Argentina Citizenship Becomes a Sought-out Commodity by Pregnant Russian Women

Argentina has raised worries after it found out that more pregnant Russian women are traveling to the Latin American country to give birth to their children to attain Argentinian citizenship.

Officials in Argentina noted that more than 5,000 pregnant Russian women have entered the country in recent months, with the latest arrivals all in the final weeks of pregnancy, according to BBC News.

Local media in Argentina suggests that the increase in the number of arrivals in the country is a result of the war in Ukraine.

The migration agency head, Florencia Carignano, said that three were detained out of the 33 women who arrived in the Argentinian capital on one flight.

The detained Russian women had "problems with their documentation." The women first claimed that they were visiting Argentina as tourists.

Carignano said that it was found out that the women did not come to Argentina to "engage in tourism activities," adding that the women acknowledged it themselves.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the three women said that they are "falsely imprisoned" as they are being detained on suspicion of being "false tourists."

The lawyer, Christian Rubilar, said that such a term "does not exist in our legislation."

Influx of Russian Women in Argentina

Carignano said that there were 21,757 Russian citizens who entered Argentina last year, which included 10,500 pregnant women.

The migration head noted that the number has been upping in the last few months, citing that there were 5,819 Russian women who were about to give birth and entered Argentina.

Carignano said that the pregnant Russian women who entered the country noted that many of them declared they were in the 33rd or 34th week of their pregnancy, as cited by The Guardian.

About 7,000 women returned home after giving birth to Argentina, leaving Argentinian lawyers charged with applying for Argentinian citizenship for the baby and eventually the parents, according to Carignano.

Argentinian Citizenship

Anyone born on Argentine soil is immediately granted citizenship, and having a national-born child fast-tracks the process for the citizenship of the parents, as reported by The Washington Post.

Authorities noted that Argentina's officials do not have any issues with Russian citizens arriving in Argentina. However, they want to ensure that the family really has plans to live in the country.

Carignano said that the problem is that people come and leave and do not return to Argentina, but they get to leave the Latin American country with a passport.

The Argentinian passport has a passport rank of 20, with 171 visa-free destinations.

Slovenian media reported in late January that it has detained two suspected Russian spies, with one of the two holding Argentine citizenship.

Carignano said that if Argentinian passports were not regulated, other nations would start asking for visas and will no longer have the trust it has with other countries.

Meanwhile, the judiciary is probing whether there is a criminal organization behind the influx of pregnant Russian women in Argentina.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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