The United States has honored the migration commitment agreed with Cuba for the first time since 2017, issuing more than 20,000 visas this fiscal year. According to the State Department, Washington has issued 19,743 permits for immigrants from the island through the month of August, and the September data would more than meet the agreed amount.
This has been confirmed to Cybercuba by State Department sources, who quote a government official. “Preliminary data for September shows that we have issued more than 250 immigrant visas to Cuban nationals at the embassies in Havana and Georgetown,” he assured independent media.
So far, non-compliance with the agreed visa quota has been repeatedly cited by the Cuban government, which blames the United States for the risks that its citizens run when they expose themselves to illegal exits precisely because of a lack of permits. However, in the past 12 months, about 200,000 Cubans have arrived in the United States by land alone, a 10-fold increase that suggests the exodus has gotten out of hand legally. To them should be added the more than 7,000 raftsmen who tried the sea route.
Most visas were issued in August with almost 3,800, a number much higher than in October 2021 when only 323 were issued. The closure of consular services in 2017 after the crisis triggered by Havana Syndrome – neurological changes noted US and Canadian officials in several countries, the first of them in Cuba, caused delays that blocked paperwork.
With its re-establishment in Havana in May, a rapid rise began
With its re-establishment in Havana, a rapid increase began in May, which since then has exceeded the more than 2,200 visas per month without interruption. By then, the redirection of this procedure to Guyana left much lesser data.
By category, the majority were delivered to relatives and children of permanent residents, totaling 7,211. This is followed by the parents claimed by Americans under the age of 21 and 4,834 by spouses and children of those citizens.
In addition, the Visa lottery program has processed 557 applications from 975 winners, and next year’s drawing, which just opened on October 2nd, is expected to see 1,358 lucky winners.
This Friday at 12 noon, the US Embassy in Havana announced that it will hold a question and answer chat on its Facebook page to clarify doubts about its services, which will resume next year under normal conditions.
On September 1, diplomatic headquarters began processing pending applications for Cuba’s Probationary Family Reunification Program (CFRP), which has also been suspended since 2017.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 100,000 applications from Cubans for family visas, of which 22,000 correspond to this program.
In addition, as of September, 3,798 visas have been issued for business and family visits and 533 for humanitarian reasons.
The programs not scheduled to resume at this time are five-year visitor visas and multiple-entry (B-2) visas, and refugee admissions for those who wish to emigrate to the United States for persecution and political reasons.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long journey. We invite you to continue to support us, but this time by becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue to change journalism in Cuba.