Pregnant Russian women flying to Argentina for citizenship

The Russian women arrive in Argentina heavily pregnant, the country's national migration agency said

 Recently, over 5,000 pregnant women from Russia have entered Argentina, including 33 women who arrived on a single flight. The women are believed to be in the final weeks of pregnancy and are seeking to have their babies born in Argentina to obtain Argentinian citizenship. This is a result of the recent increase in arrivals, which local media suggests is due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The head of the national migration agency, Florencia Carignano, stated that three of the women who arrived on Thursday's flight were detained due to "problems with their documentation." The women had initially claimed to be visiting Argentina as tourists.

According to Carignano, the women are seeking Argentinian citizenship for their children as it provides more freedom than a Russian passport and allows for visa-free travel to 171 countries, compared to 87 countries for Russians. 

The process of obtaining citizenship for the parents is also expedited if their child is an Argentine citizen. The recent conflict in Ukraine has made travel to many Western countries, including all EU member states that border Russia, more difficult for Russians, with the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia suspended last September.

The three women who were detained on Thursday were released and their lawyer, Christian Rubilar, stated that they were being "falsely imprisoned" and were being held on suspicion of being "false tourists," a term that "does not exist in our legislation." La Nacion reported that the recent surge in Russian citizens arriving in Argentina is due to the conflict in Ukraine and their right to visa-free entry to Argentina, as well as the country's high-quality medical services.

"Birth tourism" by Russian citizens to Argentina appears to be a well-established practice, with various packages advertised on Russian-language websites, ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, offering services such as personal birth plans, airport pickups, Spanish lessons, and discounts on hospital stays in Buenos Aires. On Saturday, the Argentinian police carried out raids as part of an investigation into a "million-dollar business and illicit network" that allegedly provided pregnant Russian women and their partners with fake documents for a fee of up to $35,000. No arrests were made, but laptops, tablets, immigration papers, and cash were seized by the police.