Carretera Austral- Monte Aymond | Customs and Immigration

Sunday morning at 10:30 am. In and out in 15mins. Cursory inspection. Easy.

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Chile -> Argentina
1h total (both side).
We arrived at 6.30 p.m with all the people from the ferry from Tierra de Fuego : lots of trucks and cars waiting. So we had lunch, waiting for the queue to diminish. Great idea : at around 7p.m, we went to the chilean side to do the migraciones then aduana to exit, and only two cars were still waiting. We bought a car in Chile and its sometimes complicated to exit Chile, but here, with all the papers, it was really fast and smooth. We had to wait a longer on the Argentinian side because there was more people. No real search of the car (to be honest, it's a mess, so I think they dont want to dive in it). People from both side were nice and efficient, but its always crowded in high season. I think its better to arrive in the evening if you can, because there are less people.

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Chile -> Argentina. We didn't need 30 minutes on Sunday morning. Tip was done within 5 minutes. Nobody was interested in our dog and SAG didn't even want to look in the fridge. So all very easy!

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Did the crossing in the evening. Follow steps and keep the long slip till the end. We had dogs and they asked the dogs to get out of the van and opened all the compartments. We said on declaration forms we had nothing because we had actually cleared up all fresh produce before entering.

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everything smooth and friendly. Quick look in the van we only had to open the fridge,let us keep the little bit of lettuce. They do have a sniffer dog here but they didn't use it with our van.

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Smooth check-in into Chile. All meat and produce must be cooked. Eggs too. You aren't supposed to bring in whole beans or honey. It was very important that we had declared that we had these items on our entry form when we were inspected.

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Be careful not to miss this post when coming from the Chilean side, as it does not look much like a customs post from that side (only an "entrada" sign), and misleadingly a sign says that the border post is 600 metres away (when it is, in fact, right here).

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when we crossed, only Argentina was working from this first building, and all of the Chile paperwork was done at anther building like a kilometer further south. maybe it's different in high season?

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just wanted to add, that cheese is okay... was quite a long search this time, had to open all my bicycle bags

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Easy crossing Chile->Argentina on a Sunday morning. In fact it's a bit confusing because it's the same way for people entering or leaving Chile.

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Crossing from Argentine to Chili. In the building it was chaos, not clear what steps to take, which lines to go, or any info about the process. It’s mandatory to fill a form either digital or paper, but wifi was disfunctional and no pens were provided…
We followed advice from Ioverlanders and put “yes” to declare fruit/vegetables. It seemed they considered it a huge thing, and thoroughly searched our car and camper. Opened every little pocket, Demanded taking every bag out of the car and through scanners, rushing us and moving to next area, not giving us enough time to put stuff back. Everything became a huge mess. All was very unpleasant.
They took fruit vegetables (also avocado tomato etc) eggs. Our advice: better throw everything and put “no” on the form. It’s not worth it. And bring a pen.

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Wednesday early evening. Immigration and customs done within 30 minutes. Declared all our cooked food, the cooked eggs, the salami and the cheese. Friendly officer checked our fridge, yoghurt no problem. She checked all the kitchen drawers and the bathroom, no dog. Asked for weapons, drugs and pets - don’t have any. No problems, done in a few minutes.

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Entering Chile (1 February 2023)
Go to the brown house and park where you’re told to. More organized and because we were early it moved reasonably quickly. The check of our camper was fairly light, presumably because we were only crossing to go to Ushuaia. They were only interested in fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and meat. They said that cheese was okay. No mention made of eggs or honey. There is a lengthy list for your declaration form, but just because it’s on there doesn’t mean they’ll take it. Total time from exiting Argentina to entering Chile was about 90 minutes.

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It literally took about 15 minutes on a Wednesday at noon to leave Chile going north, including 2 adults, 2 kids, and our camper-van from the US. This includes Aduana time. We were passed by a tour bus right before the border, but pulled in right behind him and jumped out while one of us parked. If we got behind thirty people from the bus, it would have been different. Very efficient and kind border agents.

