Obama grants Cubans much longer stays in the US

Cuban visitors to the United States will be allowed to stay for up to five years starting Thursday, up from six months currently.

The change will also allow holders of non-immigrant visas to make multiple entries into the United States, the State Department announced Wednesday. 

“This is part of our broader policy to increase people-to-people ties between Americans and Cubans. To increase communications with the Cuban people. To promote openness,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday.

“The administration and the secretary certainly believe that these measures, in addition to others, increases people-to-people flow that’s really key to promoting civil society, to promoting democratization on the island.”

{mosads}The new visa rules follow recent efforts to improve U.S.-Cuban ties, including the recent resumption of migration talks and efforts to re-establish direct mail between the two countries. The migration talks were suspended in 2011 over lingering tensions, including the conviction of State Department subcontractor Alan Gross on charges he tried to undermine the communist state.

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