The Migration Service of Argentina began to massively refuse Russians to provide a residence permit (residence permit), as well as to extend the tourist stay. On this subject reported TASS head of the consular service of the Russian Embassy in the Republic Georgy Polin.
According to the diplomat, the embassy is aware of the growing practice of Argentina’s migration department of taking negative decisions to extend the tourist stay of newly arrived Russians, refusing to issue them residence permits (and even cancel those previously issued), and also to give instructions to leave the country as soon as possible under penalty of expulsion.
According to Polina, several dozen cases are known today. The migration service justifies the refusals by the provision of the Russian-Argentinian agreement on visa-free travel. According to the document, holders of “ordinary” Russian passports are allowed to enter, exit, transit and stay in Argentina without a visa for up to 90 days within each 180-day period. At the same time, in 2022, almost all requests from Russians to extend their tourist stay in the country have been met, the diplomat explained.
Polin also reminded that Russian citizens can appeal against a refusal to extend their stay or to grant a residence permit. He recommended that the Russians appeal the decisions legally and involve licensed lawyers. If the lawyers don’t speak Spanish, then the translators, added the representative of the diplomatic mission.
The diplomat explained that the embassy approached a law firm, where they confirmed that without appeal, refused Russian citizens could be expelled from Argentina.
Lawyers noted that appealing the decision makes it possible to remain legally in Argentina, at least until the appeal is heard. According to the lawyers, the examination of the complaint can take up to two to four years.
January 3 Pauline told The Guardian that last year, from 2 to 2.5 thousand citizens moved to Argentina, including pregnant women. In February, El País wrote that, according to official information, about 10.5 thousand pregnant Russian women came to Argentina “to give birth” a year after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. At the beginning of February, the Argentine Migration Service did not allow six pregnant Russian citizens to enter the country. The agency doubted that the purpose of their trip was tourism. The head of the service Florencia Carignano then clarified that since the end of the summer of 2022, the influx of pregnant Russian women in Argentina has increased considerably.
Later, all women were allowed to enter. After this incident, the Argentine side began to suspend Residence permits for Russians who obtained their status after the birth of a child but did not stay in the country. The Migration Service, in turn, interviewed 350 pregnant Russian women. The women said they used the services of a company that offered “maternity tourism” programs. Carignano referred to these companies as “mafia”. On February 20, MP José Manuel López told RTVI that the increased flow of Russian women coming to Argentina to give birth could be used as a cover for espionage.
