Washington, May 14 (RHC) – The Cuban Interests Section in Washington has announced that it will renew expired passports of Cubans residing in the United States who plan to travel in the coming months to the island.

The good news from Cuba’s diplomatic mission comes despite the suspension of consular services because no U.S. bank has agreed to handle its accounts.

The Cuban Interests Section issued a statement calling the measure “temporary” that will “create conditions in our Consular Office to renew expired passports or passports due to expire of citizens residing in the United States who are booked to travel to Cuba from May 15th to August 31, 2014.”

The procedure must be done through authorized travel agents who have “working relations” with the Consular Office in Washington. Although the measure is considered temporary until a more permanent solution is found, the statement said the deadline “could be extended if the alternative solution implementation takes more time than expected.”

In February, Cuba announced the immediate and indefinite suspension of consular services in the United States due to the “impossibility” of finding a new bank to handle the accounts of its diplomatic mission after the previous one suspended its service.

This latest statement reiterates that the island hasn’t been able to find a bank based in the U.S. that assumes the accounts of Cuban diplomatic missions “due to restrictions derived from the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.”