For far too long, the Cuban people have lived under a brutal authoritarian regime, with little agency over their future. Ending visa processing at the Guyana Embassy in Georgetown allows far easier access to humanitarian relief through enrollment in the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program. I applaud the efforts of the Biden Administration to move these services back to Havana.

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Washington DC – Today, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) applauded the Biden Administration’s move to begin fully resuming visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2023, a move that fulfills the Congresswoman’s push to secure the most seamless path for eligible Cubans to legally escape the authoritarian Cuban regime to the United States.

“This is a critical step to help alleviate the unacceptable backlog of Cubans seeking freedom from Cuba’s tyrannical dictatorship,” Wasserman Schultz said. “For far too long, the Cuban people have lived under a brutal authoritarian regime, with little agency over their future. Ending visa processing at the Guyana Embassy in Georgetown allows far easier access to humanitarian relief through enrollment in the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program. I applaud the efforts of the Biden Administration to move these services back to Havana.” 

In 2017, the CFRP was suspended. Due to sonic attacks at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the U.S. Embassy reduced staff and ceased consular services there. The Biden Administration resumed the CFRP program in August of this year and began beefing up embassy staffing in Havana.

According to the U.S. State Department, next year the U.S. Embassy in Havana will resume full immigrant visa processing for Cuban nationals, and the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana, will no longer serve as the designated post for processing Cuban immigrant visa applications.

For updates on consular operations and specific instructions for handling current and future immigrant visa applicants visit: https://cu.usembassy.gov/consular-services-available-at-u-s-embassy-havana/