HAVANA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cuba announced a series of new migratory measures on Saturday as part of an "irreversible process" to update its policies, which stand to benefit more than two million Cubans living abroad.
According to a government statement published by local media, Cuba will grant citizenship to all offspring born abroad to Cuban nationals. Residency on the island is not a requirement.
It will permit all of its emigrated citizens to enter the country without the prior requisite of placing a sticker on their passports every two years. The sticker, known as "Habilitacion," identified them as nationals living abroad.
The island will allow all citizens who left the country illegally to re-enter the border, except those who left through the United States naval base in Guantanamo Bay located at the southeast of Cuba.
Another reform measure approved by the Cuban government will allow the entry and departure of nationals residing abroad via pleasure boats sailing into two of the country's most prominent tourist marinas.
"These new measures demonstrate Cuba's will to continue deepening its links with its emigration," said the government statement.
The measures, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018 were also announced by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on the same day in Washington D.C., where he met with Cubans residing in the United States.
"While the U.S. closes doors, Cuba opens them," Rodriguez said at the closing ceremony of the meeting.
The changes seek to make Cuba's immigration policy more flexible at a time when the United States suspended visa procedures at its embassy in Havana and expelled a large number of Cuban diplomats in Washington earlier this month.
"The unfounded and arbitrary decision" of the United States "will have a negative impact on consular services and will make travel to Cuba particularly difficult for Cubans residing in the United States," said the government release.
Cuba's moves came amid a recent spat between Havana and Washington over alleged sonic attacks against U.S. diplomats on the island that led the White House to withdraw more than half of its personnel in Cuba. The complaint has baffled Cuban officials, who have cooperated with the investigation into the matter.
The changes also responded to an expected drastic cutback in visits to the United States by Cubans who have family there.
Cuba last updated its migratory policy in 2013, when it allowed its citizens to travel abroad without a government permit, among other measures announced at that time.
