We can all breathe a sigh of relief as we learn that as of tomorrow, Thursday August 1, 2019, the Canadian Embassy and visa office in Havana will reopen for many immigration services for Cuban citizens.
Among the things that Cubans will be able to do in Havana again are:
1. Biometrics (providing iris and fingerprint scans), which are now a mandatory part of every single Canadian immigration application for applicants over 14 outside Canada
2. Passport drop-off for visa issuance. Since the Canadian Embassy closed this year, all Cuban citizens have had to submit their passports to alternative visa offices - primarily Mexico City - for issuance of a visa for an approved application. Some Cubans still do not have their passports back months later. Being able to take or send their passports to Havana means that Cubans will no longer have to wait weeks and months for DHL couriers into and out of Cuba.
However, it isn't a complete reversal to the way things were before. There will no longer be any Canadian immigration officers making decisions on immigration applications in Havana.These things will continue to be done outside Cuba:
1. Sponsorship Interviews: No officers means that interviews to finish processing a sponsorship application can't happen. Right now, Cubans have the choice to travel to either Mexico City or Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago for their sponsorship interview. This means going through the visa process for whichever country the Cuban citizen is visiting.
2. Paper Applications for temporary residence: This is no loss at all, because no one should be doing paper applications anyway. It's 2019. Online applications are both much faster and MUCH easier - no paper documents required. But, this will not be appreciated by unauthorized immigration representatives in Cuba who illegally make money giving bad advice to their fellow Cubans.
3. Immigration Medical Exams: For years, Cuba has had only one Panel Physician located in Havana to serve the entire country. This is the only doctor who is licensed to give a Canadian immigration medical exam - all other exams are not allowed for Canadian immigration in order to preserve the integrity of the exam. But, unlike in other countries where the results of the exam are transmitted to Health Canada electronically by the doctor's office, in Cuba the Panel Physician's office would physically courier the documents to the Canadian Embassy with the results of the medical exam.
Now, without the Canadian Embassy being able to accept the documents, the doctor's office could not get the results securely to Health Canada. This means that Cuban citizens now have to travel outside Cuba for their immigration medical exam (IME), which is a mandatory component of any permanent residence application.
Two steps forward, one step backward in other words. While we are all happy that biometrics can be done for all applicants in Havana again, we are still waiting for a normal level of immigration service to return to the Cuban population.
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