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Apparently Tuesday afternoon is the best time to be here. Chile to Argentina. We arrived at the Chilean side at 2:45pm and we were through everything and driving into Argentina at 3:15pm.
Typical steps to leave Chile: migración to stamp out, aduana to turn in our TIP, and SAG for dog paperwork. They’ll give you a small slip of paper that they stamp at each step. Then drove to the building on the Argentina side for the same steps: migración, aduana, and gendarmería. We brought our paper slip with all the stamps from each step to the gate as we drove out. The agent glanced in the car quickly and then waved us on.
We’ve heard from locals that these border crossings (this one and San Sebastián heading towards Ushuaia) get busiest on the weekends, so aim for a weekday if possible.

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The worst migration office ever!.

Chilenian side, 300 or more people waiting and just 2 officers working, 5 desk empty. 😠😠😠

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The Argentina side was quick and easy to exit. It's the Chilean side that's extremely slow. Not sure why the line builds up so much and how they're so much slower than Argentina. 15 minutes to leave Argentina and over and hour to enter Chile.

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On a Saturday afternoon headed into Argentina, a true disaster of a border crossing. Nearly 3 hour wait in line. Good thing the weather was acceptable.

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Just to be clear, the info in the primary description is WRONG & itsnotaslowcar is correct. YOU MUST NOT BYPASS THE FIRST BUILDING and get your exit stamps before moving to the next building for entry. Took us 2hrs 45 as we bypassed the first building but skipped the line second time round.

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Chile to Argentina. Stop here 1st! Unfortunately everyone exiting and entering Chile wait in the same really looooong line outside (just before 10 am on a Thursday) for migrations first. The giant bus loads of people have their own line and really hold up the main line by using 4/6 of the windows, so expect to wait if you unluckily arrive when they are also there. Passports get exit stamped and small paper (control) given that gets a stamp at every stop until you are totally done. Aduana next in adjacent room where TIP is turned in and control paper stamped. Drive on to next building on Argentina side.

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Argentina to Chile with casa rodante and dogs-
After exiting Argentina (see info on other pin) advance to this building. Find parking close to building and go inside.
First get passport stamped AND that little slip of paper from Argentina exit AND show vehicle document. Get back slip of paper and two new little papers. (Save those papers) Then go to next room. Everyone must fill out a declaration form. Walk to window with car documents and little slip from Argentina. Get TIP. Return to car and drive under canopy for inspection. Give them everyone’s declaration form. Then wait- they did a complete check of the camper. They took lemons and honey. Okay with cheese and salami and yogurt. Then went inside building to look at dog papers and waved us up to park. Kept one copy of Senasa papers, stamped all others and returned to me.
Return to parked vehicle and depart.

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No covid proof necessary today on chilenian side, containers were closed (means also no stamp 1 of 6 on the small list you get on the argentinian side)

Chilenian migrations: Messy queueing, groups coming later just passed the main queue and formed a new one, waiting time was still fine but felt a bit unfair

Chilenian customs: recieved no list to declare specific items just a form where you tick ‚Yes‘

Car was searched directly afterwards, friendly guy asked us what we had (canned cream and salted peanuts) and opened a few drawers, all good

Whole process from arg to chile ~2 h

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From Argentina to Chile with an european Campervan:

First you need to stop at the building at the argentinian side. We also made a comment there for it. This is the continuation of is comment there.

We did a mistake which cost us around one hour waitingtime:

First you need to go to the containers with the windows!! They will just ask you how many covid-vaccination you had (they did not want to see it, it was enough, that we told them). You will get your third stamp on your little paper here.
AFTER getting the third stamp, you can do the Migraciones (fourth stamp) and than the aduana (fifth stamp). Both again in one building with different counters. You will recognize it.

At the aduana, there is a table with the paper you need to fill up for driving through the boarder (what are you bringing with you etc.). Remember to sign it and take it with you to the drive-through part. They will collect it from you.

We missed the first step (vaccination-asking in the containers) here and needed to row up twice at the Migraciones. 🙈

We also had to wait quite long until we could drive finally through the boarder. The women there asked us about fruit, vegetables, plants, meat, cheese and everything. She looked in every drawer.
We had a dry woodstick (collected at the beach)… she took it.

But after this we could finally go on.

The whole process (argentinian & chilean side) took us around 3h! 🙈

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Argentina para o Chile, rumo ao Ushuaia.

No Container marrom (Aduana Sanitária - foto) fizemos o Paso 1.

