Idle curiosity about Cuban petitions

[jundp 191]

Hmm...Interesting. I found this on the Havanna Embassy site:

If the application is approved, the applicant may receive a visa the next working day. However, all Cuban nationals between the ages of 16 and 80 (inclusive) are subject to additional, U.S.-based administrative processing that can often delay approval for 2-3 months after a Consular Officer has determined that the applicant is eligible to receive a visa. Delays vary from a few weeks to many months. It is impossible to determine how long a particular case will take to bring to conclusion.

Once the Consular Officer has received confirmation that the processing has been completed, the applicant will be contacted by telephone or telegram to continue the visa process.

Requesting Parole

Immigrant visa applicants who are over 21 years of age may request parole for certain family members (please note that certain categories of visas, such IR2 - child of an American citizen, are not eligible to request parole regardless of age). On the morning of the interview, the applicant should advise the document checker that he or she would like to request parole for a family member(s) not included in the petition. The applicant will need to complete form DS-230 part I for each family member that wishes to participate in the Family-based Parole Program. Final decisions regarding parole requests are made by an USCIS official. Applicants are given the outcome of their parole requests six weeks after their interview day.

http://havana.usinterestsection.gov/family...immigrants.html

So perhaps approving the initial petition is a speedy process, but the time from interview to issuance of visa may be longer?

Also, I've never seen the "requesting parole" thing before. Anyone else?

[bora bora 1]

Doing that is actually BAD for relations. A good example would be relations with Japan. The Japanese government is very worried about the population trends, ie. birth rates are at an all time low, my understanding is that some prefectures are giving big rebates for having a child.

If the US suddenly offers extremely quick processing to Japanese nationals thats basically advertising to Japan "Hey come to America". Countries don't like their nationals leaving in big numbers.

Logically I know you're very right...but it doesn't make it any easier when you're waiting. It feels like when you have two kids, one who behaves and one who is always bad. So you reward the bad one to try to convince them to be good...but the good one doesn't get anything.

But remember that it is not the fault of the individual emigrating to the U.S. to be with his/her fiance. S/he didn't ask for the process to be approved quickly - they're just happy when it is.

[aravis227 1]

But remember that it is not the fault of the individual emigrating to the U.S. to be with his/her fiance. S/he didn't ask for the process to be approved quickly - they're just happy when it is.

I know, and at no point did I say that it was their fault or that I begrudged them their opportunity to get it quickly. I simply asked why it was like that because I'm a curious person. When you see something happen that goes completely against everything else the system is saying...I don't see how people could NOT be curious about why. It doesn't make me angry or bitter...just curious.

[mox 298]

Mox-don't we hate them? I could be wrong because I can't keep track of all the people we make enemies of...but I thought we were still pissed off at them. (Sorry, I'm not generally a big fan of US foreign policy, so that comment was sarcastic and since it's a forum and you can't hear my tone of voice, I figured I'd clarify...I'm also one of THOSE people...the really liberal ones )

Heh, don't get me started on US foreign "make peace through war" policy. What I meant is that I think one of the things we do to thumb our nose at the Cuban government is to make it easy for their people to immigrate here. Back when the Soviet union was the bad guy we did the same thing. All you had to do was get yourself across that wall.

It's all so silly of course. Cuba is about as big a threat as South Jersey, and our foreign policy with Cuba has worked so gosh darned well. (yeah, fellow liberal here too. )

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

And the ex-pat Cubans are a very vocal voting bloc...I live in FL, and no law gets passed here without Cubans being behind it. Changing the way things are done (making Cuban beneficiaries wait in line with the rest of us) is tantamount to political suicide...

[ischia 0]

I've seen several references to petitions for Cuban beneficiaries getting expedited or going through USCIS really fast. Why is that? (It doesn't apply to me, my fiance is Canadian...but I'm one of those people who always wants to know "why?" )

Let me shine a some light into this matter. Cuban petitions are getting quick approvals, no doubt. However, the average wait for interview is 4-5 months in Havana where there is a US Interest section that processes the visa petions. It is formally part of the Swiss Embassy (US has no diplomatic relation with cuba) but in all reality is bigger than most US embassies I have seen else where. I know it's frustrating for others to see a Cuban filer approved in a week but in reality at the end of it all it's all the same wait time.....