That U.S. government issued more than 20,000 visas to Cuban immigrants during the recently concluded fiscal year 2022, a goal that the Joe Biden administration as a priority of his policy towards Cuba.
Records from the Office of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that by the end of August 19,743 visas for Cuban applicants, However, according to official sources, this number was later surpassed with cases being processed by September 30.
“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 said CyberCuba a senior official at the State Department.
The confirmation marks a move the Biden administration sees as strategic to stop this Exodus from Cubaand paves the way for a bilateral exchange on the topic of migration.
This is the first time since 2017 United States meets commitment of 20,000 annual visas with Cuba, stipulated in the migration agreements after the 1994 Rafter crisis.
That The Cuban government has repeatedly criticized violations of the annual visa quota Americans who portray it as a factor in the illegal emigration of their nationals. But in reality, the figure of 20,000 visas is too small a time window Cuban stampede that exceeded 200,000 arrivals via land border pointsand more than 7,000 were involved in maritime operations off the Florida coast in fiscal 2022.
That Accelerating the processing of cases in the last half of FY2022 has made it possible to reach the visa target and reduce the backlog accumulated due to the almost five-year closure of the consular services in Havana.
Of the immigrant visas registered in the statistical reports up to August The largest amount was awarded to spouses and children of permanent residents (FX category), with 7.211. Progress in these cases has made a significant leap since last July.
The rest are divided into 5,937 by category IR-5which prefers parents claimed by US citizens who are at least 21 years of age and in 4,834 for spouses and children of US citizens (IR-1 and IR-2).
557 petitions from the diversity program or the Visa Lottery (DV) were processed of the 975 Cubans who won the DV-2022 draw. As of October 1st, the cycle was opened up for the 1,358 favored in the DV-2023.
Although the majority of visas have been processed in Guyana, the gradual reopening of consular services in Havana shows signs of relative stability, albeit modest numbers. Since May 3, they have been issued at this diplomatic headquarters 870 immigrant visas, all for relatives of US citizens (IR-5, IR-1 and IR-2).
The US Embassy plans to increase the staff and scope of its consular services in the coming months and eventually resume Processing of all immigrant visas by 2023.
The measure will expedite the processing of family reunification cases and eliminate the need to travel to Guyana to interview Cuban applicants. This Friday the US Embassy will hold a question and answer session on Facebook Live about the full resumption of his consular services next year.
This was announced by the US authorities First, outstanding claims are processed. from Family Reunification Program (CFK)whose reopening was announced last June.
The National Visa Center needs to send out invitations for new CFK applications, but so far the process has not been reactivated.
According to official statistics There are more than 100,000 family visa applications from Cuban nationals waiting to be processed, some of them 22,000 correspond to CFRP.
Visas for family visits
Although Cubans have been required to apply for business visas and family visits at third-country consulates since 2018, with few exceptions, there was also a notable 32 percent increase in nonimmigrant categories compared to the previous tax period.
Even excluding the month of September, a total of 3,798 visas were issued for business and family visits: 159 in the category B-1 (professional travel, cultural exchange and business), 297 as B-2 (family visits) and 1,097 with the dual category (B- 1/B-2).
Despite the limitations 533 were stamped in Havana, mostly for humanitarian reasons.
During the In fiscal year 2021, Cubans received only 2,618 visitor visas.
The State Department has not offered appointments to restore mass attention to nonimmigrant visa applications at diplomatic headquarters in Havana.
Biden administration maintains B-2 visas for five years and multiple entries for Cuban travelers, a Benefit suspended by Donald Trump since March 2019.
There is also no date for the restart Refugee Admission Program (USRAP) for Cuban citizens wishing to immigrate to the United States for reasons of political persecution.
Immigrant Visas for Cubans in Fiscal Year 2022
October – 323
November – 465
December – 928
January – 961
February – 1,094
march – 2.251
April – 1,883
Can – 2,730
June – 3.021
July – 2,290
August – 3,797
In total: 19,743
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs/CiberCuba