DOS Announces Reinstatement of the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program

On May 16, 2022 the Biden Administration announced a series of measures to increase support for the Cuban people in line with the U.S.’s national security interests in light of the humanitarian crisis facing the Cuban people.

Specifically, the Administration will:

  • Facilitate family reunification by reinstating the Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Program and continuing to increase capacity for consular services. Limited immigrant visa processing resumed in Havana on May 3, 2022. Consular services will reinstate the CFRP and increase visa processing in Havana while continuing to process the majority of immigrant visa cases at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana.

  • Strengthen family ties and facilitate educational connections for the U.S. and Cuban people by expanding authorized travel in support of the Cuban people. This will include authorized scheduled and charter flights to locations beyond Havana. Additionally, regulatory changes will be implemented to reinstate group people-to-people and other categories of group educational travel, as well as certain travel related to professional meetings and professional research, including to support expanded Internet access and remittance processing companies and to provide additional support to Cuban entrepreneurs. Individual people-to-people travel will not be reinstated at this time.

  • Increase support for independent Cuban entrepreneurs.  Commercial opportunities will be encouraged outside of the state sector by authorizing access to expanded cloud technology, application programming interfaces, and e-commerce platforms. Options to expand support of additional payment options for Internet-based activities, electronic payments, and business with independent Cuban entrepreneurs will be explored. The goal of this work is to expand entrepreneurs’ access to microfinance and training. 

  • Ensure that remittances flow more freely to the Cuban people while not enriching those who perpetrate human rights abuses. Specifically, the current limit on family remittances of $1,000 per quarter per sender-receiver pair will be removed, and donative (i.e., non-family) remittances will be authorized, which will support independent Cuban entrepreneurs. We will engage with electronic payment processors to encourage increased Cuban market accessibility. Entities will not be removed from the Cuba Restricted List.

 

According to the May 16, 2022, announcement, the Administration is working expeditiously to effectuate these changes, which will be implemented via steps taken and regulatory changes made by relevant Departments and Agencies in short order.