Depois entramos na casa marrom, carimbo no passaporte, preenchimento da Declaración Jurada (foto), migraciones de entrada e depois passamos com o carro para a vistoria, não podemos entrar com alho e cebola

Argentina to Chile, towards Ushuaia.

In the brown Container (Sanitary Customs - photo) we did Step 1.

Then we enter the brown house, stamp in the passport, filling out the Jurada Declaration (photo), entry migrations and then we drive the car to the inspection, we cannot enter with garlic and onion

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Now there are 2 buildings and in each building there are only ONE country's officials :)

All very friendly.

Chilean guys took apples and onion and honey and pumpkin seeds. Didn't mind milk and cheese (as they said it was from UHT milk so it was fine). Good experience, we expected way worse.

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Nice staff but not really fast. We took 1h30 with a van. We needed to fill a document, the declaration aduana (meat, eggs, ...), three times for the same vehicule because we are three. They checked the inside but they didn't throw anything even though we got eggs, meat and vegetables.

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@rabugentos_trip
Passamos na Aduana pra dar saída do Chile e foi tranquilo. Apresentamos passaportes, CRVL e formulário de declaração juramentada feita on LINE. Super tranquilo e levou uns 20 minutos.

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Border crossing Argentina to Chile: It took us 1,5 hours to get everything done. There are two buildings - one for the Argentinian side, one for the Chilean. We needed to enter both. Don't understand the comments/ descriptions telling that you only have to enter one of them. Our camper was investigated (after we had declared some plants) very quickly. We only had to sacrifice two potatoes, even though they also saw cheese, yoghurt etc. in our fridge.

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Travelling by bicycle northbound towards Rio Gallegos. Confusing state of affairs to cross. initially rode past the border checkpoint since it’s not clearly sign posted. Returned only once I had reached Argentinian side and they sent me back to be stamped out of Chile. Wifi didn’t work. Some public toilets with hot water. Chile stamped me out after inspecting my documents.

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Argentina to Chile. Closed 1pm to 2pm and 5.30pm to 6.30pm. If you don't arrive shortly after the break it might be quicker cause after the queue is loooong. But everyone was friendly and helpful, it just takes a while. Relax, pamper yourself with a coffee and change shifts in the queue.

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Hold on to your butts.

Argentina to Chile
Not as easy as entering Argentina! We have a rental vehicle with Chilean plates. Argentina migraciones and aduana took 20 minutes, easy. Chile on the other hand... they have a "sanitization break" from 13:00 to 14:00 and 17:30 to 18:30. We arrived right at the start of the lunch one and stood around in an unmoving line waiting, unsure of what was going on. Right at 14:00 someone came through the long line that had formed and grabbed people who were not crossing to Ushuaia but whose final destination was in Chile and directed them to another window at the Paso 1 Container. This guy checks your PCR results, pasaporte sanitario, and that you have 30k usd of medical insurance. The window says you need a mobility pass but they did not ask since it should be linked to the pasaporte sanitario. Then you go to the autobus to get a rapid antigen test and wait ten minutes for results. The lab stamps the paper that the first guy gave you (if all your documents were digital -- if not he stamps your paper copy of the pasaporte sanitario I believe). Then you take the stamped paper back to the Paso 1 Container and he stamps it again. Then you go into the building to give immigration the triplicate stamped paper from Paso 1, and to get your immigration stamp on the TIP, then pick up the declaration form for food, then to the aduana. Then you wander back to your car in a daze wondering where the heck you are and how long you had been there. Be prepared for hand to hand combat to get into the vehicle queue for the final step where they take the food declaration and your TIP, and inspect your vehicle. For us was a cursory look in one rear passenger door and the back of the van. It took 3 hours from entering the Argentina building and exiting the Chilean paso. Phew!

We came during the rush apparently as we ended up nearly last in line and only a few people showed up after. Probably try to go through first thing or later in the day. Don't plan anything else the day you come through.

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Around 16:30, we arrived at the Chilean border to cross the border to Argentina. We waited in line and at 17:15 it was our turn. The lady at the counter said that we couldn't cross because it was already to late for tourists to cross the Argentina border. They said we had to go back to Punta Arenas and come back tomorrow at 8. Of course we didn't want to go back so we slept at the parking lot. The next morning we stood in line at 8:30. They told us it was to early, we had to come back at 9:45. Now since we did cross the border at the Argentina side, we understand why they didn't let us cross. At the Argentina side, you have to go to the first white little house for your medical paper work. That office is only open between 10:00 - 16:00.

