CUBA: Would-Be Travellers Face a Sea of Red Tape

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Oct 23 2000 (IPS) - Cubans wishing to travel abroad must first swim through a sea of red tape, while in the rest of the world globalisation has led to a streamlining of travel procedures.

Cubans interested in visiting a family member or friend abroad must first weather long queues at the Interior Ministry’s Migrations Office, to secure a “departure permit.”

“Just when I thought everything was ready, they told me I was missing another document or stamp,” said Maria Cantillo, 50, who works as a secretary in a Havana hospital. “If I had known it would be so complicated, I would not have accepted my sister’s invitation.”

Cantillo has never set foot outside of Cuba, even though she has family in the United States and Europe.

To prepare for her trip, she stood in four long lines at the Migrations Office, where she showed a letter of invitation from her sister, and another letter from her workplace, and spent around 350 dollars to obtain a passport, departure permit and other documents needed for the trip.

The cumbersome process, which generally takes one or two months, has led to off-the-record comments by officials who stress the need to cut some of the red tape for those wishing to make short trips abroad.

Several concrete measures were adopted towards that end in the first half of the 1990s.

In the 1980s, the question of travel abroad began to be seen in a less ideological light, after more than two decades of tight restrictions on travel, which was basically limited to those travelling on official business or people who had plans to emigrate.

In February 1990, the regulations governing travel and migrations were modified, and the age at which people were allowed to travel began to be gradually lowered. Since 1994, anyone over 18 can obtain permission to leave the country for up to 11 months.

But securing the coveted departure permit only takes aspiring travellers halfway down the road to the Jose Marti international airport. Obtaining a visa from the country of destination is another difficult step, which can end in rejection or, if the applicant is lucky, can take up to two months.

In the immense majority of cases, an invitation is needed from a relative or friend living abroad, who must also pay fees on their end for the legalisation of documents, and who must reserve the round-trip ticket.

Mexico, one of the Latin American countries with the busiest consulates in Havana, requires that Cubans apply for a special permit from the National Institute of Migration of Mexico’s Secretariat of the Interior.

Meanwhile, Cubans wishing to visit Italy must prove to consular authorities that they have the funds needed to finance their entire stay there, calculated at 1,000 dollars per month.

Proof of solvency, a letter of invitation from an Italian citizen, and a photocopy of that person’s identity card must be presented at customs in Italy, or the Cuban traveller will not be allowed into the country.

Despite all the requisites, Italy issued more than 10,000 tourist, work and study visas last year.

Germany and the Netherlands both require medical insurance, while the latter also asks for a photocopy of the passport of the individual extending the invitation, as well as that person’s written pledge to assume financial responsibility for their Cuban guest.

The application for a Dutch visa must also be accompanied by a letter from the company where the host works, certifying their job status and salary, as well as a document demonstrating the balance in their bank account.

If the host is the owner of a company, the certification must come from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, and must be legalised by the Dutch government.

“The interview is very important to us, because it enables us to judge whether the person who wants to travel has plans to return to Cuba or not,” commented a diplomat working in the consulate of a Latin American country.

The official, who preferred not to be named, said the assumption that “any Cuban making a short trip is an aspiring emigrée” is the reason so many requisites are set for obtaining a visa, and for the high rejection rate of applicants.

“The requisites are adjusted according to experience,” said the official, whose consulate requires a certificate showing whether the applicant has a criminal record, and asks to see any documents demonstrating the possession of property or a bank account at the time they apply for a visa.

“Someone who has a house, a car and the financial solvency to have a savings account is not the same as a person lacking material assets and who has an obvious need for improving their living conditions,” he said, after admitting that his consulate rejects 25 percent of visa applications on average.

The busiest consular staff in Havana is found at the United States Interests Section, which attends around 400 people a day, and granted around 6,000 tourist visas in the first half of this year.

The list of requisites for a U.S. visa is relatively short, and the interview appears to be the determining factor. “The official must be convinced that the person is not going to stay in the United States,” a diplomat who asked not to be identified told IPS.

The interview costs 45 dollars, while the visa, if obtained, costs an additional 26 dollars.

In their attempt to shorten the wait by several days, many Cubans pay as much as 100 dollars or more to professional “queuers”, who basically stand in line for them at the U.S. Interests Section.

“They refused me a visa twice, until I finally had better luck in August,” told one 70-year-old woman, who was favoured by a special programme put into practice earlier this year for the elderly, who are attended every Friday.

The United States issues visas to many senior citizens without even interviewing them, based on the view that the elderly “do not want to change their lives at that age, and because they believe that they have a better possibility of travelling more often,” said the diplomat.