“Dear patients, if you don’t speak Spanish, please come with a translator. THANKS. » Printed in Russian, the message is plastered on the doors of the maternity ward of the Fernandez public hospital in Buenos Aires. Svetlana (her first name has been changed), 31, applies the instructions. In the corridor of the maternity ward, she watches for the arrival of her translator, who will accompany her for a prenatal examination. Her first child is due in less than a week, 12,000 kilometers from Kaliningrad, her hometown.
“I wanted to be very, very far from Russia”explains the 30-year-old, who left her country with her husband in March 2022, in disagreement with the invasion of Ukraine a month earlier and for fear that it would lead to generalized military mobilization. “Here, it’s easy for the papers and the medicine is very good. I’m going to give the hospital a gift to thank him.”she continues, making the project for the moment to stay in Argentina.
Its coverage in the public system is completely free. And, thanks to jus soli, his daughter will automatically receive an Argentine passport. Sesame opens the door to 171 countries, visa-free. She will be far from being the first Russian baby to be born in Buenos Aires: since the second half of 2022, more and more Russian women have decided to give birth in Argentina. At Fernandez Hospital, out of 122 deliveries in December, 37 involved Russian women. A little further, at the Finochietto clinic (private), out of 170 births in December, 50 babies were Russian.
If Buenos Aires condemned the invasion of Ukraine, it does not apply sanctions against Moscow. The war therefore did not modify the methods of entry of Russian citizens: they have the right to go to Argentina as tourists, without a visa. Once parents of a little Argentinian, they can immediately apply for residence. This then allows them to present a naturalization file, with the aim of obtaining, in turn, an Argentine passport.
“Mafia Organizations”
The phenomenon ended up alerting the local authorities. On February 8 and 9, six pregnant Russian women were detained at Buenos Aires airport upon arrival. The migration services considered that they were “fake tourists”, also stressing that childbirth in Argentina requires a specific visa. Travelers were finally allowed to enter the territory. According to the migration services, since January 2022, 22,200 Russian citizens have arrived in Argentina and more than 9,000 of them are still there. In January 2023 alone, 4,523 arrived in the country, compared to 1,037 in January 2022, before the war.
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