So at 10:00 we got our stamp and our paperwork for the car and went to the Argentina side.

At the Argentina side, make sure you first go to the medical white house, before you stand in the big line that starts under the gate. Our medical check was pretty nerve wrecking. We had done our pcr in Punta Arenas. They didn't put our passport numbers on our test results!! Make sure they do on your results and check it. The person at the counter said that we had to go back to Punta Arenas because he needed a passport number. In the end we could show him the results online and he was ok with it. We see it as a gift from above that he was ok with it. After you showed your vaccins proof and medical insurance (without limit )you can go to the other building. There you will get your stamp and paper (tip) for the car (you've got at the Chilean border ) signed and you are good to go. Our car wasn't check at all, but they checked other cars when we stood in line. We drove away at 13:30.

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Long queues but no issues.

As usual no signs or anything to help but the staff are friendly guiding each person through the process…

Just need vaccine certificates.

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We just passed through here on Christmas Eve, entering Argentina from Chile. While the geography of the border is unchanged and there are in fact still two separate facilities, based on our experience the two are completely separate now (perhaps that is new and due to Covid). You stop at the Chile side and get your exit stamp and deal with the Aduana after that who cancel your tip and give you a slip of paper. Hold onto it because the Argentines use it later during their process. The Chile side was fairly painless but the Argentine side took much longer and most of that was consumed by the medical check which is the first thing you do on the Argentine side. They ask you all the same questions that you filled in on the affidavit that you would have done online before you arrived at the border-it seems they don’t have access to it there. We did not need to show them any paper and they accepted the digital copies of everything we had but I’m not sure that is the usual process or we just got a bit lucky as the guy was pretty busy and the lineup behind us was long. The locals seem to have paper copies for everything. Once the medical guy does his thing he signs the paper that the Chileans‘s gave you and then you go in to get your entry stamp to Argentina and then about 20 m away you go and see the Advana who give you an Argentine tip for your car. That last part is very quick. The inspection of our vehicle was very cursory indeed and he did not take anything away - did not even check the fridge…!
One last thing, if you arrive early on the Chilean side for the 8 AM start like we did you will be disappointed because they tell you to wait until 10 since the Argentine side does not, or at least did not while we were there, start until 10 AM. No fees anywhere and in case you are relying on cell phone reception up there it’s not very good with Entel. There is Wi-Fi on the Chile side but it is very weak.

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Depois de fazer todos os passos fomos para a inspeção. Levaram maçã, tomate e cebola. Deixaram passar carnes e
Feijões já cozidos. Todos muitos gentis.

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All very easy and clear. The employees were very nice. Took only fruits, nuts with seeds and honey.

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We did the cross in 40 minutes, they collected our fruits, frijoles and vegetables. Friendly officers, always smilling.

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After everything we'd read here we were almost nervous to cross, but it was totally fine. Staff official but friendly, and it was fairly quick over all. It seems as though basically anything fresh is not allowed to cross, but dried or tinned goods are ok. Staff we met were chatty and happy to help if there's anything you're unsure of.

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Busy but easy process through the 4 different checkpoints at the office. No problems with milk, yoghurt and cheese (products not opened). Honey will be taken. Nice people and very helpful. Took us an 1h to go through.

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Park your car first, then do the paperwork. Friendly staff, no problems getting true.

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We crossed with a Ford Transit. It was very easy. We declared our vegetables. They checked for the deckared veggies and took them. Potatos, Onions and Cabbage all gone :-( And he checked our qiunoa and popcorn very precisely. But it was ok.

Not very friendly, but we played the happy tourists. Everything was fine. No dogs, no angry officers, no jokes. Just a few counters and forms to fill out and youre good to go. Hint: Always declare your stuff, otherwise they will search for it.
@ExplorerSouls

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easy border, done in 15min on a monday morning

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you have to be patient but is really easy. also with a dog. they checked our car and we had a box of dog food they said we can keep it. Also joghurt and parmesan.

