New Immigration Measures Come Into Force in Cuba

The new measures are part of the efforts that the country is making in order to further strengthen relations with Cuban immigrants

On January first new migratory measures approved in October 2017 came into force and are part of the continuous and irreversible updating process Cuba started 5 years ago.

Granma newspaper highlights the elimination of the “Habilitation” of the passport for the Cuban emigrants’ trips to Cuba and the authorization of the entry and exit to Cuba of Cuban citizens residing abroad in pleasure boats, through the International Tourist Marinas Hemingway and Gaviota-Varadero, are part of the rules that begin to govern.

Likewise, the permit to enter the country of Cuban citizens who left illegally with the exception of those who did it through the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo is established.

The requirement of accommodation is also waived so that children of Cubans
living abroad, who were born abroad, can obtain Cuban citizenship and their
identity document.

It is noteworthy to say that the new measures do not eliminate the
requirement to travel to Cuba with a Cuban passport for those born in the county that has acquired another citizenship.

Similarly, it must be clarified that the authorization and the extension of the passport are not the same thing, and the second is maintained, in accordance with current legislation that establishes that the current passport is valid for two years and can be extended for the same term until a total of six years.

Another necessary precision is that, in the case of doctors or other collaborators who have left the mission they were to fulfill abroad, they are not included in these provisions because they went out legally.

However, since September 2015 the Ministry of Public Health approved that, in the case of doctors, those who wish may rejoin the tasks of the National Health System, where they will have similar conditions to those they had.

The decisions adopted are part of the efforts that the country is making in order to further strengthen relations with its emigration, a process initiated in 1978 by the Commander in Chief of the Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.