Yulia* and Dmitry* arrived from Moscow to Brazil this summer - with two cats and the intention of Yulia giving birth there. “Of course, we didn't mention at the border that I was pregnant”, the woman says. At the time of the flight, she was in her 32nd week of pregnancy. Yulia gave birth to her daughter in a private clinic in Santos, and the couple is already preparing the baby's documents for a Brazilian passport.
It is issued to all children born in the country. “Our plan has been implemented. As soon as our daughter has a Brazilian passport, she will be able to travel without a visa to almost any country and she will not have to arrange an expensive and long Schengen visa. And in general, we want her to be able to choose where she wants to study, work and live”, says Dmitry. The couple plans to fly back to Moscow in a few months - as soon as they receive all the documents for their daughter. But not everyone does this.
Hundreds of Russians receive Brazilian passports
Representatives of organizations supporting Russians, as well as local lawyers working with them, tell DW that the influx of Russian citizens to Brazil has increased. The country became more popular after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and later - after Argentina tightened its migration legislation, which also affected "birth tourism".
The situation in Brazil is indicated by the number of passports issued to Russians: in 2024 - 477, in 2025 - 613. More than half of Russians who received citizenship are women. In 2024, their share was 53.67%, and in 2025 - 55.15%. By the end of May 2026, 166 passports had been issued to those arriving from Russia, with the share of women already being 58.43%. Behind these figures are different resettlement strategies.
Brazilian passports for parents
Some Russians apply not only for a second passport for their child, but also for themselves. After the birth of a child in Brazil, parents can apply almost immediately for a residence permit, and after a year - for citizenship. Yana* and her husband are doing just that in 2023. “I can't say that there is no connection with 2022, but the very idea of giving birth abroad appeared much earlier. Anything can happen in Russia, among my goals was always to get a second passport, and also to give birth to my child not here. And when I accidentally got pregnant, the only question was – which country to choose”, she tells DW.
Yana gave birth to a son in the Brazilian city of Florianopolis, after which the family spent about three years there. “It was important for us to get passports for both the child and us. But besides, I really liked it in Brazil, during which time I learned Portuguese”, she says. "Even today, my son and I often talk about Brazil, we read books in Portuguese, I want him to be able to travel without visas and, no matter what, have an open view of the world," says Yana.
Florianopolis is home to one of the largest Russian diasporas in the country. In the first six months of 2026, Russian women visited prenatal consultations there a total of 119 times, and in all of 2025 - 136 times, according to data from the local health administration.
Targeted checks of Russian citizens in Brazil
Arriving in Brazil for the purpose of giving birth is not prohibited, but it is not allowed either - this is how a local lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, explained the situation to DW. Pregnant women arrive under the guise of tourists and do not mention at the border that they are coming to give birth. In the country, they can use medical services, and in state clinics, free services, regardless of their residence status.
That is why a business has developed in Brazil that helps Russians - often services for organizing the stay and childbirth are offered by people who have recently moved to the country themselves, and less often - by registered companies with licenses. Prices depend on both the specific city and the service in question. The fees of the "helpers" can cost from several thousand dollars for collecting documents to over ten thousand dollars if the package includes searching for housing, choosing a clinic, and the services of a doula-translator.
Interviewed by DW, local representatives of such services - lawyers and volunteers - note a tightening of rules by the Brazilian authorities in cities where many Russians traditionally arrive, including Florianopolis. "The police are checking more carefully whether the arrivals actually live at the indicated address, as there have been cases where people have indicated false addresses of residence in order to obtain a residence permit more quickly," says a lawyer. However, there are no mass refusals of entry to Russians.
Deportations of pregnant women?
At the end of July, the publication "Baza", and after it a number of other Russian media outlets, wrote about "deportations" of pregnant Russian women from Brazil, reporting ten such cases. The Brazilian police, in response to DW, denied this information. They emphasized that pregnancy in itself is not a reason for either admission or refusal of entry to Brazil. The information about "deportations" probably came to the media from one of the projects supporting resettlement in Brazil. DW was able to find and confirm only one such case - Brazilian border guards denied access to a pregnant woman, who appealed to the court and was eventually allowed into the country. The information disseminated in the media that this is not an isolated case is not confirmed.
* Names have been changed for security reasons.
Kira Sokolova | Nadia Ponte