She Doesn’t Have a Passport

She Doesn't Have a Passport
July 13, 2012
Janis Hernandez

HAVANA TIMES — The issue I'll address here is Cuban immigration policy
and the hoped for "possible changes" in it.

This is a matter that has many people full of expectations since at the
Communist Party Congress in April 2011, when upcoming reforms were
announced concerning this important social issue.

Words like "visas," "passports," and "tickets," so common for most of
the world's population, exist to us like notions from a sort of fantasy
world.

A passport — that document that proves citizenship, identifies its owner
and lets you travel from one country to another — is a rare and alien
certification to most Cubans.

It can only be obtained when you receive a letter of invitation to
travel abroad (from a friend, lover or relative), or when you are
assigned to travel for your job on an aid mission, by your school for
training, or when you win a scholarship.

Only under these circumstances can a Cuban pass through the entryway to
the Immigration Office to apply for a passport, which will cost 55 CUCs
(US $65).

It stands to reason that since opportunities to travel are so remote, no
one would think of spending 55 CUCs (equivalent to three months of the
average take-home salary) just to say they have a passport – not unless
the possibility of a journey was assured.

Nonetheless, a friend of mine paid dearly for not having a passport. She
was applying for a scholarship in Spain, and for this she had to fill
out a form that asked for all of the relevant documentation. But one
blank spaced remained: her passport number.

My friend met all of the requirements to earn a spot; her transcripts
were impressive and she qualified in everything else. She made the cut
in the first round of selections, but they sent her an urgent email
asking for her passport number.

She explained the specifics of this process in Cuba and explained that
it was going to take her at least 15 days to comply with their request.
With that she thought she had convinced the Spanish selection committee.

In just a week, the results of the competition were made public online.
My friend wasn't on the list, but she received an email from the
selection committee. They expressed their regret concerning her case,
especially since she had appeared to be an ideal candidate for enrollment.

Notwithstanding, they noted that she had failed to provide one crucial
bureaucratic detail: a passport number.

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