As reported by the US Embassy in Havana through its official platforms, by early 2023, the US Embassy in Havana will resume the full processing of immigrant visas for the first time since 2017. This measure will eliminate for Cubans applying for immigrant visas in family preference categories the requirement to travel out of Cuba to Georgetown, Guyana, for their interviews, while achieving a safe and secure migration.
All about the resumption of services at the US embassy in Havana.
From 2023, the Havana office will become once again the main office for processing migrant visas for Cubans. While increasing their services for new interviews, those scheduled from Georgetown cannot be transferred to Havana. Scheduled cases are processed there. The expansion of consular services will mean the processing of all immigrant visas in Havana, according to the latest information. Family unification visas will have preference, as other visas will not be processed for the time being.
Furthermore, pursuant to the resumption of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP) in August 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is increasing the number of personnel in Havana to provide effective and timely case processing and interviewing. This programme allows certain US citizens and legal permanent residents, who receive a letter of invitation, to request a permit for their family members in Cuba to join them in the United States without awaiting the regular processing time for immigrant visas.
Such efforts, they note, are an important step in fulfilling the commitment of the US-Cuba Migration Agreements for ensuring that the overall legal migration to the United States from Cuba is at least 20,000 Cubans each year, not including the close family members of US citizens. The State Department will continue assessing the possibility of expanding visa services in Havana, as conditions may allow.
Services provided by the Embassy in Havana and the Embassy in Georgetown
Embassy Havana will also continue to provide essential services to U.S. citizens, immigrant visa services to those who apply in the close family categories, as well as the limited processing of non-immigrant emergency visas. The Georgetown Embassy in Guyana will continue to process Cuban immigrant visa applicants in the family preference categories until Havana resumes full processing of immigrant visas in early 2023.
During this process the National Visa Centre (NVC) will continue to schedule appointments for Family Preference visa applicants at the US Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana. In early 2023, the NVC will start scheduling appointments for all family preference and immediate relative immigrant visa applicants at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. Applicants do not necessarily have to contact the embassies in Havana or Georgetown or the NVC as they will be directly advised of their appointment information.
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