In Havana in late 2022 and early 2023, delays in issuing passports interrupted the plans of people hoping to travel abroad. A report by the independent outlet 14ymedio, preserved in English translation, describes applicants who still had no document more than two months after applying, repeated visits to a police passport office and a line of people waiting there for answers.
A passport enables a border crossing, but nobody in this queue was ready to depart yet. Applicants were waiting to ask about processing or collect documents that had finally arrived. Their reasons for travelling—study, a family visit or a longer move—could differ, and should not be assigned without evidence. What they shared was time spent returning to an office. The first border of the journey was not the airport but an administrative wait for the paper to appear.