First modification:
In a context of record exodus, the United States Embassy in Havana resumed this week the total issuance of immigrant visas in Cuba. An opportunity for many to reunite with their family.
After the full issuance of immigrant visas was resumed, there are hundreds of those who arrive at the door of the United States diplomatic headquarters in Havana to request information, appear at appointments called by US officials or demand the official document that They applied several years ago and it will allow them to reunite with their family.
“The desire to want to leave this country”
Alejandro, now a resident of the state of Florida, went through this process almost two decades ago. In 1995, his family applied for a family reunification visa. “That family reunification took approximately eight years to come true. I came legally, already having a document, and I did not have to wait like other Cubans who had to wait a year and a day to automatically obtain residency. I already came with a residence, ”he says.
“I don’t remember much because I was a teenager. The only thing I remember is the desire that he had, like all Cubans, the desire to want to leave this country. Currently Cuba has frozen in time. I think that, as long as it is legal, yes, that everyone who wants to come, ”adds Alejandro.
His paternal grandfather was born in Cuba, but emigrated to the United States. Once he obtained nationality, he sent the necessary papers so that his grandson Alejandro and his parents could leave the island to live with him. “When you claim your child, the child can be brought into the family, that is, if the children are minors,” Alejandro points out.
Sponsorship
Alejandro maintains his ties to his country of origin: “I have my grandmother there and my grandmother is an old lady. And then you always want to continue enjoying your loved ones.
Consular services were closed for five years, when the US authorities withdrew their staff from the headquarters on the grounds of a series of alleged attacks of unknown origin that made diplomats sick.
Now with the reopening, the embassy confirmed that it will give priority to permits to reunite Cubans with their families in the US, and others, such as the Diversity Visa Program granted by lottery.
To apply for an immigrant visa, the Cuban must be sponsored either by a relative with US citizenship or lawful permanent residence, or by a potential employer in the United States.
