MINREX ensures that it has reduced the process of document legalization to 10 days.

After a year in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) recognized the existence of delays in the legalization of documents, this Monday the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, stated that those delays have been reversed.

It was through a thread on X (previously known as Twitter) that the minister said that "the situation of delays in the document legalization service has been reversed," pointing to this as a positive outcome of "the measures taken since last year."

Rodríguez Parrilla mentioned that "since May 2nd, the legalization process takes place within a period of 10 days."

According to the Chancellor of the Island, "this is the result of the effort made by the staff of the Legalization Department and the coordination with the Ministry of Justice, among the entities involved, despite the difficult economic situation that the country is going through."

Additionally, he expressed that the Ministry he leads does not have accumulated or overdue documents.

Although, he warned that "the procedures will continue as usual, although they may face objective situations in some entities participating in the process, due to the difficult current situation."

With the serious energy crisis that Cuba is facing, many bureaucratic procedures have had to be suspended or rescheduled due to the frequent power outages in the area.

Despite the number of days mentioned by the minister, sources consulted by CiberCuba confirmed that currently the delay in the legalization of documents is approximately one month, with the help of young people from the Military Service incorporated into the MINREX supporting the process.

Last April, the MINREX acknowledged a delay in the legalization of documents due to the increase in demand for that service.

Ernesto Soberón, General Director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad (DACCRE), explained that compared to the previous year, there has been a 16% increase in demand.

For example, only in the month of May 2023, the MINREX reported that an average of 23,305 documents of Cubans were legalized weekly.

This period coincides with the possibility of obtaining Spanish nationality through the Democratic Memory Law, approved by the Spanish Congress and Senate and in force since October 2022.

It is estimated that around five million Cubans could benefit from this process, which allows them to acquire Spanish nationality and settle in any country of the European Union.

The continuous migratory exodus has caused the collapse of notarial offices in several provinces due to the increase in procedures such as powers of attorney, authorizations, and property sales amid the government's inability to effectively carry out the processes.

This increase in paperwork has led the Cuban government to consider the possibility of joining the Apostille Convention, an international agreement that allows up to 60% of documents to take legal effect outside the island without requiring additional legalization. However, this option is currently only being studied by Cuban authorities.