14ymedio, Havana, 15 April 2022 — The medical check-up for immigrant visa applicants who in May will begin to be be processed at the United States Embassy in Cuba will be carried out in a single health institution in the country, the diplomatic headquarters confirmed to 14ymedio this Friday.
The Manuel Fajardo hospital, located at 720 C Street, between Zapata and 29, in the municipality of Plaza of the Revolution, “is the only institution authorized in Cuba for panel medical examinations,” the Embassy indicated and clarified that the checkup performed by other unauthorized doctors “will not be accepted.”
The Institution had announced earlier this month that it will resume the processing of immigrant visas, beginning to process only the IR-5 category that recognizes parents who are being claimed by US citizens.
Before consular services were suspended in 2017, there were several authorized hospitals throughout the country to carry out the check-ups. When inquiring whether a single institution will remain on the island for the exam, the consular section clarified that the decision “applies at this time only to applicants in the IR-5 category who have received an interview appointment notification in Havana.”
The check-ups will be carried out on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 am and the management to appointments will be in person at the hospital itself, on Mondays and Thursdays between 8 am and 4 pm. In addition, to receive information, the panel of doctors can be contacted from Monday to Friday between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon by calling +5378382439 and +5378389303.
Regarding the documentation to be presented at the medical check-up, the US consular section specified that each applicant must bring their identity card or minor’s card, their passport, a passport-size photo in digital format taken in the last six months with a white background and on a flash memory, in addition to bringing the the printed appointment letter sent by the Embassy and the confirmation page of the electronic immigrant visa form DS-260.
Payment for the exams can be made in freely convertible currency (MLC) or in Cuban pesos and “will be made on the day of obtaining the immigration check-up and will never be in cash.” The channels enabled to pay for the procedure are “bank cards issued by Cuban banks and national and international electronic payment through the Transfermóvil or EnZona and Pasarela de Pago applications (online payment with international cards).”
The cost of the check-up is as follows: applicants from 18 years old (280 MLC or 6,720 CUP), applicants from 2 to 17 years old (140 MLC or 3,360 CUP), and for those under 2 years of age, the exam is free.
Announcing the resumption of its services earlier this month, the consular headquarters insisted that visa processing will be “limited” and, as long as this does not change, the Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana, “will continue to be the main place of processing for most Cuban applicants for immigrant visas.”
The restart of consular processes “is part of a general expansion of the Embassy’s functions to facilitate diplomatic and civil society engagement,” said the diplomatic representation.
The applicant who is notified after April 1, 2022 that their case is ready to be processed, will have their interview scheduled in Havana, and those who were informed before that date will have to fly to Georgetown to process. their visa. “Given the limitations of its resources,” the Embassy “is not accepting transfer requests from applicants.”
The Embassy did not inform “an exact date” for when “it will begin to process the full range of visa services for immigrants and non-immigrants,” and noted that “it will continue to provide essential services to US citizens and a limited processing of emergency visas for non-immigrants.”
The United States substantially reduced the staff of its Embassy in Cuba in 2017, after some thirty US diplomats suffered mysterious health incidents known as “Havana syndrome” the reasons for which have not yet been clarified. This reduction halted almost all visa processing for Cubans seeking to emigrate or travel to the United States to reunite with their families.
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