Nora Gámez Torres | elnuevoherald.com
Could Cubans Abroad Lose Their Homes on the Island? Here’s What We Know
A proposed immigration reform in Cuba raises concerns about the property rights of Cubans living abroad.
A recently proposed immigration reform in Cuba has not removed restrictions on the rights of Cubans living abroad and includes new provisions that could jeopardize some property rights, despite the lack of detailed information in the document.
Contrary to some media reports, the draft of a new immigration law published this week by the National Assembly maintains distinctions between those living permanently on the island and those abroad. It divides the latter into three categories: “residents abroad,” who live in other countries and do not have “effective residence” in Cuba; “emigrants,” and those with “business” or “investor” status.
The proposal clarifies that only Cubans classified by immigration authorities as permanent residents on the island will have full citizenship rights and “enjoy the rights and guarantees established by the Constitution… and other normative provisions.” There are no similar affirmations in the text regarding Cubans living abroad in any of the three described categories.
The draft removed the much-criticized two-year period as the authorized time to stay abroad before Cubans are considered “emigrants” and stripped of their residence, other properties, and political rights. Under this rule, those who live abroad but return to the island at least once within that period can retain their resident status and properties but cannot vote.
This time provision has been suspended since 2020. However, it has been replaced in the proposal with the much stricter notion of “effective migratory residence,” which would require spending “the majority of the time” of a calendar year in the country or a combination of time and “other material evidence demonstrating ties to the country.”
Under such rules, those classified as “residents abroad,” a large part of recent immigrants, will not be able to maintain their residence on the island as before, leaving the question of property rights open. Currently, only Cubans with permanent residence can own houses or private businesses.
The proposed law does not mention property rights. Unless specifically authorized in the yet-to-be-published supplementary regulations or future housing regulations, the new measure opens the possibility that Cubans living abroad may not be able to keep their homes on the island for much longer if permanent residence remains a requirement for homeownership.
The proposed legislation also does not eliminate the “emigrant” status, stating that Cubans declared as such before the law is enacted would retain that status unless they request to change it to “resident abroad” under procedures not described in the text. The document does not describe the benefits of such a change.
In a state television program on Thursday, a senior Ministry of the Interior official avoided questions about property rights when commenting on the draft law.
“The issue of property rights, which is something that is also frequently asked, the law has no direct relation to the exercise of those rights,” said Lieutenant Colonel Raylan Hernández Concepción when asked by the presenter if, with the new law, Cubans living abroad “would no longer lose their rights here.”
The official stated that the draft law “does not apply any formula that goes against the exercise of those rights” and that other laws should define them.
The head of the immigration section of the Ministry of the Interior, Colonel Roberto Aguilera Puig, made it clear that the intention behind the new law was to tighten controls on who can obtain permanent residence on the island.
He said the “effective residence” requirement would allow the Ministry to know more precisely who resides in the country. Another “benefit,” he said, is that it would close two legal avenues that previously allowed Cuban immigrants to maintain permanent residence on the island while still residing and spending most of their time abroad: a special permit to live abroad, known as PRE, and a process known as “repatriation.”
“Effective residence,” he said, would allow “resolving the legal contradiction of considering that Cuban citizens who hold the status of residents abroad maintain their domicile in Cuba.”
Officials said they expected the proposal to be voted on by the National Assembly in July.
Except for those already declared as “emigrants,” Cubans living abroad will have 180 days to decide whether to return to the country and “submit” to the new effective residence rules or be considered residents abroad, said Hernández Concepción.
Several media reports, including a story from the Spanish news agency EFE, focused on the removal of the 24-month restriction and concluded that the proposed immigration law would allow Cubans abroad to keep their properties on the island.
However, some experts warn that without all the details, it remains unknown whether that would be true.
“The elimination of the 24-month term does not mean that the Cuban regime’s immigration policy has changed,” said Eloy Viera Cañive, a Cuban lawyer and contributor to the Cuban news site El Toque.
“The logic of the Cuban regime to limit the rights of emigrants or people who decide to leave Cuba has not changed,” he said. “We will have to wait for future regulations or amendments to other norms to be clear on how far that limitation will go.”
Read the full article in English on elnuevoherald.com, using Google Translate.
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