US resumes full immigrant visa service in Cuba after 5 years | World Information
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5 years after it was closed on account of mysterious "sonic assaults" on diplomatic employees, the US consulate in Havana on Wednesday resumed full immigrant visa providers for Cubans.
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The reopening got here amid a document exodus from the communist island to america, primarily by undocumented migrants, as Cuba suffers its worst financial disaster in 30 years.
Cubans, lots of whom had been ready for years, rejoiced on the new ease of entry. Since 2017, they've needed to journey at nice value to a 3rd nation, often Guyana in South America, to submit visa requests.
"All the pieces went very quick," mentioned Melissa Vazquez, 18, after placing in her utility. She had been ready seven years to be reunited together with her father in america.
The US embassy final week mentioned it sought to "guarantee protected, authorized and orderly migration of Cubans by increasing consular operations in Havana" and resuming immigrant visa processing.
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Vacationer visas stay off limits for now.
The consulate was additionally resuming the Cuban Household Reunification Parole Program, which permits islanders who qualify to hitch family in america with out an immigrant visa.
The consulate was closed underneath the administration of then-president Donald Trump after diplomatic employees and their households fell in poor health with signs later nicknamed Havana Syndrome.
US missions in different international locations additionally subsequently claimed to have been focused, however the precise nature of the alleged assaults stays a thriller.
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