Jamaica to discontinue visa-free transit for Cubans

Black Immigrant Daily News

Jamaica is to remove visa-free transit for Cubans.

Currently, nationals are allowed to transit through Jamaica for up to three days.

In a notice to the public today, the Ministry of National Security stated that the allowance will be discontinued effective March 13.

All other visa requirements for Cubans entering Jamaica remain the same.

The Ministry did not explain the reason for the move.

Last November, The Gleaner reported that the Government was seeking to curb an influx of Cubans who appear to be using Jamaica as a transit point to Central America in an attempt to illegally gain entry into the United States.

At that time, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang said that he was aware of the Cuban matter.

“There is concern that a number of them are using that facility to transit to Nicaragua and then on to the United States through the southern border,” Chang disclosed.

“We are aware of the challenge, and we’re looking at how that problem can be corrected,” he added.

Immigration officers employed at the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), who spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity, said then that hundreds of Cubans have been travelling to Jamaica for the past three years to secure passage to Central and North America.

PICA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wynter was terse in his response to Gleaner queries, saying only: “The matter has been referred to the Ministry of National Security.”

NewsAmericasNow.com