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News > Cuba

US Resumes Part of Consular Operations at Embassy in Havana

  • US Embassy in Havana, Cuba

    US Embassy in Havana, Cuba | Photo: State Department

Published 4 January 2023
Opinion

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba partially resumed its consular operations, suspended since 2017, when diplomatic personnel was recalled due to several health incidents and as part of Washington's tightening sanctions on the island.

"As previously announced, effective January 4, 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Havana will resume full processing of immigrant visas to include the immediate relative, family preference, diversity, and fiancé(e) visa categories," the State Department announced in a previous press release.

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Several media confirmed the presence of some 200 people lined up in front of the diplomatic headquarters to process their immigration applications without having to travel to Guyana. In this country, Cubans who intended to travel to the U.S. had to do their paperwork at the Washington representation in Georgetown.

The reopening of consular services in Havana resulted from the visit in November of the U.S. Undersecretary of State, Rena Bitter, who agreed with Cuban authorities to relaunch consular activity to guarantee safe, regular and humane migration.

Both nations established migration agreements starting in 1994, aimed at guaranteeing migration in a legal and orderly manner. The U.S. committed to grant at least 20,000 visas annually, agreements that since 2017 have yet to be fulfilled.

The impossibility of carrying out consular procedures at the U.S. embassy in Cuba also caused an increase in departures by sea, often associated with human trafficking by groups based in Miami (south), which charge up to $10,000 for a space on the boats.
 

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