HAVANA - The Cuban government is considering reforms to make migration regulations more flexible, which may include the possibility of longer stays abroad and even the elimination of exit visas, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on Wednesday. “We are firm in our commitment to make ever more fluid the relationship between Cubans living abroad and Cuba, and making the procedure and the regulations on that issue faster,” Perez Roque said during a meeting in Havana with Cubans living abroad.When asked whether relaxing laws on exit permits and the extension of stays abroad - now with an 11-month limit - are among reforms to be mentioned by Raul Castro when he formally becomes the country’s president in February, Perez Roque admitted that such issues “are being considered.”
Several delegates at the meeting of Cubans Living Abroad Against the Blockade and Terrorism told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that there is even discussion about the possible elimination of the “carta blanca,” the exit visa that Cubans need to leave the country.
Cuba is one of a few countries whose residents require exit visas to go abroad. The process, which sometimes includes the need for an invitation letter, costs Cubans some 400 dollars, a very high figure for a country where the average monthly wage is 15-20 dollars.