Cuba Agrees To Reduce Exit Fee

Yielding to pressure from the Clinton administration, Cuba has agreed to cut in half the $600 fee it charges Cubans who receive U.S. immigrant visas, U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson said Saturday.

Richardson, D-N.M., spoke by telephone from Havana, where he had a five-hour session Friday night with President Fidel Castro.

About 1,000 Cubans eligible to resettle in the U.S. have been unable to do so because they cannot afford the service charge.

At the last U.S.-Cuban meeting on migration issues two months ago, American officials appealed for a reduction in the rate but the Cuban side held firm.

Richardson said Cuba promised to lower the fee for the 1,000 pending cases immediately and that the new rate will be maintained this year for up to 1,000 others eligible to immigrate if they can demonstrate an economic need.

According to U.S. officials, before leaving, each Cuban must pay for a medical examination, a passport, and an exit permit. When airfare is included, the total comes to $750, the official said.

Under an agreement reached in 1994, the United States committed itself to accept a minimum of 20,000 Cuban migrants a year.