U.S. Consulate in Cuba to Resume Visa Issuance

Published on : 04/03/2022 – 20:46

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In Cuba, the US consulate, which closed in 2017, will again issue visas for migrants. This was announced Thursday, March 3 by the charge d’affaires of the embassy.

The issuance of visas will resume in a limited and gradual manner, announced Timothy Zuniga-Brown, without giving a date. It must be accompanied by an increase in the number of American diplomats present on the island. The announcement comes as Cuba goes through its worst economic crisis for 30 years, under the combined effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the US sanctions.

Many Cubans try to leave the island at all costs, mainly passing through Central America to reach the United States. These attempts were complicated by the 2017 closure of the US embassy following mysterious “sonic attacks” that rendered sick about thirty diplomats in Havana. These attempts were also complicated by a sharp cooling in relations between Cuba and the United States after Donald Trump came to power.

Returning to the United States Safely and Legally

Since the closure of the embassy, ​​Cubans must pass, at their own expense, through a third country such as Colombia or Guyana. Timothy Zuniga-Brown, in announcing the resumption of visa issuance, boasted ” a safe and legal pathway for the reunification of families separated between Cuba and the United States ».

According to the Cuban daily and government organ GranmaWashington sent back to their country last year more than 1,000 Cubans who had tried to return to American territory without visas.

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