Irregularities at the Panamanian Consulate in Cuba when receiving visaed passports

During the week that just concluded, many people were interested in obtaining a visa stamp to visit the city as a tourist. Republic of Panama They faced difficulties in obtaining their passports back (visa or not), since the consular authorities of the Central American country cited irregularities in the procedures.

“Passports are normally collected at 12 noon, but this time, in addition to the fact that they delayed the delivery and started at almost 25 p.m., many of us were told that they still couldn't release our passports because there was missing information to verify,” explained Alien, one of those affected, who was supposed to collect his passport on Wednesday, September XNUMX, but the return was postponed.

“We were told that there were citizens who had been issued visas but did not have them. Others who had been issued visas did not appear on the list, and others for whom there was no confirmation as to whether they had been issued visas. paid or not of the consular services in bank branches,” explained the affected person.

While some Panamanian visa applicants have previously reported experiencing difficulties due to not making their payment on the same date as their interview due to a mismatch between the bank and consulate dates, the other irregularities are new to this point.

“I had never beencucI've had to say that that will happen, that they will delay your passport even more after having a delivery date," explains Alien, who is not worried right now.cupto anything other than the fact of being able to obtain the visa, after having paid 250 CUC for an intermediary to get him the appointment plus the 60 CUC of consular services.

"That day I wasted time and got up early for fun, it's true, but it doesn't matter, as long as they give me the visa. I'm from Havana, but there are others who were turned away just like me. They're from the East and came here for fun, struggling because transportation is terrible," he reflected.

Tail difficulties

Similarly, in recent days other visa applicants have complained about the disorder outside the embassy, ​​especially when waiting in line for their interview.

“Here there has normally always been a queue, since the tourist cards were introduced the queue is made in order of arrival and it is true that there are some colours that sell the shifts for 5 or 10 CUC, but I've never seen that thing about passing people according to the number on their receipt, and the truth is it creates disorder," explains a young woman from Pinar del Río who says that last luneA rather unfortunate situation arose when law enforcement authorities tried to organize the queue based on the PDF number obtained when scheduling the appointment digitally.

While this is the procedure followed in other embassies where the number of appointments processed daily is lower, in the case of the Panamanian consulate, it is extremely complex due to the greater number of applicants. About 150 Cubans pass through the Panamanian consular representation daily.

According to reports, the situation nearly spiraled out of control when the Cuban police officer in charge of organizing entry to the embassy announced that entry would not be based on the queue, but rather on the ticket number, guided by the last digits of each number.

“You can’t go by the last three numbers like the police wanted, because your receipt could be 70001, and mine 699999, and then they say: 001 comes before 999, when it’s clear that I’m ahead of you,” reasons a young man who had his mother in the queue since 6 in the morning and who took number 89 to enter the consulate, that is, he should have entered in the second group (they usually go in groups of 50).

"If they want to organize it by receipt number, they have to announce it ahead of time, not just right now. They should say it clearly on the receipt itself, for example, or post it on the website. But until now, it's always been by queue.

"It's unheard of that we're seeing these kinds of problems now, when only a hundred or so people are being seen daily. Previously, about 700 people would come through daily and there wasn't this kind of chaos," said the Pinar del Río resident.

Will they tighten the granting of tourist visas?

Before going to the offices where the interviews usually take place, a very friendly Panamanian official explains the entire procedure to the applicants. She explains step by step how they should bring the documents, how to fill them out, and in what order they should be presented to avoid delays at the time of the application interview.

According to some sources who have already gone through this process, the official has occasionally made statements that could be seen as an announcement of the elimination of the facilities currently available to Cubans for traveling to Panama.

"She told us to do everything right, and to take advantage of the opportunity that is being given to us Cubans thanks to the directives inherited from the government of Juan Carlos Varela placeholder image"He said we should take care of those advantages because Panama now has a new president, and perhaps tomorrow the visas they're currently giving out to go shopping won't be issued," a source reported.

While she didn't say visas would be eliminated, far from it, as she explained, it's true that this could be a possibility, especially at a time when several Panamanian representatives are complaining about the massive influx of immigrants into the country," she concluded.

Certainly, many Panamanian representatives have complained about the incursion of thousands of emigrants into the Isthmus in recent months, but they have complained especially about Venezuelans, while Cubans are viewed favorably because they are generally investors who lend millions of dollars to small Panamanian businesses.

However, given the ideological closeness of the current Isthmus leader with the Cuban government, and at a time when the latter seems to be very interested in keeping every US dollar that enters the country, it would not be strange to close these advantages currently offered to Cuban investors, so that the island's government can assert its status as the main importer and marketer of goods. This would guarantee the Cuban government increased financial liquidity at a time when economic pressures are increasing. United States.

However, there is currently no information that allows for accurate predictions regarding the return of the tourist card or the closure of the visa facilities currently in place. The fact that the Panamanian consulate in Cuba has decided to grant all available appointments for 2019 as early as September could be an indicator in either direction.

Directorio Cubano closely follows all the information generated by both the Panamanian Consulate in Havana and the other consular representations accredited on the island. We are Cuba's leading website for immigration matters and procedures.

Updated details and advice on appointments at the Panamanian Embassy in Cuba

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