Dozens of Cubans residing in Serbia have been trapped in a migratory limbo for months due to the absence of their passports, documents they requested from the Cuban Embassy in Belgrade since late 2025 and have yet to receive, according to a complaint sent to CiberCuba.
Some of those requests were submitted in November and December of last year, meaning that several individuals have been waiting for over ten months without a definitive response, despite having met all legal requirements and paid fees exceeding 200 dollars for the processing of their documents.
The identified cause is a technical failure in the embassy's computer system that prevented the correct transmission of biometric data to the Cuban authorities responsible for producing the documents, according to a report at the end of August by 14 y Medio. The diplomatic representation itself acknowledged the issue after holding meetings with agencies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IT specialists.
The contradictions between institutions exacerbate the situation: while family members in Cuba were receiving information that the biometric data was not appearing in the national systems, the embassy insisted that the procedures had been sent correctly.
The impact on the daily lives of those affected is severe. In Serbia, the passport serves as the legal basis for maintaining residency permits, employment contracts, bank accounts, and access to public services. Serbian regulations also require that the document presented for applying for or renewing temporary residency be valid for at least three months beyond the requested period, making each week of delay a direct threat to the immigration legality of these individuals.
The Cuban ambassador in Serbia, Pavel Orenicio Díaz Hernández, acknowledged that some citizens have faced threats of deportation due to lack of a valid passport and admitted to having made contact with Serbian authorities to try to avoid sanctions. The first secretary of the embassy, Milexy Pérez Reyes, informed those affected that the cases would be addressed based on their age and that new passports would start arriving in September through diplomatic mail.
This episode occurs in a context of accumulated migratory tensions between the Cuban community and Serbia. Until April 2023, Serbia was one of the few European countries that allowed Cubans to enter without a visa, making it a transit point to the European Union. That year, Serbia abolished the visa-free entry for Cubans with ordinary passports following a 170% increase in irregular immigrant entries into Europe via the Balkans. Months earlier, at least 35 Cubans had been detained at Belgrade airport under conditions reported as inhumane.
Currently, more than 100 Cubans are residing legally in Serbia, many of whom have lived in the country for years. In May of this year, the Spanish police dismantled a network that transported Cubans from Serbia to Spain, charging around 3,000 euros per person.
The affected community demands transparency regarding the status of each file, the determination of administrative responsibilities, and urgent measures to protect their immigration status. Their complaint concludes with a warning that encapsulates the core of the issue: “The issuance of a passport is not an administrative favor. It is an obligation of the State towards its citizens. When the delay extends for months, it affects fundamental rights and jeopardizes the stability of entire families; it ceases to be a bureaucratic problem and transforms into a matter of institutional responsibility and respect for the dignity of citizens.”
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