The Embassy of the United States in Havana reported that it has no plans to start issuing visas for non-migrants, that is, for tourism, business, study, medical treatment, among others, soon.
The information was confirmed to the news agency EFE by the US charge d’affaires in Cuba, Benjamin Ziff, who explained that this was due to a lack of personnel and because demand was “extremely” high.
The official stated that the embassy had this problem in mind, but did not know when they would be able to start the process for these documents.
“I don’t know when we will be able (…) I don’t think it will happen soon,” he added.
Ziff stressed that the diplomatic headquarters spent five years with the minimum number of personnel, which is why it now has only a third of the payroll, a much lower number than it had about six years ago.
The personnel cut to which Ziff refers is the one that occurred during 2017, when then-President Donald J. Trump ordered the consular activity of the embassy to be reduced to a minimum after several of its diplomats reported unknown symptoms that were attributed to an alleged sonic attack.
The measure put a stop to the so-called bilateral “thaw”, which was promoted during the Barack Obama administration, and the consular headquarters partially resumed its services until May 2022.
The official declared that, at this time, the priority of the US Embassy in Havana is to process family reunification visas.
When asked about the current immigration crisis facing the United States, Ziff indicated that the main cause was the island’s poor economy, which forced its citizens to seek better opportunities in other countries.
“I believe that the Cuban economy is the responsibility of the Cuban government and that the Cuban government is responsible for improving the economy so that people do not want to leave,” he opined.
Similarly, the official urged those who were thinking of emigrating to the US to do so by taking advantage of the legal programs offered by the Biden government, such as the parole humanitarian law, the family reunification program and diversity visas.
Finally, he recalled that those who try to reach the country irregularly were going to be returned to the Island immediately, and that they would be losing the opportunity to opt for one of the legal alternatives in the near future.
