A Cuban woman identified as Yisel Roblejo shared on TikTok how the Italian consulate denied her visa on three consecutive occasions before finally approving it on the fourth attempt, in a video summarizing her migratory experience published last Tuesday.
Roblejo explains that he was living in Cuba when he started the process and that he submitted an invitation letter for Italy with each application. According to his account, he met the three requirements demanded by the consulate: owning property, having money in the bank, and having a job.
"I was denied three times and each time I didn't inform them that I met the requirements," she stated in the 44-second video.
Despite providing the required documentation, the consulate rejected his application in each of the three attempts without offering clear explanations, according to his testimony.
What stands out most in his story is his perseverance in the face of repeated rejections. "People told me not to insist anymore, but I didn't stop," Roblejo noted.
On the fourth attempt, the response was different: "I went the fourth time and what happened? They approved me. In the next video, I'll tell you what changed, what I did differently, and how I felt upon arriving in Italy."
The case of Roblejo is not isolated. Cubans rank among the nationalities with the highest Schengen visa rejection rates in Europe. According to data from the European Commission, in 2023, 28.3% of Cuban applications were denied, more than double the overall average of 12.7%. In the first half of 2024, that figure rose to 32.1%.
The main obstacle is the consular perception of "migration risk": officials assess whether the applicant has a genuine intention to return to Cuba, and given the crisis context on the island, many applications are preemptively rejected even if the applicant meets the formal requirements.
The Calabria case, documented between 2022 and 2023, highlighted this trend: young Cubans with full scholarships to the University of Calabria received systematic denials, some up to three times, with reasons such as "potential migrant" or "lack of resources," contradicting the official requirements of the consulate itself.
Italy has historically been the fifth destination for Cuban emigrants, with approximately 41,448 Cubans registered by the end of 2018, of which 69.3% are women. The invitation letter, mentioned by Roblejo as part of his file, is one of the most commonly used migration mechanisms by Cubans to that country, although it does not guarantee approval.
In March 2026, a Cuban TikToker residing in Italy raised awareness about the vulnerability dynamics associated with invitation letters and marriages to Italian citizens as a migration pathway.
Yisel Roblejo's story connects with a widely shared narrative on Cuban social media: that of individuals who persevere through multiple consular rejections and ultimately succeed in emigrating, becoming symbols of hope for those undergoing similar processes. Her upcoming video, in which she promised to reveal what changed in her fourth attempt, is already the most anticipated by those following her journey.
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