The US could fail to comply with Cuba’s 20,000 visas
The strange symptoms reported by US diplomats in Havana brought about unwanted consequences for Cubans and his families in the USA. The alleged health attacks continue to impact Cubans on both sides of the Straits of Florida as the conditions for them to meet range from difficult to almost impossible.
In plain words, the United States could fail to comply with the quota of 20,000 immigration visas that are supposed to be granted to Cuban citizens each fiscal year, as suggested by a State Department official to the Nuevo Herald. "The United States fulfilled its commitment to issue 20,000 travel documents for the fiscal year 2017 (and fiscal year 2016).
That commitment was met through the issuance of immigrant visas and parole documents”, a spokeswoman for the State Department wrote in an e-mail. "Due to the departure of all non-emergency personnel from the US embassy in Havana, we expect to face challenges to meet that commitment in the 2018 fiscal year" that began in October 2017 and ends in coming September, the source added.
It is widely known that the United States withdrew most of its staff in Havana in October to protect it from the mysterious health attacks that at least 24 diplomats and other officials had suffered in Cuba between November 2016 and August 2017. The processing of visas at the embassy was suspended - except in cases of medical emergency and official visas - as well as the operations of its immigration office. The 20,000 visas and annual travel documents are part of the 1994-1995 migration agreements signed by the administration of the then President Bill Clinton with the Cuban government to stop the exodus known as the "raft crisis" and ensure a more secure migration to the USA.
According to the State Department, that number includes those who receive immigrant visas or a special admission document known as parole through the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program; the cases of refugees and the relatives of those who receive asylum; those who obtain visas of "diversity" (known as lottery); those who receive visas to marry US citizens and those who have received paroles through the special program for Cuban doctors. This last program was eliminated by the Barack Obama administration in January of last year.
The decrease in personnel at the US embassy in Havana since October has substantially limited Cubans' travel to the US and family reunification. Cubans requesting visas to immigrate to the US must report to the US embassy in Colombia, while those who only want to go to visit relatives, participate in an event or for any other reason for a temporary visit, must make their applications in a third country where there is a US Embassy. An unraveled process that has affected citizens on both sides who are not pleased with the consequences of a situation that most considered has not been proved by science.
