US Embassy in Havana Restarts 'Limited' Immigrant Visa Processing

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Embassy in Havana is starting to process a limited number of immigrant visas for Cubans, US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said in a statement.

The US embassy in Cuba reduced some services in 2017 over concerns of the so-called Havana syndrome attacks.

"We are pleased that our limited restart of immigrant visa processing in Havana has begun well," Nichols wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "We look forward in the future to processing many more immigrant visas and continuing to expand our consular services in Havana."

Also on Wednesday, the AP reported that the embassy in Havana would only accept visa petitions from Cubans who are the parents of US citizens for the time being, under a category known as IR-5, and that the Biden administration will reportedly consider expanding the services to others in the future. Because of "the unique age, health, and mobility challenges for this category of applicants," the US government opted to process only visa requests from this group, according to the report.

Any other applicants should apply for visas through the US Embassy in Guyana, as they have done since the Trump administration withdrew embassy personnel from Havana in 2018.

Former President Donald Trump tightened sanctions against Cuba, including the suspension of remittance licenses, fines for foreign companies doing business in Cuba, airline restrictions, and penalties for oil tankers destined for the Caribbean island.