Cubans who emigrated before 1971 will need to apply for a Cuban passport to be able to travel to the Island and legally enter national territory.
This was announced this Tuesday by the Cuban government through the official of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), Ernesto Soberon, who specified thatThe measure will come into force from July of this year.
Included within a set of measures to “facilitate” migratory flows of Cuban citizens, the measure will affect the only group of Cuban emigrants who could travel to their country with the passports of their host countries.
According to a Twitter thread from the general director of Consular Affairs and Cubans Living Abroad (DACCRE), the measure of “establishing for emigrants before 01/01/1971 the use of a Cuban passport when entering Cuba” is adopted accordingly. with the provisions of the “new Constitution”.
As explained bywebsite fromUnited States Embassy in Cuba, “the Cuban government requires that citizens with dual Cuban-American citizenship who departed Cuba on or after January 1, 1971, must enter and exit Cuba with a Cuban passport.”
“Those Cuban-American citizens who left Cuba before January 1, 1971 can travel to Cuba with their United States passport, but must apply for an HE-11 visa at the Cuban Embassy,” reports the legation's website. diplomat.
The new provisions of the Cuban government in relation to these emigrants – a group made up of people over 51 years of age and who mostly belong to the so-called “historical exile” – require them to apply for a new Cuban passport to travel to their country.
The measure joins others that represent a change in policy by the Cuban authorities in relation to their compatriots abroad, and that in some way "soften" the burdens and complications that maintaining their ties with their homeland entailed for Cuban migrants.
Among the measures announced, theextension of the validity of passports to 10 years for citizens over 16 years of age, and to 5 years for those under that age.
Besides,the requirement to extend this document will be eliminated, which citizens had to process every two years, with the corresponding added costs.
The cost of passports will decrease, stated Soberón, indicating that those of legal age will have a fee of 180 USD/Euros and those under 140 dollars or euros, regardless of the country in which they are requested.
The measure does not affect the cost of this document in European countries, where Cubans already pay around 180 euros to obtain a passport.
However, it is a substantial reduction for Cubans in the United States, who pay a $350 fee for their application. These prices do not include fees for non-personal management and postage stamps.
Finally, the Cuban immigration authoritiesThey keep “the extension of stay abroad in force”, beyond 24 months, automatic and free of charge, announced in March 2020” in the midst of the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
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