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Several thousand women have traveled to Argentina in recent months, many of them heavily pregnant. Are they tricking the country? The police suspect a million dollar business.
BUENOS AIRES – On February 10, a plane landed in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, with 33 pregnant Russian women on board. All pregnant women were between the 32nd and 34th week of pregnancy. Just one day later, another plane with 83 Russian women arrived in the country. Sixteen of them: pregnant. It is a phenomenon that has now also caught the attention of the Argentine authorities.
The Argentinian newspaper is the first to comment on the high number of arrivals The nation caught on. “In the last year, about 10,500 Russian citizens have come to Argentina, and in the last few months, 5,819 pregnant women,” Migration Director Florencia Carignano told the newspaper. However, 7,000 of the 10,500 would no longer be in the country.
Russian citizens flee to Argentina to give birth
The authority suspects that Argentina is currently an attractive country for many Russian women. Women would go to another country to give birth because of the Ukraine war. They are driven by the fear of war, the poor health system in Russia, but also the fact that they can enter Argentina without a visa. A special advantage arises for the children if they are born in the country: they automatically receive Argentine citizenship and thus the possibility of being able to enter more countries without a visa than with a Russian passport.
For comparison: According to the international Henley Passport Index, Russian citizens have only been allowed to enter 118 countries visfarei since 2023. This puts Russia in 51st place worldwide (out of 108). Argentina, on the other hand, is in 20th place with 171 countries. Germans are currently allowed to enter 191 countries and are in 3rd place. This was also confirmed by Carignano: “The problem is that they come to Argentina, register their children as Argentines and leave again. Our passport is very secure all over the world.”
“Luxury packages” for pregnant women: Is there a million-dollar business behind the entry of Russian women?
The assumption about the motives of the pregnant women had already been partially confirmed. In early February, for example, a group of pregnant Russian women who had problems with their papers was arrested. After a series of interviews, the women finally said that they were traveling to Argentina specifically for the birth of their children and therefore did not want to return to Russia. Now the authority for migration takes consequences. All persons “of ‘non-Mercosurian nationality’ must present themselves to the consulate and explain the reasons for the delivery in the country,” the director said.
Argentina is now even investigating whether organizations are behind the arrival of pregnant Russian citizens who are doing millions in business with the situation. The nation reports, for example, from the Russian-language website RuArgentina, which offers various support packages for pregnant Russian women in Argentina. The company offers “standard” packages for around $5,000, mid-range packages for $7,000, and “deluxe” packages for $15,000. The packages include various services such as Spanish classes, discounts on stays in good hospitals in Argentina and birth plans, help with supermarket shopping, etc.
On February 11, the Argentine Federal Police conducted raids related to “birth tourism,” during which the homes of two heads of such an organization were searched. It would be determined because of trafficking in migrants and the forgery of documents. (nz)