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Busy border at the open time. Its working 9am to 21pm. All The guys were kindly. They check our food but they didn't take anything since we don't have fresh food.

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Argentin to Chile
Pass the first building directly drive to the second. Easy border, all well organized in 4 steps for exit and entrance. Take to pe. to fulfill the declaration form after step 1. Declare all your organic food.
At the end aduana barely checked our car and over : milk, mostaza, mermelada and honey they only took honey.

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Arg to Chi. Gone through all steps, filled forms and told them I had eggs, mayo, mozzarela cheese. They only got the eggs, all the rest were fine. Respectful people, only checked our box with food and the fridge. Didn't asked to see anything else. Dog smelled the car.

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Surprisingly busy for low season- I think some buses go through here too. Fairly quick car check but they did open all the doors and poke around. No issues for foreign owners of a Chilean vehicle.

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The officer searched our van very thoroughly and took all fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, eggs, rosemary and our honey. He pointed out that our interior which is mainly built out of unpainted wood should actually be confiscated as well but he let us pass. So if you want to cross here and have a lot of wood inside you should maybe consider painting it beforehand.
In general he was not unfriendly but this is not a place to make jokes.

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Very busy boarder. If you can don’t pass here. I spend 1 hour in line.

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Arg --> Chile: easy border, just make sure you declare all fresh vegetables/fruits/cheese (and take a pen with you inside as you need to fill in a paper ;) )

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heading south all formalities are done here. it was pretty quiet on a Sunday but it appears it might get very busy at times. quite a thorough search if our van but they didn't find all our dog food they took one sealed bag (which we we're told was allowed) since it had bone meal and flour as an ingredient. we were a bit annoyed so he took me inside to Google translate it for me. I still find it silly but whatever.

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Just want to mention that this is the first border station I’ve seen with dogs so be sure to smoke, snort, inject, or otherwise consume any drugs you might have before crossing!

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Argentina to Chile=>
tout au même endroit
- bureau 1 tampon passeport
entre le bureau 1 et 2 remplir le document qui est à disposition sur les déclarations
- bureau 2 autre tampon
- bureau 3 importation véhicule
- bureau 4 vérification du document sur la déclaration de marchandises
- aller avec le véhicule au passage de douane pour la fouille

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It’s open from 8 am to midnight during the high season (1st of November - 31st of March) and until 10 pm the rest of the year.

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Arg -> Chile

Better don’t make jokes with the officers. When the guy searching us took our Avocados (that we had declared beforehand), I laughingly said “Buen provecho” and was called into the office and lectured about how serious this job is and that this border is professional and blah blah blah. He then threw the Avocados away in front of my eyes. Also: After this incident the guy went all-in and had us take out ALL the luggage from our van (what a mess!) and checked it thoroughly. And all of this at 1 AM in the morning! So yeah, don’t joke with the Chileños!

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As said before, friendly people and easy crossing. A tip, make a list of all the food you have on board, in spanish if possible and when they ask what you have, give them the list and they will tell you what you can’t take to Chile. After we gave them a lemon, an apple and the garlic, they only checked the bus quickly (it seemed it was more out of curiosity than to control anything) and we could pass through without any further controls.

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Quick border crossing indeed, but at the agricultural check they went a little overboard. Not talking to us at all they started pulling out stuff randomly, leaving a mess. They even wanted us to sort the organics out of our garbage from a few days of wild camping. When we told them that there were also sanitary products inside, the answer was "not my problem". Wanted to send the dog through as well, but thankfully it was busy in a bus next to us. In the end they took dried goods that no other Chile border bothered with and ended up forgetting to look in the fridge.

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Quick crossing from Argentina into Chile. As expected, they took a small amount of fruit that we had declared. There was a customs dog, but it was asleep when we were there.

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very busy on saturaday lunch time, 2h queue, most of it gone when we left at 2pm. seems to be less stafded during lunch break

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There isn't much of information and signs on the site. You need to enter the office and follow the queues. Instructions are provided at each desk. Complete the declaration form to declare prohibited items (fresh fruits or animal sourced). Iteyms not declared will be confiscated.
If you have a car, this will be checked by the agricultural authority. Any item not declared in the form will be confiscated. The whole process will take around 1h.

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very speedy and friendly checks. We had to give up fruits and vegetables, as expected.

