visas to enter the country for tourism or business.
(Reporting by Leila Miller; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)
