Havana, Cuba

[cassidyxo]

Currently working my little ass off to make this application! Hope I can send it in by July, but man oh MAN this application can be huge. I see the processing time went up a bit, hope people aren't stressing to much and can go visit their spouses soon! I just spent a month with my hubby and I just can't wait to go again to see him (perks of working 3 different part time jobs - easy to take time off.)

Happy to see things are still moving forward for people.. Be happy your spouses will be with you SOON enough !!!!

 

[Mapleson]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but don't forget the wait count resets for Stage 2 (when the application is sent to Havana).

2014 Statistics:
20% of applications in under 5 months.
30% of applications in under 6 months.
50% of applications in under 7 months.
70% of applications in under 9 months.
80% of applications in under 10 months.

 

[cassidyxo]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but don't forget the wait count resets for Stage 2 (when the application is sent to Havana).

2014 Statistics:
20% of applications in under 5 months.
30% of applications in under 6 months.
50% of applications in under 7 months.
70% of applications in under 9 months.
80% of applications in under 10 months.

Those stats aren't too bad though!! Could be way worse! 10 months if that ends up happening, goes by fast! I mean it would be amazing 5 months, but those stats could be worse. Seeing him every 6 weeks makes it easier though for sure! Hopefully your process is going well and moving along

 

[Mr.Keilani]

hey everyone ! I hope everyone is having a great day .. i need a bit of help/advice

So me and my fiance got married in Holguin on June 4 , she told me yesterday that she went to Holguin and picked up a copy of our birth certificate but also said there was another that is in Havana and takes 45 days to get back and apparently that's the one i need for the application. Can anyone verify that?

Ever since we got married my wife has been calling a lady in Havana that sets up the day for the medical examination and she is just the worst ! every time she calls she tells her to call the next day or call back friday etc... She called again today as was instructed to do so and the lady once again said call back next friday ! it has been almost a month of trying to get a appointment for a medical. My wife lives in Guardalavaca which is basically on the other end of the country so its very difficult for her to travel all the way to Havana to schedule an appointment and come back. Does anyone know any other way or phone numbers etc.. of scheduling the medical exam?
any help would be much appreciated as this is getting really frustrating ... we are almost done our application but cant submit it until she gets her medical done and her police check. I just want to begin the dreaded countdown after we submit our application and this is really holding up the process .

thanks in advance !

 

[Galano1213]

Hi

Yes you have to wait for the marriage certificate from Havana as it has stamps on it that must be on the certified copy you send with your application. We travelled to Havana to Havana he Hospital that does the meds to get the appt. And then waited a month to go back to have it done . That is the best way to get the appt as we did the calling and just got he run around She can fly Cubans from Holguin for 25 Cuc and the hospital is not far from he airport. The Pro,ice certificate is best done in Havana $65cuc and takes 45 days or so. We were married Sept 26 ,2013 and did not get med until April 2014. Only one immigration Doctor. Had everything together by then Remember Police certificate cannot be more then 3 months old to send with application and med is only good for 1 year.

 

[Mrs.DoryBaby]

Hi Meilani!

The birth certificate can be picked up where ever they live, I believe. my hubby was born in camaguey but lived in santa marta and varadero - he went to the lawyer in santa marta and got his done there... that's the one I submitted, TO BE HONEST - I got two done because one was missing a stupid stamp / I STRESSED OUT BECAUSE I submitted the one without the big stamp and they never asked me to provide another copy!!!

Havana gives wedding certificate that one you may have to wait a while for (if she knows someone... you can see about getting it sooner) waiting on government offices will be the hold up... get the medical out of the way - book an appointment now so that your wife can pick up the certificate and get her check done that same day - as she lives far.

organization is key here... and breathe ... stop, think and breathe again! its so stressful - I almost made myself sick working on the application... but I had to step back and remember time will be you enemy for the next year. accept it now and it will help you.

I promise once you hold your wife in your arms here in Canada- every stress attack you had will be forgotten... I cant even remember how bad it was anymore and it's only been 4 mnths since hubby has been here

hey everyone ! I hope everyone is having a great day .. i need a bit of help/advice

So me and my fiance got married in Holguin on June 4 , she told me yesterday that she went to Holguin and picked up a copy of our birth certificate but also said there was another that is in Havana and takes 45 days to get back and apparently that's the one i need for the application. Can anyone verify that?

Ever since we got married my wife has been calling a lady in Havana that sets up the day for the medical examination and she is just the worst ! every time she calls she tells her to call the next day or call back friday etc... She called again today as was instructed to do so and the lady once again said call back next friday ! it has been almost a month of trying to get a appointment for a medical. My wife lives in Guardalavaca which is basically on the other end of the country so its very difficult for her to travel all the way to Havana to schedule an appointment and come back. Does anyone know any other way or phone numbers etc.. of scheduling the medical exam?
any help would be much appreciated as this is getting really frustrating ... we are almost done our application but cant submit it until she gets her medical done and her police check. I just want to begin the dreaded countdown after we submit our application and this is really holding up the process .

thanks in advance !

 

[Mapleson]

They only make new medical appointments on Friday mornings between 9am and noon. Have your wife start calling at 8:58am and don't stop until you get through. Your appointment will be approximately one month later. She will need to pay the medical fee 3 days before in a specific bank.

Her antecedentes penales will take longer (6-10 weeks) unless she files for it while in Havana.

She can get her birth certificate locally. Just be sure it's marked as for external use. It's still the same office though. Be very sure that everything is completely right on the birth certificate and matches all her other documentation. We had issues and needed to change it a couple times.

