U.S. Embassy in Havana to resume full immigrant visa services in early 2023

The U.S. Embassy in Havana has announced that it will fully resume immigrant visas services in Cuba beginning in early 2023.

Key Points:

• The U.S. Embassy in Havana plans to resume full immigrant visa processing in early 2023 for the first time since 2017. No exact date has been announced.
• Once full immigrant visa processing resumes, Cuban nationals will no longer need to travel outside of Cuba to Georgetown, Guyana, for their interviews.
• During the transition to full immigrant visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, the National Visa Center (NVC) will continue to schedule family preference visa applicants for appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown.
• The NVC will start scheduling all immediate relative and family preference immigrant visa applicants at the U.S. Embassy in Havana for appointments at the beginning of 2023. Visa applicants do not need to contact the embassies in Havana or in Georgetown or the National Visa Center (NVC); they will be notified directly with their appointment information.
• The U.S. Embassy in Havana’s consular section will continue to provide essential American Citizens Services, immigrant visa services to those applying in the Immediate Relative categories and limited emergency nonimmigrant visa processing.

Additional Information: More information is available on the U.S. Embassy in Havana’s website.

BAL Analysis: The U.S. Embassy in Havana’s upcoming resumption of full immigrant visa services for Cuban nationals is welcome news as these services have been suspended since 2017 and the resumption will simplify visa procedures for some applicants. BAL will continue to monitor these developments and will provide more information as it becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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