The United States has complied with the migratory commitment agreed with Cuba for the first time since 2017 and has delivered more than 20,000 visas this fiscal year. According to figures from the State Department, up to the month of August Washington issued 19,743 permits for immigrants from the Island and the data for September would more than reach the agreed amount.
This has been confirmed by sources from the State Department to cybercuba, citing an Administration official. “Preliminary data for September indicates that we issued more than 250 immigrant visas to Cuban nationals at the embassies in Havana and Georgetown,” assured the independent media.
Until now, the failure to comply with the agreed visa quota has been repeatedly cited by the Cuban government, which accuses the United States of the risks that its citizens run by exposing themselves to illegal departures precisely because of the lack of permits. However, some 200,000 Cubans have arrived in the United States by land alone in the last 12 months, a 10-fold increase that indicates that the exodus is out of control through legal channels. To them should be added the more than 7,000 rafters who tried it by sea.
The largest number of visas was granted in August, with almost 3,800, a figure much higher than that of October 2021, when only 323 were issued. The closure of consular services in 2017 after the crisis generated by the Havana syndrome – neurological alterations detected in US and Canadian officials in several countries, the first of them Cuba – caused delays that clogged the paperwork.
With the reestablishment of these in Havana, since May, a rapid ascent began
With the reestablishment of these in Havana, since May, a rapid rise began, surpassing since then the more than 2,200 visas per month without interruption. Until then, the diversion of this procedure to Guyana left much lower data.
By categories, the majority were delivered to relatives and children of permanent residents, a total of 7,211. Behind are those of parents claimed by Americans under 21 years of age and 4,834 for spouses and children of these citizens.
In addition, the visa lottery program has processed 557 petitions from the 975 winners and next year, whose draw just opened on October 2, it is expected that there will be 1,358 lucky ones.
This Friday at 12 noon, the US Embassy in Havana has 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, the diplomatic headquarters began processing pending applications for the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP), also suspended since 2017.
According to data from the State Department, there are 100,000 requests for a family visa by Cubans, of which 22,000 correspond to this program.
In addition, until September, 3,798 visas were issued for business and family visits and 533 for humanitarian reasons.
The programs that are not scheduled to resume to date are five-year visitor visas and multiple entries (B-2), as well as the admission of refugees for those seeking to emigrate to the United States for persecution and political reasons.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
