Cuba, a communist-run country, which continues to struggle with an extraordinary influx of immigrants to the United States has announced measures to ease restrictions on its residents living abroad.
The foreign ministry said that for Cubans over the age of 16, passports would be valid for ten years, rather than six, and that the cost of renewing travel permits off-island would be lowered by more than half.
The ministry also eliminated a requirement that Cubans pay a fee every two years, even before their passports expired, to maintain their active status.
According to Ernesto Soberon, director of Consular Affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the new rules will go into force on July 1, adding that efforts are aimed at strengthening ties with the Cuban community abroad.
Cuba for decades limited emigration of its citizens, and many Cubans living abroad complain of bureaucratic hurtles and exorbitant fees for maintaining ties and renewing travel documents with their home country.
More than 300,000 Cubans arrived at the U.S. border last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, a record-breaking exodus amid an unprecedented economic crisis.
The migration off the island has further stressed the country’s already near collapsed economy and weighs heavily on Cuban society, with many families broken and scattered across the globe.
