Argentine officials have complained that organized groups are promoting so-called “maternity tourism” in the Latin American country, in which Russian mothers-to-be travel there after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to give their children Argentine citizenship.

In particular, more than 5,000 Russian women who are in the last months of pregnancy have recently visited Argentina. Last Thursday alone, there were 33 new arrivals (including from the same flight), as reported by local officials.

Immigration chief Florencia Carignano said on Twitter yesterday that “mafia organizations are making money by offering packages to get our passports to people who really don’t want to stay in our country.”

“Ancestral tourism”

Russian citizens can enter Argentina without a visa, where all newborns automatically receive citizenship, making it attractive for so-called “maternity tourism”.

“We are recording a significant increase in the entry of Russian citizens in recent months. That is why we decided to investigate and interview 350 of those who were in late pregnancy,” Carignano said.

“In an interview, we learned that there is an organization that offers people a package of “ancestral tourism” for obtaining an Argentine passport,” she added.

Carignano stressed that the immigration service had forwarded data related to the case to the country’s judiciary in order to protect the integrity of the passportization process in Argentina.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.