 

[Mr.Keilani]

hey everyone
thank you for the replies ,im so sorry but in my previous post i meant to right wedding certificate not birth certificate :
she already got her birth certificate but i will make sure it is or outside use , and also she has a valid passport. We still have not gotten appointment for her medical exam . I have a couple more questions..

for the application me and my wife communicate through email several times a day , so i did a quick count and we have over 4000 emails... how did everyone go about showing all that for proof, theres no way i can print every email as it would literally take months.

after she does the medical exam do we try to do the police check asap or do it before the date of the exam ?

does she get any paper work that i have to include in the application from her medical exam or is it all sent internally ?

thank you in advance for your help everyone !

 

[ALazi]

Hi Mr. Keilani,

I never sent any text messages or printed any emails between us. I was able to print an ''overview'' of the times I called him, or the number of text messages sent. Otherwise in our case too it was going to end up being 5lbs worth of emails.

I strongly suggest to get the police check after you get your appointment for your medicals. Like it should be the last thing you do. The police check has to be under 3 months old when you send your whole application. We had to redo ours because of that. I don't know if others agree on this..
And if you can, do the request from Havana! it takes less time to get it.

On the day of the medical exam your spouse will get the IMM 1017, it's a proof they've done the medical exam and you'll include that with your application but the results are sent to Havana internally.

 

[ALazi]

Hi everyone,

My file has been transferred in Havana mid-February and we're still waiting.
This whole distance hit me harder than anything, and I've been considering taking time off work due to mental health issues, even if it's not the best option right now.. But I'm afraid it can have repercussions on our application, even though it's been in Havana for a few months. Do you think I have reasons to worry?

Thanks in advance

 

[Krys]

I took a screen shot of my inbox.. I think you can preview 20+ emails for each page.. I also skipped a few pages but just so they can see how frequent you communicate

hey everyone
thank you for the replies ,im so sorry but in my previous post i meant to right wedding certificate not birth certificate :
she already got her birth certificate but i will make sure it is or outside use , and also she has a valid passport. We still have not gotten appointment for her medical exam . I have a couple more questions..

for the application me and my wife communicate through email several times a day , so i did a quick count and we have over 4000 emails... how did everyone go about showing all that for proof, theres no way i can print every email as it would literally take months.

after she does the medical exam do we try to do the police check asap or do it before the date of the exam ?

does she get any paper work that i have to include in the application from her medical exam or is it all sent internally ?

thank you in advance for your help everyone !

 

[Mapleson]

For your emails, I would print the pages that says the title, date, and receiver, as well as a "sample" of 5-6 in a row for each month. Then I would say that a sample and summary are provided and more information can be provided on request.

Personally, I did my application before finding this site. We spent most of our time together in Cuba, so we only had 700-800 emails. I used Outlook to open the account and copy/pasted into a single word document (354 pages in total). We ordered our case notes last week, and I expect them to say that the excess proof was shredded and a sampling has been retained in the file.

Hi everyone,

My file has been transferred in Havana mid-February and we're still waiting.
This whole distance hit me harder than anything, and I've been considering taking time off work due to mental health issues, even if it's not the best option right now.. But I'm afraid it can have repercussions on our application, even though it's been in Havana for a few months. Do you think I have reasons to worry?

Thanks in advance

It's hard for sure. My wife is in Las Tunas and they have wifi there at two hotels, so we are able to do video chat most nights for a few hours (internet is now half price in Cuba 2.25cuc per hour). There is a group of them that share a connection, so it's even cheaper. From what you've said, you wife is somewhat remote, but possible she could make a weekly trip to cut down on the heartache.

As for taking time off work, it would not affect your application at all. In fact, it is quite common for spouses to wait together.

 

[luigui]

Hi everyone,

My file has been transferred in Havana mid-February and we're still waiting.
This whole distance hit me harder than anything, and I've been considering taking time off work due to mental health issues, even if it's not the best option right now.. But I'm afraid it can have repercussions on our application, even though it's been in Havana for a few months. Do you think I have reasons to worry?

Thanks in advance

Hello Alazi, my file was transferred to Habana end of February, the only update in the web site was the first week of March, that they have received the medical results, no more news since then, I went in May to visit my wife for two weeks, but still no news. For what I know from this site it taking an average of five months, I hope to hear something in July.

 

[ALazi]

Hello Alazi, my file was transferred to Habana end of February, the only update in the web site was the first week of March, that they have received the medical results, no more news since then, I went in May to visit my wife for two weeks, but still no news. For what I know from this site it taking an average of five months, I hope to hear something in July.

I recently saw my husband too, it's so incredibly hard to have to come back here alone..
We've been waiting for quite some time, let's hope it won't take a lot longer.

 

[Krys]

I don't want to bring your hopes down or anything but a few applicants have been waiting close to 8+ months now.. I don't know what is going on in the embassy but i wouldn't expect to hear at the 5 month mark it will just put you down if you don't hear by then.. I was expecting to hear at 4-5 months and i'll be at 9 months next week. My file was transferred to havana Oct 2014 and i also have only had one update which was medical results received. 10 months is the new processing time so if you only expect to hear something at 10 months But receive a call sooner you'll be happily surprised! I also ordered my GCMS notes and all the notes they wrote about our file were positive and they stated a Recommended Pass for my husband so it just looks like they are taking longer to process. On a side note we've noticed that most of the applicants waiting are from Ontario so that might have something to do with it.. Not too sure!

Hello Alazi, my file was transferred to Habana end of February, the only update in the web site was the first week of March, that they have received the medical results, no more news since then, I went in May to visit my wife for two weeks, but still no news. For what I know from this site it taking an average of five months, I hope to hear something in July.