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Argentina to Chile border crossing. Took us 1.45 hrs. 5 steps. Start on left and work through to the right. Take a pen with you. Collect a form each from table towards the right to declare that you have no fruit, meat, veg, semen etc (in English too). Got through to step 3 ok then everything stopped for almost an hour while custom people seemed to have a break. Eventually got going again and it was then quick except they all had to kiss each other as they changed shift!

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On this border there are 2 'integrated' buildings. One is for exiting Argentina and entering Chile, the other for the opposite direction. Go to the building in the country you are entering. They are 1km apart. All your exit and entry papers will be processed in the one building.

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Quick all-in-one border. Chile and Argentina customs together in one building for each direction. Weren't very strict on food checks.

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There are two distinct customs complexes about 600m apart. In BOTH complexes there are the authorities of BOTH countries, thus coming from either side (Chile, Argentina) you bypass the first complex without needing to stop. Stop 600m later and do BOTH emigration and immigration formalities in the same building, in fact, the respective officers of both countries sit side by side. Immigrating to Argentina, the customs officer waved our motorhome through and only collected the immigration form we had received.

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Border Crossing: Argentina / Chile | Posted at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-argentina-chile/

We cross borders by land in a CR-V with US passports and our two dogs. We do not carry drugs or weapons or disallowed fruit (usually). 

When, Where, and Which Direction:
February 3, 2014 - Santa Cruz Province, Argentina > Magallanes Province, Chile via Ruta 3February 3, 2014 - Tierra del Fuego, Chile > Tierra del Fuego, Argentina at San SebastianFebruary 14, 2014 - Tierra del Fuego, Argentina > Tierra del Fuego, Chile at San SebastianFebruary 14, 2014 - Magallanes Province, Chile > Santa Cruz Province, Argentina via Ruta 3

What We Needed:
Passports,Argentine Tourist Cards,Argentine Auto Import Permit,Vehicle Title,Vehicle Registration (if plates are not listed on your title),Argentine Visa Payment Confirmation, andOfficial Dog Permit (plus copies).

The Process:
We passed through these four borders on our way to and from  Ushuaia http://www.vangabonds.com/ushuaia-the-southernmost-city-in-the-world . An explanation of the route, spacing, and process for the drive itself can be read in our  How to Drive to Ushuaia [LINK: http://www.vangabonds.com/how-to-drive-to-ushuaia-tierra-del-fuego/]  post; this post simply details the specifics at each border.

1. Argentina to Chile on Ruta 3
The frontera is about an hour or so (give or take 30 minutes – I’m really terrible with time) south of Río Gallegos on Ruta 3. All steps, both Argentine and Chilean, are housed in the same building; however, the building for traveling from Argentina to Chile is separate from, and far enough down the road that it is out of site of, the building for traveling from Chile to Argentina. So, two buildings, one per border crossing. When first leaving Argentina heading south towards Tierra del Fuego, you will want the second building. Signs and able bodies will be able to point you on down the road. Also, see the photos below for reference. Don’t worry too much though. You’ll be in the middle of nowhere and these will be the only two buildings for miles and miles and miles.
Park on the near side of the second building where all of the cars are. In a shocking turn of events, you will enter the building and notice that all of the steps you need to complete are in order at counters in a ring around the room and they are labeled. You will be confused by the organization and logic and probably behave awkwardly in an otherwise very intuitive setup. Proceed anyway. Be impressed. The main cue in the middle of the room is for Paso 1 (Step 1). Grab a form from the island and get in the line. Here, you will provide the Argentine agent with your passport and your tourist card. Get your book stamped and also receive a checklist type piece of paper (yeah, seriously) with a stamp in the box for Paso 1 to carry with you from step to step, and then report to Paso 2. If the border station is busy, this may be a separate line, but it may also mean simply stepping to the desk next to you. Step 2 is Chilean migración. You will need to fill out a short form here, and hand it to the agent with your passport and the receipt of your reciprocity fee if you hail from the US. The only way out of the vast stretch of Chilean nothingness you are about to enter by land is via Argentina, so they want to validate that you can legally get back in (though, how did you get in in the first place if you didn’t have it…?). Again, get your book stamped, get your checklist stamped, and head to Paso 3.
At Paso 3, the agent will collect your Argentine import permit. Quick and easy. At Paso 4, you will provide your title and registration (if your plates aren’t listed on your title) as well as the owner’s passport to the agent, and receive your temporary import permit. No copies are needed, and the process is incredibly quick. The owner will sign two copies of the permit and leave with one of them. Again, you’ll be granted stamps on the checklist for completing these steps. We’re a bit foggy on our memory here regarding whether or not there were 5 steps or 6. There may have been a 5th step that we cannot remember, which means it was easy and a freeby stamp. Or maybe there wasn’t. Paso 5 or 6 then, depending on whether a different Paso 5 exists, is for making declarations regarding your entrance to Chile. The form you grabbed at the beginning asked you a few things, one of which was regarding the things you were bringing into Chile. Check yes for having something to declare, especially if you’re traveling with pets or any food. If your car is completely empty except for the human, then I guess maybe you can say no. Apparently, Chile doesn’t mess around with their border, and fines can be assessed for not declaring items that, while they may not be prohibited, are still required on the declaration list. We offered up our entire drawer of dried goods and only lost an apple or two. When you hand the agent at Paso 5 or 6 your declaration forms (one per person), they will ask you what you have to declare. Tell them at this time that you have pets and also name whatever fruit or spice or whatnot that you have in tow. They will need to stamp your original document for your dogs, write your license plate next to it, initial it, and then do the same on the duplicate, which they will keep for themselves.
At this time, you are free to head back to your car and pull up to drive through. An inspection will occur during which you’ll hand over any fruit products and show off your fancy official and stamped documentation of your dogs, if they exist, and then you will be sent on your merry way.

