US to resume full immigrant visa services in Cuba: Embassy

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The US Embassy in Havana announced on Wednesday that the United States will resume full immigrant visa processing services in Cuba in early 2023.

In a press release, the Embassy indicated that "beginning in early 2023, the US Embassy in Havana will resume full immigrant visa processing for the first time since 2017."

The Embassy pointed out that "immigrant visas provide eligible individuals with an avenue for safe and orderly migration."

According to the press release, "This change will also eliminate the need for Cubans applying for immigrant visas in family preference categories to travel outside of Cuba to Georgetown, Guyana for their interviews."

US lifts some restrictions on flights to Cuba

It is noteworthy that in early July, US President Joe Biden's administration made the decision to lift its restrictions on air links to Cuba, following months of disinformation and an attempt to destabilize the island nation.

The decision will allow US airlines to serve airports in Cuba other than the Havana airport, according to a document by the US Department of Transportation. In addition, certain group trips are also expected to be re-authorized.

The Biden administration announced on May 16 that it will remove some of the sanctions it had imposed on the island and will reinstate a "family reunification program" that was suspended for years, which had facilitated immigration procedures, allowing US citizens and permanent residents to apply for their family members in Cuba to enter the US without waiting for immigrant visas.

Moreover, the US said it will lift a quarterly ceiling of only $1,000 that was permitted to be sent to Cuba by relatives in the US, authorizing the sending of money outside of family members.

Cuba's government had welcomed the announcements, saying they "were a small step in the right direction," despite them still not changing the fact that Cuba has been under a US embargo since 1962, which the island nation considers to be the main reason behind its economic troubles.

On July 16 last year, as US-backed demonstrations in Cuba began to pick up the pace, Cuban President Diaz-Canel stated that the US had failed in its efforts to destroy Cuba, adding that "if President Joseph Biden had sincere humanitarian concern for the Cuban people, he could eliminate the 243 measures implemented by President Donald Trump, including the more than 50 cruelly imposed during the pandemic, as a first step towards ending the blockade."

Diaz-Canel also revealed on October 26 last year that US diplomats are meeting with opponents of the Cuban revolution in the US embassy in Havana, and they are providing them with technical and financial support. As per Havana, the diplomats have directed the dissidents, incited them, and provided them with logistical and financial support to foment political unrest in Cuba.