Due to character restrictions, the rest of this section is available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-argentina-chile/ .

Photos available at  http://www.vangabonds.com/border-crossing-argentina-chile/

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This post is from  Life Remotely- To read their full experience and see photos, see the detailed article at  http://liferemotely.com/trip-shenanigans/chile/302-argentina-to-chile-at-avanzada-monte-aymond-border-crossing

Border name: Avanzada Monte Aymond or Paso Integral Austral
Closest major cities: Rio Gallegos, Argentina and Cerro Sombrero, Chile
Cost for visas: $0
Cost for vehicle: $0
Total time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Date crossed: Saturday January 25, 2013

The Steps
Drive past the first Argentinian building, across the actual frontera, and park outside the new combined border building with the huge Chilean shields on it.If long lines, acquire a Chilean tourist card form and a Chilean SAG customs declaration form to complete while standing in line.Go to counter #1, Argentinian immigration. Hand over your passport and the tourist card you received on entry. The official will stamp both and return your passport.This official will also ask to see your vehicle title. He will return it with a vehicle release paper which you need to have stamped 5 times in order to leave the border.Move down the counter to #2, Chilean immigration. Hand over your passport, the tourist card you filled out in line, and the paper for stamping. Like usual, the official will stamp your passport, tourist card and the vehicle release paper.Move to #3, the Argentinian aduana counter. Hand over your Argentinian vehicle permit and the vehicle release paper. The official will stamp and return both.Move to counter #4, Chilean aduana. Hand over your title, driver’s passport, the Argentinian vehicle permit and the release paper. The official enters info in the computer, prints out your permit and stamps the release paper. He returns all papers including your new Chilean permit.Go to #5, SAG or Chilean Food and Agriculture desk. Hand over your customs declaration forms. The official will ask questions about what type of things you have to declare. He will stamp your vehicle release form and note on the form what types of goods you are declaring. Return to your vehicle, drive to the SAG checkpoint. An official in the green SAG vest may search your vehicle. They will confiscate fresh produce and fruits, honey, raisins, raw meat and raw eggs.When the search is complete, the SAG official will keep your vehicle release paper (that should have 5 stamps), and let you through.

CUSTOMS NOTE: As usual when entering Chile, expect to be searched for prohibited items. There is a HUGE list of what must be declared, but declaring doesn’t mean it will be confiscated. However, if you fail to declare and you are searched (which is very likely) you will be charged a big fat fine and they will take absolutely everything on the declare list without mercy. Customs agents will always take fresh fruit and vegetables, raw meat, honey, raisins, cheese and eggs. They occasionally will take other items, but for us it has been rare.

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